Let me give you a perspective from a hobbyist breeder standpoint, and I just discussed this with Jeff Rapps via email a few weeks ago.
I enjoy working with rare and unusual cichlids. They're not always super rare, but uncommon enough that you don't walk into an LFS and see them. For the past five years I have been breeding and raising F1 fish from wild-caught stock and offering them here, on various other cichlid forums, Aquabid, etc. I have ended up culling large percentages of almost every batch of fish I've raised because I cannot sell them, and I do not have endless amounts of tank space to grow out hundreds of fish to 3 - 6" sizes. The same fish can appear on Rapps' list as wild-caught and he will sell them. He has the reputation, he has the larger customer base, and he offers a wide range of species so that people can order multiple fish at once. I cannot offer that in most cases, and the same can be said for most hobbyist breeders.
A few years ago when everyone was buying up notatus severums, I was fortunate enough to get a wild pair and raise F1s. I tried selling 2" fry at $10 each, then $5, then I was basically saying, "These fish are free if you pay the $15 priority mail shipping." I sold maybe 20 fish out of 100. The rest ended up in my freezer. I no longer breed them. Yet people email me all the time and say, "Where can I get this fish?" I always say, "Try Jeff Rapps."
There is a guy in Tampa right now breeding and raising F1s of two highly sought-after fish for SA keepers: Geophagus winemilleri and Retroculus lapidifer. Retroculus were going for $50 - 100 each just a few months ago for wild-caughts. I have watched this guy's auctions week in and week out, and I have yet to see him sell one batch of fry, even though they're priced significantly less than the wild juveniles sold for.
So to answer your question, yes, there may be hobbyists out there breeding and raising certain fish, but it's very hard to move large numbers of fish without the reputation and large online presence of someone like Jeff Rapps, Wet Spot, etc. This is why a lot of hobbyist breeders either raise very small, limited numbers and trade them among fellow hobbyists who are interested, or they raise spawns to 1" and then sell the entire spawn wholesale to Jeff Rapps and let him worry about finding homes for them. Jeff has told me on more than one occasion that he'd gladly take F1 fry from me if it's something uncommon or nice. This is why people like me recommend Rapps -- chances are if he doesn't have wilds, he has F1s which came from his own pairs or a hobbyist breeder like me. Either way, it's usually the most reliable way to find something you're looking for.
Otherwise, like someone else said, you have to do the work yourself -- call LFS, post wanted ads online, browse Aquabid, browse the trading post section of ACA -- hunt for it.
