Creating a small profitable setup

[BHARDON24]

Hey guys, haven't posted in a while. I was staring at my small empty tanks and wondering If I could make a profit from them. I have seen the threads about how people make money off of shrimp, snails, plants, and such, and was wondering if I could do something like that. Here are my tanks:

-2.5 gallon
-3 gallon
-4 gallon
-10 gallon
-Note: the 2.5 and 3 gallon are well lit, 2-3 watts per gallon for plants

I know it isn't much, but I have piranhas and cichlids in the 55's and don't really want to setup my old 90 again. Besides, I also don't want to spend a fortune on start up costs either.
So here are some ideas I was thinking of.....
-Trio of orange rabbit snails(very pretty, rare, go for a lot)
-Chain swords(propagate like crazy, I made almost $30 on a $5 plant investment a while back)
-Java fern(seem to be pretty easy to grow and fast growing
-IFGA or black Moscow guppies(easy to breed, sell for a lot)
-Any other fast propagating plant

Any suggestions on what to breed/propagate? Tips? Experiences? How can I make this profitable?

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[Fat Homer]

^ To be fair, the only way i really see even small scale setups working for a profit is if you stick to mainly one thing, and very selectively breed that species...

For example, with Crystal Red Shrimp, even in one batch you get good and bad quality shrimp and a lot of culling needs to be done in order to breed the best quality shrimp... and for that, you would ideally have at least 2 -3 tanks setup... where 1 has all your top quality shrimp, one for mid quality, and one for your leftover shrimp you don't want, or for you to feed other fish with...

So i'm guessing with fish its the same thing, and as for plants... well not too sure how that would work on the selling side of things...

-EDIT-

Also you have to count in time and money for running your operation, which ultimately might leave you with very very slim profit margins...

 

[kavin2845]

^ To be fair, the only way i really see even small scale setups working for a profit is if you stick to mainly one thing, and very selectively breed that species...

For example, with Crystal Red Shrimp, even in one batch you get good and bad quality shrimp and a lot of culling needs to be done in order to breed the best quality shrimp... and for that, you would ideally have at least 2 -3 tanks setup... where 1 has all your top quality shrimp, one for mid quality, and one for your leftover shrimp you don't want, or for you to feed other fish with...

So i'm guessing with fish its the same thing, and as for plants... well not too sure how that would work on the selling side of things...

^
Totally Agree, not much profit in this hobby unless you go big. I would do shrimp the others would be harder

 

[Zoodiver]

I agree. Unless you have a strong corner on a specific market, profit is hard enough to get on large scale sets ups. I can't imagine it working out well on a small scale.

 

[BHARDON24]

Alright thanks guys. I am planning to breed the shrimp on the 10, 4 gallon is high quality, 3 is medium, 2.5 gallon is low. Thanks again!

 

[Fat Homer]

Dont want to burt your bubble again, but with those size tanks you wont be breeding enough shrimp to constantly sell, since ideally you would want to get a strong colony of about 200-300 shrimp going all at different ages to make sure you have a constant supply of new shrimp coming in...

And unless you plan on selling online to individuals randomly using aqua bid / craigslist, you'll have periods of time you have to wait to build your colony back up before selling...

Last but not least, research what shrimp are most in demand and will bring top dollar, since shrimp like Taiwans Black King Kongs, high grade CRS may get you more money if you plan on keeping the operation super small, with the downside they maybe slower and harder to breed and keep good quality shrimp going... BUT, if your willing to spend a bit more at the start, get one high quality male and 2 high quality females and get them to breed and start a colony like that, and over time add more high quality ones to keep blood lines fresh, while culling or selling off any low quality ones...

On the other hand, you may find sakura shrimp or fire red shrimp will make you more money with a slightly larger tank i.e 30G+, since they breed like crazy, and only have one solid color so you worry less about culling, since they should be all more or less same quality...

It may also be worth looking into sulawesi shrimp if they are a hit in your area, since unlike those mentioned, they like a complete opposite environment...

So yeah, just some things to consider depending on how serious you want to get with shrimp?


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[BHARDON24]

Dont want to burt your bubble again, but with those size tanks you wont be breeding enough shrimp to constantly sell, since ideally you would want to get a strong colony of about 200-300 shrimp going all at different ages to make sure you have a constant supply of new shrimp coming in...

And unless you plan on selling online to individuals randomly using aqua bid / craigslist, you'll have periods of time you have to wait to build your colony back up before selling...

Last but not least, research what shrimp are most in demand and will bring top dollar, since shrimp like Taiwans Black King Kongs, high grade CRS may get you more money if you plan on keeping the operation super small, with the downside they maybe slower and harder to breed and keep good quality shrimp going... BUT, if your willing to spend a bit more at the start, get one high quality male and 2 high quality females and get them to breed and start a colony like that, and over time add more high quality ones to keep blood lines fresh, while culling or selling off any low quality ones...

On the other hand, you may find sakura shrimp or fire red shrimp will make you more money with a slightly larger tank i.e 30G+, since they breed like crazy, and only have one solid color so you worry less about culling, since they should be all more or less same quality...

It may also be worth looking into sulawesi shrimp if they are a hit in your area, since unlike those mentioned, they like a complete opposite environment...

So yeah, just some things to consider depending on how serious you want to get with shrimp?


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Yeah thanks again for the info, and it didn't burst. It bubble at all, it gave me a realistic idea of what to breed. I do actually have a 60 gallon I could set up, but that would be way overkill for shrimp.

 

[dogofwar]

The better question than "What to breed?" is "Who will buy from me?"...

Just about anything that's easy to breed, including shrimp, is probably available through your local fish club and its members for next to nothing.

I'd focus on keeping and breeding what you like and enjoy keeping than trying to make it into a money-making endeavor.

Matt

 

[BHARDON24]

The better question than "What to breed?" is "Who will buy from me?"...

Just about anything that's easy to breed, including shrimp, is probably available through your local fish club and its members for next to nothing.

I'd focus on keeping and breeding what you like and enjoy keeping than trying to make it into a money-making endeavor.

Matt

I was thinking of selling on aquabid.

 

[Fat Homer]

The better question than "What to breed?" is "Who will buy from me?"...

Just about anything that's easy to breed, including shrimp, is probably available through your local fish club and its members for next to nothing.

I'd focus on keeping and breeding what you like and enjoy keeping than trying to make it into a money-making endeavor.

Matt

I guess what dog of war is saying is make sure you dont burn yourself out of the hobby by trying too hard to make money off of it...

Most important thing is to enjoy it first, and if you make money from it, then its a bonus kinda deal...

As for the large tank, as i said just really depends how you want to go with your operation..

I've seen 3'-4' tanks with over 500-1000 shrimp in them and when it gets to feeding time its quite the sight to behold... But again, thats only if your into that kinda thing...

But either way, good luck with it...


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