Breeding for Profit

[GouramiFanatic]

I've been reading these threads about breeding fish and I get a sense of pride and exciting when one's fish spawn. It's really inspiring and I would love to take a stab at it sometime. I'd have to come up with a game plan though on which fish I'd want to try breeding first and of course what to do with the fry that come out of it. Selling them to a LFS seems to be the most common choice. I'm just curious though, is this profitable in the end? I wouldn't be doing this solely for money as I think the fish, pets in general, are more important than money, but it would be a nice perk and a nice way to end the experience.

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

It's not profitable for awhile after you get stuff setup. Selling to the LFS isn't actually that great I found out. It's better selling them to people online for straight cash.

[Zagz]

Funny you should bring this up. I have been keeping fish for over 6 years now and just this week started profiting from it. I have a new lfs in town that has agreed to buy all the fish I spawn. Today I sold 41 fish for $200. Does it outweigh the costs I have spent? No not at all but it is a very nice perk. And in the long run it will quite nicely offset the costs.

[GouramiFanatic]

I'm sure shipping fish is something that'll get easier with time, but I'd freak out that they would die in transit.

Wow Zatz... that's really cool. Honestly, I really think having success breeding the fish and raising the fry would be much more rewarding than actually getting the money for them. I don't think it's possible to keep ALL of the fry either! Getting a little money back would be a nice perk and a nice way to keep things 'moving'.

[bs6749]

It all depends on WHAT you breed. Guppies, mollies, neon tetras an other fish that are a dime a dozen aren't going to be worth much and they may be more work than what little money you'd get out of it. However, if you were to breed something like plecos, discus, etc. you can make a good deal of money off of fish. ABN plecos for example can sell for about $5 each around 1-1.5 inches. Discus can sell for $25 easily at 3 inches, with some strains selling for $75+ at that size. It all depends on what you want to breed though, since the market is flooded with many specimens like some of the species I mentioned that won't earn you much.

[Algenco]

A lot depends on how many lfs in your area will buy.
I sell Angels and Blue Rams to 3 stores and get around $400 per month

[Zagz]

Originally Posted by bs6749

It all depends on WHAT you breed. Guppies, mollies, neon tetras an other fish that are a dime a dozen aren't going to be worth much and they may be more work than what little money you'd get out of it. However, if you were to breed something like plecos, discus, etc. you can make a good deal of money off of fish. ABN plecos for example can sell for about $5 each around 1-1.5 inches. Discus can sell for $25 easily at 3 inches, with some strains selling for $75+ at that size. It all depends on what you want to breed though, since the market is flooded with many specimens like some of the species I mentioned that won't earn you much.

Very true, the fish I have been selling are albino ancistrus, electric yellow cichlids, aulonocara stuartgranti, and occasionally bolivian rams. The mollies, guppies etc are the bread and butter fish of the lfs, but not a money maker for the aquarist at all.

[mdsmitty]

i am trying to breed just to populate my tank with the fish i want. i am crazy about peacocks atm which cost about $35 a piece here in louisville, ky. sad to say i am not having any luck with em but other fish like my yellow labs r holding eggs in thier mouth right now. considered selling em to my lfs cause i don't want anymore of em. i would love to breed a red texas cichlid but i hear chances of gettign a red one in slim and none and buying one is $225 each

[Fishyfanatic]

Our Africans breed like crazy and for a while there we were selling them to a lfs and making quite a profit. I consider the price for the tank, lights, etc as a moot cost because we already had them. We take fry up to the lfs when we are heading that way. It's easier to me than selling online and having to ensure shipment, etc.

[mgamer20o0]

well first of all your not going to make a living off it. selling to a lfs will be able to move a lot but you wont be able to get as much. if your doing it because you like it its another thing. i do sell a lot on the internet from plants and fish. i do it as a hobby i like. i joke all the time i would have been better to spend the time and got a job a lowes or something. like others point out you have to find a hole and fill it. deal with rarer stuff or things they cant order easy from wholesalers and trasnshipper.

[mike47517]

Originally Posted by bs6749

It all depends on WHAT you breed. Guppies, mollies, neon tetras an other fish that are a dime a dozen aren't going to be worth much and they may be more work than what little money you'd get out of it. However, if you were to breed something like plecos, discus, etc. you can make a good deal of money off of fish. ABN plecos for example can sell for about $5 each around 1-1.5 inches. Discus can sell for $25 easily at 3 inches, with some strains selling for $75+ at that size. It all depends on what you want to breed though, since the market is flooded with many specimens like some of the species I mentioned that won't earn you much.

I agree with BS if you get feeder guppies and breed them you arent going to get near as much as you would dicus or GBRs and stuff of that sort.

[czcz]

If you're looking to offset hobby costs, fwiw I used to trade in cherry shrimp and plants to one of my LFS for store credit and after like a year even with getting stuff occasionally had like $200 credit. Was really easy (if its good, just bring them in and show them what you have) and they're more interested after you tell them you don't want cash (and of course you explain you expect a higher amount of store credit than you would have received from them in cash) and after a while we just ballparked it. Also nicely offsets the markup of buying local while supporting local business in some way.

[bs6749]

I can clear $200 in a month easily on my RCS. I won't sell any to my LFS. I don't support my LFS. No reason to. They won't give crap for fish/inverts. They'd give me $1 store credit for a 4 month old GBR! Then, they turn around and sell it for $13. Their stock is horrible and I won't buy any "real fish" from them. Dithers maybe but nothing that's worth having.

[jrp1588]

wow, $1. That's pitiful. My LFS gives half credit for fish in store credit. I sold my angels to them for $4 store credit each.