Hey all! So I really would like to try getting a breeding pair of some kind of preferably Central American Cichlid to breed. There is a store opening up in my town and I would like to find something that would be kind of rare to be able to breed and sell some fry to the store here. Really at this point, anything would be rare or new for this area, as I kind of live in a black hole of fish keeping. I'm about 5 hours from Omaha, NE, and 5 from Minneapolis, MN, so those are the closer much bigger pools of cichlid commerce. I have a 90 gallon and a 125 gallon. Would like to keep my 125 for the most part a community tank and not give it to just one pair of fish. I have a big Midas/Red Devil that is in my 90 and don't know how well he would take a girlfriend but also don't know how well he'd do putting him back in the 125 either. May go on a killing spree after being in solitary for a year and a half. For my 125 I kind of thought a pair of H. carpintis, preferably vontehillo, and then maybe having 2-3 male salvini. Or I try to put my big male midas in my 125 eventually and start fresh with a pair in the 90. What would be some suggestions of good cichlids to breed that would be marketable as well as fit these tank parameters? Thanks!
What to breed?
- Thread starter Batboi3000
- Start date
JUST MY OPINION-----I am from MN and a member of minnfish.com. There are several breeders and keepers of New World Cichlids, however they are quite reserved and do not promote themselves or their fish as often. There are many MN enthusiast breeding and working with rare and beautiful new worlds though IMO. The consumers of New worlds are not as populated in MN and WI, hence your sales of new world species fish may not be high. The most common and most seen new worlds here IMO visiting LFS and mainstream stores are Oscars and Jack Dempsies. Texas cichlids were making a huge hit in MN and WI within the past few years due to FH and hybrid breeders, however it is rare to find pure species.
I would suggest you purchase, raise and breed for your own pleasure. Do not let consumers/LFS or potential buyers direct which fish to raise and breed. If you are able to breed some fish and your LFS is willing to buy from you, then that would be awesome, however I am sure the LFS already has their own supplier they can get fish from when needed.
For me, any vieja/paraneetroplus/thoricthys would be great.
Good luck.
I would suggest you purchase, raise and breed for your own pleasure. Do not let consumers/LFS or potential buyers direct which fish to raise and breed. If you are able to breed some fish and your LFS is willing to buy from you, then that would be awesome, however I am sure the LFS already has their own supplier they can get fish from when needed.
For me, any vieja/paraneetroplus/thoricthys would be great.
Good luck.
Other than Convicts the two most prolific species I have ever owned were Red Tiger Motas and Red Head Tapajos both were rabbits.
Your best bet would actually be to breed angel fish, discus, or rams if your goal is to sell to your lfs. Small stores generally don't care much for really rare or aggressive fish as the market for them is small. Believe it or not, not too many people in the general sphere know anything about cichlids beyond the red devil and the angel fish.
I agree. I know ultimately it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about what is in my tank but me. However, I still would like to be able to get rid of some fry. Just was curious to see what all seemed kind of popular. I think my town is about to get a wake up call of different fish in the world as this store just opened up today. He has some fairly aggressive stuff in there like jags, butikofferi, flowerhorn and other SA/CA cichlids, as well as Africans. I am at a point to where I would like to keep something I haven't kept yet too. Where something like Motas would be fun. You mentioned viejas too. I had a bit of experience with them before I moved to South Dakota, and they were a ton of fun. I would like to keep some of those too again at some point.
Breeding Discus would be awesome. Just a matter of getting my hands on some and getting started. My local store can get some I guess. I know they would sell well too. Just don't know if that is where my ultimate interest is at in peaceful fish. My heart bleeds for these big tank busting glass bangers.
Actually thought about that too. They've always been one of my favorites. Been awhile since I've had a dempsey. Probably close to 10 years. They are quite accessible in this area, but again, I know that shouldn't matter so long as I enjoy them, and I'm sure I would.
Here's a thought. Is a 125 gallon too small to house 2 pairs of breeding fish? Say if I did like a pair of carpintis and a pair of salvini in my 125. Would there not be enough territory for the two pairs? Another idea i had was try to do a lake nicaragua tank of sorts with a couple jaguars, a couple red devils and a few convicts and see what happens, possibly trying to get just one breeding pair out of either the jags or the devils. I'm just really pipe dreaming here. Thoughts?
A pair of full grown jags should be kept alone unless the tank is 200+ gallons and at least 8 feet long, anything less than that and you're asking for trouble with any 12"+ fish. I also made my suggestions based off of the "selling to lfs" qualification, it's harder to get rid of a large batch of big and aggressive cichlids than you would think.
If you want something a bit more aggressive that'll pay for itself you can breed Ebjds and sell them online as well as to your lfs. You could do 2 pairs of them divided in a 125 if you wanted.
If you want something a bit more aggressive that'll pay for itself you can breed Ebjds and sell them online as well as to your lfs. You could do 2 pairs of them divided in a 125 if you wanted.
EBJD's +
Carpintis pair and Salvini pair in a 125 gallon works, but make sure you put a divider in. Salvini are bullys. They like to pick on other fish.
Carpintis pair and Salvini pair in a 125 gallon works, but make sure you put a divider in. Salvini are bullys. They like to pick on other fish.
It can be hard to sell or trade cichlids to LFS. A lot depends on the demand in your area and the specialties of the shops. In my city it is a lot easier to part with commonly kept cichlids like Oscars, JDs, and Convicts. These are also species that I don't keep. But even then there are only two stores here that will take in fish from the public. I just keep what I like. If any breeding occurs, fry are sold to a few shops about an hour away from me, Craigslist, and shipped to other interested hobbyists. If you want to make a local profit and still keep species that interest you, stay away from anything that will grow too large or aggressive. Not everyone who enters a LFS is willing to dedicate or even purchase a large tank for one or two big and mean fish. I think you have the best luck selling fish that will live comfortably in a maximum 55 gallon with tankmates. You also have to think about the trouble two breeding pairs will give you. By choosing an aggressive cichlid as a part of a breeding program for profit, consider all you may have to do to maintain a safe place for all fish involved. An aggressive pair may need to be divided from the other pair or from each other. That will limit the space even more, especially if each pair has fry. Smaller, less aggressive cichlids would be the best choice considering the space you have to work with IMO. There's always a chance for a scuffles with any breeding cichlids but some species are more prone to breeding aggression than others. I think Rainbows and HRPs are two good choices. They breed easy and often. There are many options though. Not cichlids, but you probably could sell Guppies and Platies to your LFS for a little income. If you managed to keep a breeding school of these with your cichlids, they would be easier to sell. A lot of people just like having peaceful fish in 10-20 gallon tanks. They may not be your average MFK members but they generally bring a lot of sales to LFS. Good luck to you!
Thanks for the the info guys. I appreciate the input. I don't know that I am necessarily wanting to make a ton of money, that isn't my main goal. I more just think it'd be fun to have a breeding pair and if I can make a little money in the mean time too and share some cool fish in the area, that would be awesome too. This one new little store in town is mainly catering to cichlids. I feel I've built a pretty good relationship with the owner so far, being able to help him out and give him some advice. Sort of an unofficial adviser to an extent. I know he will be willing to take in fish so long as he has space for them. In this first week he was open he took in 3 oscars that were all about 7". There seems to be a good fish community around here just not many stores.
Far as the 125 gallon, I definitely wouldn't want to put in a divider. I would rather try and keep it more of a display tank that happens to have a breeding pair in it. I kind of thought if I had a breeding pair of jags or red devils/midas, flowerhorn, Etc, in the 125 and then maybe a few convicts, the convicts no doubt would probably try and breed. I've even thought of taking my 90 and breeding a pair of salvini in that and see if i can get a good community of my platy going in there too, so long as I provide enough cover and plant growth for babies to hide. That would be great looking tank. Little over kill for a pair of salvini, but we'll see. Still doing some thinking. I know this store can get in some red devil/midas so I might see if I could grow out a female for my male in the 90 but don't know that will be enough room either. I'll keep processing these things. Thanks all!
Far as the 125 gallon, I definitely wouldn't want to put in a divider. I would rather try and keep it more of a display tank that happens to have a breeding pair in it. I kind of thought if I had a breeding pair of jags or red devils/midas, flowerhorn, Etc, in the 125 and then maybe a few convicts, the convicts no doubt would probably try and breed. I've even thought of taking my 90 and breeding a pair of salvini in that and see if i can get a good community of my platy going in there too, so long as I provide enough cover and plant growth for babies to hide. That would be great looking tank. Little over kill for a pair of salvini, but we'll see. Still doing some thinking. I know this store can get in some red devil/midas so I might see if I could grow out a female for my male in the 90 but don't know that will be enough room either. I'll keep processing these things. Thanks all!
