Well I believe you may be looking way to far ahead. It's good to have long term goals and short term goals. Your set up is far to small to really turn any kind of a profit, if you like to breed fish then breed them because you like to and in the long term if you can get enough tanks enough experience enough connections to make it into something that turns a profit then awesome, but also be prepared to spend way more money invested into your breeding then you will ever get back.
If I was attempting to turn a profit breeding fish and I had your similar set up here is where I'd start.
Your going to want to start small selling at your fish clubs setting something up with your LFS craigslist and save all those profits to expand.
1. set your tanks up efficiently, use only sponge filter run off air pumps or a single air pump (this may come in time) forget expensive lighting fancy tank set ups, go bare bottom for substrate. cycle these and get these ready for fish. IE pvc terra cotta pots cones whatever your fish need to breed. Also set up a fish room or "area" where your tanks are centrally located easy access to fast water changes easy to feed. Also buying food in massive bulk and reselling Im not talking 5 pounds at a time I'm talking 40 or more as much as you can afford. and use what you need and sell the rest in say 1/2 or 1/4 bags as people come to buy your fish.
2. Join any local fish clubs, do research go to all the LFS in your area listen take notes figure out what people want, what stores don't have, things that are easy to breed but command a high price. The fish business seems to defiantly be supply and demand but also fish popularity goes in and out of fashion pretty quickly. Figure out what people want and what will give you the most profit margin for your buck. IE. You wanted to dedicate an entire 55 to breed red head severums. Why would you do that if your goal is profit they take a long time to pair off they often aren't great parents (at least at first) a HIGH quality pair will be expensive, they will be a heavy bio load in the 55 need the space, and the fry only sell for maybe 5 bucks if your lucky and that's at a decent size. Not to mention when I buy mine online to mix up my gene pool I get super high quality for a $1 and still I only order them when Im getting more other things. Not to mention I've been attempting to breed these (and failing) for about a year now. (Im looking for a perfect high quality pair)
Instead in that 55 you could split it in half or even keep it together and do say 3 groups of mbuna get a nice male of each species and TONS of females and you'll have nice and expensive fry in no time. Mbuna arnt your only options either tropheus come to mind, maybe apistos, or angel fish Plecos would actually probably be the most profitable if you could afford the start uip. Again it will depend on what your general area is looking for though. same thing with the 90. The more you can breed and the more efficiently you can do it the more you will make.
3. Save all your profits and savings from your job (you'll have to be working at this time as you will most likely be losing money) and expand as you can adding more tanks. Picking up good deals on Craigslist snatching up tanks on your club FS forums learning to reseal and get leaking tanks for pennies on the dollar. Buying as many tanks from the dollar a gallon sale as you can afford and fit. Becoming more efficant as you go and spending the money to make upgrades that will save you in the long run. IE central air system, heating the room not the tanks, plumb your tanks.
4. So now your established in your area and have a decent rep for being a quality breeder. Make a website, learn how to ship it's a little more in depth then you may think and supplies is more expensive then you think. You should have a pretty decent size fish list at this point it would also be good to focus on a region of fish IE. You breed mostly Africans or mostly New worlds or catfish or whatever. And then have some others thrown in there. Advertise websites become sponsors of forums and clubs. Donate to your local club be a presence at meetings and auctions. Branch out to other near by clubs go to there auctions make donations to there raffles hand out cards sell your fish at raffles, continue to sell out of your home craigslist. Ask what people want and change your stock often only keep flawless specimens and be know for quality. Maybe begin stocking dry goods at this point a good start for dry goods would be things you are using often and can buy in mass bulk then mark up. IE food, shipping supplies, water conditioners, sponge filters, boxes media.
5. At this point you should be continue to expand maybe building an outbuilding converting a large garage renting a near by building. your online business should be going well you should be well know in not only your local club but all neighboring states clubs. this is where you would probably begin importing and whole sale buying and re selling for a profit. Ill stop here as I know nothing about this step at all.
This is just my opinion and how I see it going for me if I was going to do this and be successful at it. It seems like a very long process and also risky I'd imagine for a lot of that time you would not be making a profit at all and most likely re investing more then what your making.
There are plenty of people on here that have much larger breeding setups (thousandths of gallons) already set up efficiently and still lose money. Do it because you enjoy it and if you make some money doing it awesome if not well you had fun doing it. Guys like rapps and conkels didn't just say hey I want to make a fast buck lets breed and import fish.
Whatever you decide good luck and again this is just my opinion because trust me I have thought over and over in my heads how I could turn my hobby into a job. I just don't see it as a realistic possibly with my life situation currently but yours may be different.
If I was attempting to turn a profit breeding fish and I had your similar set up here is where I'd start.
Your going to want to start small selling at your fish clubs setting something up with your LFS craigslist and save all those profits to expand.
1. set your tanks up efficiently, use only sponge filter run off air pumps or a single air pump (this may come in time) forget expensive lighting fancy tank set ups, go bare bottom for substrate. cycle these and get these ready for fish. IE pvc terra cotta pots cones whatever your fish need to breed. Also set up a fish room or "area" where your tanks are centrally located easy access to fast water changes easy to feed. Also buying food in massive bulk and reselling Im not talking 5 pounds at a time I'm talking 40 or more as much as you can afford. and use what you need and sell the rest in say 1/2 or 1/4 bags as people come to buy your fish.
2. Join any local fish clubs, do research go to all the LFS in your area listen take notes figure out what people want, what stores don't have, things that are easy to breed but command a high price. The fish business seems to defiantly be supply and demand but also fish popularity goes in and out of fashion pretty quickly. Figure out what people want and what will give you the most profit margin for your buck. IE. You wanted to dedicate an entire 55 to breed red head severums. Why would you do that if your goal is profit they take a long time to pair off they often aren't great parents (at least at first) a HIGH quality pair will be expensive, they will be a heavy bio load in the 55 need the space, and the fry only sell for maybe 5 bucks if your lucky and that's at a decent size. Not to mention when I buy mine online to mix up my gene pool I get super high quality for a $1 and still I only order them when Im getting more other things. Not to mention I've been attempting to breed these (and failing) for about a year now. (Im looking for a perfect high quality pair)
Instead in that 55 you could split it in half or even keep it together and do say 3 groups of mbuna get a nice male of each species and TONS of females and you'll have nice and expensive fry in no time. Mbuna arnt your only options either tropheus come to mind, maybe apistos, or angel fish Plecos would actually probably be the most profitable if you could afford the start uip. Again it will depend on what your general area is looking for though. same thing with the 90. The more you can breed and the more efficiently you can do it the more you will make.
3. Save all your profits and savings from your job (you'll have to be working at this time as you will most likely be losing money) and expand as you can adding more tanks. Picking up good deals on Craigslist snatching up tanks on your club FS forums learning to reseal and get leaking tanks for pennies on the dollar. Buying as many tanks from the dollar a gallon sale as you can afford and fit. Becoming more efficant as you go and spending the money to make upgrades that will save you in the long run. IE central air system, heating the room not the tanks, plumb your tanks.
4. So now your established in your area and have a decent rep for being a quality breeder. Make a website, learn how to ship it's a little more in depth then you may think and supplies is more expensive then you think. You should have a pretty decent size fish list at this point it would also be good to focus on a region of fish IE. You breed mostly Africans or mostly New worlds or catfish or whatever. And then have some others thrown in there. Advertise websites become sponsors of forums and clubs. Donate to your local club be a presence at meetings and auctions. Branch out to other near by clubs go to there auctions make donations to there raffles hand out cards sell your fish at raffles, continue to sell out of your home craigslist. Ask what people want and change your stock often only keep flawless specimens and be know for quality. Maybe begin stocking dry goods at this point a good start for dry goods would be things you are using often and can buy in mass bulk then mark up. IE food, shipping supplies, water conditioners, sponge filters, boxes media.
5. At this point you should be continue to expand maybe building an outbuilding converting a large garage renting a near by building. your online business should be going well you should be well know in not only your local club but all neighboring states clubs. this is where you would probably begin importing and whole sale buying and re selling for a profit. Ill stop here as I know nothing about this step at all.
This is just my opinion and how I see it going for me if I was going to do this and be successful at it. It seems like a very long process and also risky I'd imagine for a lot of that time you would not be making a profit at all and most likely re investing more then what your making.
There are plenty of people on here that have much larger breeding setups (thousandths of gallons) already set up efficiently and still lose money. Do it because you enjoy it and if you make some money doing it awesome if not well you had fun doing it. Guys like rapps and conkels didn't just say hey I want to make a fast buck lets breed and import fish.
Whatever you decide good luck and again this is just my opinion because trust me I have thought over and over in my heads how I could turn my hobby into a job. I just don't see it as a realistic possibly with my life situation currently but yours may be different.
