Which fish should I breed?

[Renegade Aquatics]

So to this day I never successfully bred a fish, but then again I've never tried. Anyways I've been talking to another friend of mine in the hobby who convinced me to it, as I'd like something to try and support my hobby with something a bit more then just mowing lawns. So I've been looking at few species that have piqued my interest, and my question is what fish do you think would be most interesting to breed while at the time while at the same time provide a decent amount by either selling to local hobbyists or taking them to an LFS or perhaps even Aquarium Co-op as they're within a reasonable driving distance. Here are the species I was considering:
Ancistrus dolichopterus
Centromochlus orca/Tatia musaica
Corydoras knaacki
Corydoras similis
Corydoras sp. Black
Corydoras sp. CW009
Dianema urostriatum
Hisonotus aky
Hypancistrus sp. L201
Hypancistrus sp. L260
Hypancistrus sp. L262
Lamprologus speciosus
Lamprologus stappersi/meleagris
Lepidiolamprologus meeli

Thanks in advance

 

[Renegade Aquatics]

Oh and I forgot to add Hypancistrus zebra to the list

 

[Hendre]

I'm on the same boat, what to breed. Going to likely have paradise fish babies soon

I'm also getting ancistrus, bristlenose, soon (for free as well) and will be breeding those as well. They are cool to watch and breed fairly easily. Most shops will take them too for a bit of money maybe

Can be easily raised in tank with parents

 

[Judyok]

They're not on your list, but Lamprologus multifasciatus breed very well and they sell pretty reliably. You don't need a big tank either.

 

[Renegade Aquatics]

They're not on your list, but Lamprologus multifasciatus breed very well and they sell pretty reliably. You don't need a big tank either.

I definitely considered these when looking at shellies, but I just wanted something a more uncommon. I dunno if I do go shellies I'll definitely look to them again

 

[Hendre]

The thing is with uncommon they have little demand so unless you ship may be difficult. You need to sell something in demand and prive that you can provide better quality stock to win buyers

 

[Renegade Aquatics]

Yeah, fair enough that is a good point

 

[paulW]

Honetly, just try to breed what you are interested in.
Start with something easy, even if it is not a potential income stream.

You have never bred any fish before. You probably don't want to start with something expenisve.
Also, suppose you are not really interested in plecos. Trying to breed them for profit is not going to be fun in that case.

 

[Hendre]

Hence why I'm trying some BN that I can get for free and see what happens

Start small and work up

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I get that both you and Hendre have jumped past breeding fish as a hobby to thinking of a commercial plan. I know Hendre is young and has potentially a long time to work things out, perhaps you do also. I also get that Hendre is impatient, common at a young age.

Perhaps a variation on the picking up something heavy rule can apply. Do not pick up something heavy unless you already have a place ready to sit it down.
You both have done some of that planning in that you are thinking of species with the potential to sell. Good thinking.

Another thing that comes to mind is how to go about getting good breeding stock. My guess is that simply going to local fish shops might work but there is some chance that any such stock may already be siblings or cousins. I have, by accident, a breeding pair of angel fish currently purchased at the same time from the same shop. I have seven juveniles growing out from them. Were I to consider raising angels commercially I will have to raise a few generations from the pair to see if and how many fry are deformed or even have good standard color and form for the species. Do you want to "burn" a local shop with juvenile fish that do not grow out nice?

With that in mind let me suggest a smaller species that are fairly easy to house long term. On your list the corydoras may fit the bill to grow out long term.
Corydoras knaacki
Corydoras similis
Corydoras sp. Black
Corydoras sp. CW009

I fear Hendre's paradise fish will prove to be a headache with regard to the housing.

I have breed kribensis in some numbers in the past. They proved to be a housing problem. The zebra danioes were much easier to house but my breeding stock produced a fair number of deformed offspring when grown out to maturity.

Good luck anyway.