Hi, I was just wondering what people’s thoughts/experiences were on breeding to cover the running cost of a fish room and even making a little bit extra towards getting new fish. I’m planning to breed L numbers and corys obviously not the most common ones with around 20 tanks run off one air pump and a heater for the room
Breeding to cover cost of fishroom
- Thread starter Bak3r
- Start date
I would try several species that i can regulary breed and some can be challenge but also can learn big money if it succeed.
Guppies or swordtails (reds or koi) and plecos in the same tank, make enough money to breed angels (philippine blues, pearlscales, BSPs, or some cheap koi) and have a colony of apistos in the spawning tank, then move up to discus (optional)
I find it possible to cover the cost of fish/ equipment but difficult to cover the cost of electricity due to half my fish rooms being a tropical pond and me being in the uk.
will also depend what you are breeding and how many. Obviously the more you breed the more rearing tanks you need for space to grow and develop. For every gallon of breeding tank you will need between ten and twenty gallon of rearing/ growing tank as a rough estimate.
will also depend what you are breeding and how many. Obviously the more you breed the more rearing tanks you need for space to grow and develop. For every gallon of breeding tank you will need between ten and twenty gallon of rearing/ growing tank as a rough estimate.
You will never cover your own costs and never, ever, ever make extra. In the US, at least, you'll be lucky to get store credit for what you produce. Almost no stores pay cash and most stores will only "adopt" excess fish (won't pay) even if they are something special. Hobbyists will expect you to give them wholesale prices, which will hurt small local businesses.
Lol, when I saw this ^ response I had to laugh out loud, as it is pretty much word for word what I was thinking.
At best...you will find yourself devoting a large percentage of your tank space and maintenance time to the growing out of fry. And, IMHO, after a while this starts to become more of a chore and less of a fun pasttime.
Don't get me wrong; finding a fish species that you like and breeding it successfully is one of the most rewarding aspects of the hobby. If you keep moving on to new species all the time, it remains fulfilling for years...even for a lifetime. But when you wake up one morning and walk into your fishroom...and are struck by the realization that 3/4 of your water volume is devoted to the raising of innumerable Purple-spotted Gazork Cichlid fry and that you have grown a wee bit tired of looking at Purple-spotted Gazork Cichlids for the past few years...and that the local market for PSGC's has been saturated for a long while, so they are becoming more and more difficult to sell, and at lower and lower prices...and that there is a list of other species that you would really like to work with, but all your tank space is full...you sort of rock back on your heels and go "Hmmmm..."
And when you open your freezer and your eyes fall upon a few bags of frozen PSGC juveniles that became more valuable to you as feeders than as salesworthy livestock...but you realize that only a year or two earlier the initial discovery of that species at a club auction practically had you doing handsprings of joy...you once again go "Hmmmm..."
And when you smile and say "I just made $200!" on a bunch of PSGC fry...but it suddenly hits you that you didn't factor in the cost of heating their tanks, and changing their water, and the wear and tear on tanks and equipment that you used, and the space that you devoted to them that you might have used for something else...and that you have devalued your own time to zero worth... you realize that you sound just like the gambler who loses hundreds at the casino every day for a week, and then on the last day of his Vegas vacation he wins a few bucks and jumps up and down shouting "Hey...I WON!!!"
In short: always...always...ALWAYS...keep on the alert for signs that the hobby is not providing the enjoyment that is supposed to provide.
Yeah I'm in the midwest and a friend was just telling me about his breeding experience. He said the only way to make money is saltwater, or very high priced prized freshwater like certain flowerhorn strains, etc whaich are hard to come by. Anything that is already reaily available the lfs will give store credit at half retail, and they'll take like 6-10 a month at specific sizes. And if they already have any onhand, they'll offer to adopt them instead of store credit.
I once made quite a bit of money selling my LFS my mystery snails. It was just kind of a chance thing - they were sold for like $10 a pop even for small ones, and the LFS was willing to give me $2 in cash per individual. And because a lot of people bought mystery snails, they were always willing to buy more from me at any time.
In short, if you can find a LFS that pays cash for something super easy to breed and that they are happy to take more at any time, you can make pretty easy money that way.
In short, if you can find a LFS that pays cash for something super easy to breed and that they are happy to take more at any time, you can make pretty easy money that way.