Ah right on. Sweet. Yeah I'm always up for some profit but I don't expect to live off it by any means. I really hope I can move angel fry fast enough so that I can enjoy raising them. I'm so looking forward to it
Making substantial money in the hobby?
- Thread starter Nepherael
- Start date
There is someone on here who owns an online store, he has done it for a few years.
This is his website:
bobstropicalplants.com
Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
This is his website:
bobstropicalplants.com
Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
The problem is that it's hard to move them fast enough. When I say intense on resources, I mean food, electricity etc. but mostly SPACE. You have to give them enough space to develop properly, otherwise they will never reach their potential. For their fins to be straight and outstretched and for them to grow right and not show the first signs of stunting, they need very clean water, protein rich food (the two are hard to maintain together, since protein rich food pollutes the water) along with probably some baby brine shrimp or other micro food at first...and then as they grow, they have to not be in too high a concentration. You can crowd them when they're fry, but then you have to follow a fairly strict protocol of moving them into smaller and smaller densities. (Angels Plus, the website, has some articles on this I believe...not to mention the web is full of them.) That's why angelfish breeders end up with so many tanks, because they are so productive! (When you remove the eggs, that is, since they are notorious for eating them.) So honestly, don't even try too hard to raise every single fry...
I've never bred angelfish, but I did buy a huge lot of aquarium stuff from an angelfish breeder. He routinely ended up selling a bunch of his stock to the LFS for like 10-25 cents a piece just to make room. He had some heart problems which slowed him down and he admitted he just couldn't keep up any longer. He bred only koi angels, which were hot when he started but then became common. He had at least 20 tanks in his workshop! I can only imagine what all that lumber cost him. Even if you can buy secondhand rearing tanks cheap, the stands and equipment to run them ends up being expensive.
My advice is that you start small
Try raising just 20 fry. Be ruthless in culling (unfortunately). If that goes well, then try 30 next time, etc.
I've never bred angelfish, but I did buy a huge lot of aquarium stuff from an angelfish breeder. He routinely ended up selling a bunch of his stock to the LFS for like 10-25 cents a piece just to make room. He had some heart problems which slowed him down and he admitted he just couldn't keep up any longer. He bred only koi angels, which were hot when he started but then became common. He had at least 20 tanks in his workshop! I can only imagine what all that lumber cost him. Even if you can buy secondhand rearing tanks cheap, the stands and equipment to run them ends up being expensive.
My advice is that you start small
Try raising just 20 fry. Be ruthless in culling (unfortunately). If that goes well, then try 30 next time, etc.
Interesting. Yeah I can live with culling (had a really hard time with it when I started and wouldn't even do it but I came to terms with it) and trying a few. That is a really good idea.
In my current situation I can get a 40b setup with no problem and have an extra 55 laying around until my salt tank is setup. I was hoping to not have to go beyond that for now (i have smaller tanks to start the fry in so no problems there) but I had been worried about space too and not having enough housing.
Thank god I only have 5 angels and they haven't paired yet. Hoping for good luck and getting 2 pairs out of the deal.
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In my current situation I can get a 40b setup with no problem and have an extra 55 laying around until my salt tank is setup. I was hoping to not have to go beyond that for now (i have smaller tanks to start the fry in so no problems there) but I had been worried about space too and not having enough housing.
Thank god I only have 5 angels and they haven't paired yet. Hoping for good luck and getting 2 pairs out of the deal.
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While this topic is being discussed, anyone here breed Zebra Plecos? If so, are you really selling many? I have access to a large amount of approximately 1 y/o fish, but not sure if I should go for them or not.
I don't know what the demand for them is at the price I see them at ($450) but I bet if you are getting a good price on what you're considering buying and can offer the offspring considerably cheaper (50-150) that you'd make big money. That's all speculation though
Using the hobby as your primary source of income in tough. With a little less work, you can make a decent amount of pocket money while still having the interesting experience of raising livestock.
Yeah that's exactly what I'm looking for. I've actually spoken to a couple people that own and operate their own small fish shop and they have told me how rough it can be. I'd like to get just a bit on the side. My goal is $100 a month but obviously if that requires too much of a time investment it's no big deal. The biggest thing for me is being able to have fun raising fry and be able to move them fast enough that I don't get overloaded. Right now I have at least 60 fry and the biggest issue I'm having is what size to sell them. I am hating the idea of waiting 3+ months until they look lfs size or sex able size >.<
The keys to raising fish for profit are to raise fish that are high demand at young ages, moderately rare and not commonly found in lfs, and easily bred and raised. To reduce your overhead costs there are lots of club swaps and auctions found throughout the country and many may be close to driving distance for you. Table rents are cheap and you don't have to worry about shipping, or problems with payment. You may be able to sell fish only 3-4 times a year but when you do the cost is low and the exposure to customers is high. If you figure that it takes that long at least to raise a batch of fry you should have sellable fish to raise at any time.
Some species that I have worked with in the past and do well are BN plecos, Fancy guppies, Geophagus cichlids (just about any species but the larger and rarer ones do best), Endler's livebearers, Metriaclima demasoni, any kind of shrimp, and just about any Malawi Peacock or Utaka (sold in trios is best).
Fish to avoid are Malawi mbuna (with a few exceptions like Demasoni and Saulosi) as they are commonly available and easily bred, Angelfish (Market is saturated with breeders and the price is low), and Convicts (ultra saturated fish are hard to sell at any price).
Zebra plecos are an interesting conundrum. They don't spawn until they are about 3 years old, they only produce about 8-10 fry at a spawning, and are a year of growth to reach a sellable size. Wholesale price is about $150 a fish for a 1 year old fish and you won't get much more than that at swaps or auctions. They are fascinating to work with and it seems like you are getting a big payday when you sell them, but when you figure in all the money in food, energy, and time you put into them for the last 2-3 years it's really not much unless you are working with several pairs and get some kind of economy of scale. That's why this fish has been perennially high priced. They just can't be produced cheaply.
Good Luck,
Andy
PS. the 2012 ACA convention is coming up in about 2 weeks in Indianapolis and you should take the trip out to see how swaps and auctions (the auction is on Sunday) are done. You could find some new fish to work with and may be able to sell your angels in the auction.
Some species that I have worked with in the past and do well are BN plecos, Fancy guppies, Geophagus cichlids (just about any species but the larger and rarer ones do best), Endler's livebearers, Metriaclima demasoni, any kind of shrimp, and just about any Malawi Peacock or Utaka (sold in trios is best).
Fish to avoid are Malawi mbuna (with a few exceptions like Demasoni and Saulosi) as they are commonly available and easily bred, Angelfish (Market is saturated with breeders and the price is low), and Convicts (ultra saturated fish are hard to sell at any price).
Zebra plecos are an interesting conundrum. They don't spawn until they are about 3 years old, they only produce about 8-10 fry at a spawning, and are a year of growth to reach a sellable size. Wholesale price is about $150 a fish for a 1 year old fish and you won't get much more than that at swaps or auctions. They are fascinating to work with and it seems like you are getting a big payday when you sell them, but when you figure in all the money in food, energy, and time you put into them for the last 2-3 years it's really not much unless you are working with several pairs and get some kind of economy of scale. That's why this fish has been perennially high priced. They just can't be produced cheaply.
Good Luck,
Andy
PS. the 2012 ACA convention is coming up in about 2 weeks in Indianapolis and you should take the trip out to see how swaps and auctions (the auction is on Sunday) are done. You could find some new fish to work with and may be able to sell your angels in the auction.
