opening new fish store
- Thread starter dovii_6
- Start date
I do agree with what others are saying about keeping more than just cichlids. Ultimately it's your decision on what you want to sell.
As far as a name, might want to look into using "Blue Ridge" in the name. I know there is a koi farm called Blue Ridge. Might run into legal issues with the name. Not really sure how all that stuff works. Something you may want to look into.
As far as a name, might want to look into using "Blue Ridge" in the name. I know there is a koi farm called Blue Ridge. Might run into legal issues with the name. Not really sure how all that stuff works. Something you may want to look into.
I've known cichlid focused stores that do well with little to none of the cheaper, generic fish some might consider their bread and butter. Cichlid focused doesn't have to mean exclusively cichlids, but I've seen some that were probably 90% cichlids. They were either in areas with a lot of cichlid enthusiasts (parts of Florida), in cities, or had a web presence and able to ship fish.
There's different ways I've seen it work. One guy I knew outside of Daytona Fl was 90% African cichlids, little bit of food and meds, a few rarer catfish or plecos and that was usually about it, but he had his own ponds going and bred several of his own species, got a lot of his other stock direct from fish farms-- basically guys he knew-- and he had his own building on a highway out of town-- not paying rent in a mall, etc. and also shipped some fish. Basically, you found this place because you wanted cichlids. I was on the opposite coast, meaning it was a couple of hours from me and I would make the drive.
I've seen other places that were cichlids and marine or focused on both cichlids and tanks and equipment, etc. Some of these places were medium to larger pet or fish shops that carried everything, including a large selection of rarer cichlids, but others were pretty exclusively geared to true hobbyists and had almost exclusively nicer or higher end fish, not much you'd see at a typical Petsmart.
Not recommending what to do, just saying what I've seen work. I've spent a little time around Asheville, don't know the interest in cichlids there, but I'd think there's enough money and sophistication in the area to support better than a basic fish store. Only thing about some areas like that these days is sometimes there's more interest in marine fish than cichlids. As far as cichlids in the name or not, imo it's kind of optional these days when you can have a web-site or other online presence that highlights cichlids if it's not in the name. I know one guy who calls his place Fish Freaks, he does mostly cichlids but the name tells you his place is a serious fish store without limiting it to cichlids.
There's different ways I've seen it work. One guy I knew outside of Daytona Fl was 90% African cichlids, little bit of food and meds, a few rarer catfish or plecos and that was usually about it, but he had his own ponds going and bred several of his own species, got a lot of his other stock direct from fish farms-- basically guys he knew-- and he had his own building on a highway out of town-- not paying rent in a mall, etc. and also shipped some fish. Basically, you found this place because you wanted cichlids. I was on the opposite coast, meaning it was a couple of hours from me and I would make the drive.
I've seen other places that were cichlids and marine or focused on both cichlids and tanks and equipment, etc. Some of these places were medium to larger pet or fish shops that carried everything, including a large selection of rarer cichlids, but others were pretty exclusively geared to true hobbyists and had almost exclusively nicer or higher end fish, not much you'd see at a typical Petsmart.
Not recommending what to do, just saying what I've seen work. I've spent a little time around Asheville, don't know the interest in cichlids there, but I'd think there's enough money and sophistication in the area to support better than a basic fish store. Only thing about some areas like that these days is sometimes there's more interest in marine fish than cichlids. As far as cichlids in the name or not, imo it's kind of optional these days when you can have a web-site or other online presence that highlights cichlids if it's not in the name. I know one guy who calls his place Fish Freaks, he does mostly cichlids but the name tells you his place is a serious fish store without limiting it to cichlids.
Did you open it? I'm in Asheville (actually owned an aquarium store in the area), and would love to check it out. Couldn't find anything from a cursory Google, except a link to this thread. Best wishes!
After calling a guy who had told me about a cichlid store in Asheville, he was able to find a business card and gave me this URL: http://www.theevolvedfish.com/home.html Wondering if it's the same person?
Yeah it is lol I'm out in fairview the number is 8287824254.
Ive got a bunch of Africans right now as well as a slew of SA and CA coming in tomorow am from Jeff rapps
And regarding everyone saying to keep more then cichlids I only have cichlids here and I'm doing great. We'll I have like six betta but that's for the kids that come thru.
