Well, IMHO. You won't breed enough of any of these to feed the three fish you are talking about. What size are the fish in question presently? They all get at least 2' long.
Guppies are harder then people are letting on. You have to keep the water pristine; especially if you crowd them at all. They tend to easily develop bacterial infections and they do eat their own fry. A single bacterial infection can easily wipe out your entire colony if not caught early enough. If you want them to grow quickly - daily water changes are needed too.
Ghost Shrimp can be raised pretty quickly if you pump them full of food, but they will eat their own larva. So you would have to remove carrying females to their own tank until the larva release and grow them out a little before putting them back in the main tank.
Convicts grow pretty quickly. They are easy to breed too...
Don't forget minnows from the bait store. I don't recommend the option because they are usually wild caught around here and not treated for parasites or disease.
My feeling is that there is no money saved in raising them unless you go all out. When you combine the amount of time it takes to mature them you have to include food, water and energy in the cost. Not to mention your time. I just don't see you keeping up either.
What you need is one of those big 150 gallon Rubbermaid tubs and buy your feeders in mass. Buy 500-1500 Rosies or Gold Fish at a time... Drop them in, keep the water clean and cool.
I used to raise angel fish of various types. I would have 1000-2000 going at any given time. It took me about 6-8 weeks to get them to quarter or larger body size. I would have about one batch hatch a week - say 250-400 fry. I would raise them until 1/4"-1/2" in diameter before culling them. Even with the bad batches I sometimes got (25%-50% culls) I couldn't feed a single Oscar I had for the culls enough. He ate a lot of pellets too.
Guppies are harder then people are letting on. You have to keep the water pristine; especially if you crowd them at all. They tend to easily develop bacterial infections and they do eat their own fry. A single bacterial infection can easily wipe out your entire colony if not caught early enough. If you want them to grow quickly - daily water changes are needed too.
Ghost Shrimp can be raised pretty quickly if you pump them full of food, but they will eat their own larva. So you would have to remove carrying females to their own tank until the larva release and grow them out a little before putting them back in the main tank.
Convicts grow pretty quickly. They are easy to breed too...
Don't forget minnows from the bait store. I don't recommend the option because they are usually wild caught around here and not treated for parasites or disease.
My feeling is that there is no money saved in raising them unless you go all out. When you combine the amount of time it takes to mature them you have to include food, water and energy in the cost. Not to mention your time. I just don't see you keeping up either.
What you need is one of those big 150 gallon Rubbermaid tubs and buy your feeders in mass. Buy 500-1500 Rosies or Gold Fish at a time... Drop them in, keep the water clean and cool.
I used to raise angel fish of various types. I would have 1000-2000 going at any given time. It took me about 6-8 weeks to get them to quarter or larger body size. I would have about one batch hatch a week - say 250-400 fry. I would raise them until 1/4"-1/2" in diameter before culling them. Even with the bad batches I sometimes got (25%-50% culls) I couldn't feed a single Oscar I had for the culls enough. He ate a lot of pellets too.
