Starting my fish store-- stock ideas?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
vfc;4772364; said:
I don't mean to discourage you, but you do have to consider the competition when you start a business. I would drive a few extra miles to Mechanicsburg (BTW - I lived and worked in Harrisburg for awhile) but only if you had something rare that I could not get anywhere locally.
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So just sell everything they don't have! All the best online fish stores have the stuff that nobody else does. Rare everything from catfish to tetras to cichlids. Skip breeding stuff for now till you get more open to the public. Unless you are breeding rare things. Don't bother with convicts or JD's. Those will be more trouble that their worth. And when you do start breeding the usual, make sure people know you bred them ant they aren't from a farm.

Get rare Piranha, Bichirs, rays, arrows as well as the community stuff like pencilfish, splash tetras, variants and things like that.
 
cichlid_starter;4772522; said:
So just sell everything they don't have! All the best online fish stores have the stuff that nobody else does. Rare everything from catfish to tetras to cichlids. Skip breeding stuff for now till you get more open to the public. Unless you are breeding rare things. Don't bother with convicts or JD's. Those will be more trouble that their worth. And when you do start breeding the usual, make sure people know you bred them ant they aren't from a farm.

Get rare Piranha, Bichirs, rays, arrows as well as the community stuff like pencilfish, splash tetras, variants and things like that.
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I actually want to breed JD's and convicts to use as live food for my personal fish. hah. So, I could sell some that look good and if they don't sell.. well.. lunch.
 
In the area I live (Tacoma/Seattle) there are local breeders of flowerhorns that post on craigslist all the time with their fish at pretty high prices compared to the LFS. Almost all of these have better fish than I have seen offered in local fish stores, so the prices are not really an issue if you want quality.

The other fish I see all the time are convicts (from people who just did not know that was going to happen!) and another guy is having batch after batch of bristle nose plecos for sale.
 
DMD123;4772621; said:
In the area I live (Tacoma/Seattle) there are local breeders of flowerhorns that post on craigslist all the time with their fish at pretty high prices compared to the LFS. Almost all of these have better fish than I have seen offered in local fish stores, so the prices are not really an issue if you want quality.

The other fish I see all the time are convicts (from people who just did not know that was going to happen!) and another guy is having batch after batch of bristle nose plecos for sale.
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I definitely want to look into flowerhorns.. that's a fish I just got into, and they are amazing.
 
cichlid_starter;4772522; said:
So just sell everything they don't have! All the best online fish stores have the stuff that nobody else does. Rare everything from catfish to tetras to cichlids.
Get rare Piranha, Bichirs, rays, arrows as well as the community stuff like pencilfish, splash tetras, variants and things like that.
Click to expand...

I agree with this advice. My top 5 fish stores (in my driving range which would include your area) have a large selection and a niche species or two. For example:

World Wide Aquarium (Upper Darby, PA) - Has the largest and best selection of African cichlids as well as SA & CA cichlids. They sell small and full grown versions. I counted nearly a hundred tanks of African Cichlids alone. Jim Hall is their expert and draws a following to himself.

That Fish Place in Lancaster, PA - Biggest selection of fish in my area; plus they sell other pet supplies.

Captain Nemo (formerly Big Als) in Plymouth Meeting, PA. has tons of discus and the occasional rare species. John Nixon runs the fish room and knows his stuff.

Fish Factory and The Hidden Reef in Levittown & Bristol, PA. I lump these two together because they are physically close and both have an excellent selection of quality and sometimes rare fish.

Fins Feathers Paws & Claws in Harleysville, PA is an unassuming gem. I lived near this store for years and never bothered to stop in as I assumed it would be a waste of time. They have a relatively small fish room but manage to sell some fairly rare species.
 
Maybe go to the fish stores in your area and ask what is selling like crazy. then do fish like them but not that fish. Stuff people will like just like the ones lfs are selling
 
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