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The coral Pencil fish look really nice! But I can't really seem to find them in any store. Howabout breeding guppies? I could get a hefty sum in about a few months and sell them at a dollar each? My oscars are also breeding, they lay about 1000 eggs per spawn, they are easy to breed and raise, but how much should I sell them for?

Thing is, there's already a huge supply of guppies and oscars. There's frankly just no way a store will pay you a dollar a guppy - you'll be lucky to get five cents in store credit per fish, and you'll have to raise them to nearly full size first. Ditto oscars - stores don't sell half as many as you think, and they have a cheap, reliable supply. You're lucky if they take them off your hands, much less pay for them.

Sorry, but as was said before - if it's easy to breed, it's not going to be profitable. Even those Coral Reds, given a few years, will be too available (which is why CoryAddict's doing this now ... plus CoryAddict's idea of easy to breed is very different from guppy-style easy to breed).

To make money you have to spend money. Buy a breeding group of Zebra Plecs and breed them and you're sure to make money - but it'll be $600 for the group, about.

-Molly
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i think what everyone is trying to tell ya is do it because you enjoy it first. if you happen to make a buck at it great but it shouldnt be your motivation. breeding fish is like playing the stock market. just noway to tell if your gona walk away with heavy pockets or empty ones.

$10 for one fish isn't a lot when you only have to buy one or two (hell, I just bought a $50 pleco a couple weeks ago), but it adds up when you need to get a school of them.

Also, expensive African cichlids are a lot bigger than these 1" long pencilfish, so in terms of the weight of the fish, gram for gram, the pencilfish are way more expensive.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Breeding fish small scale really wont be profitable... If it was we'd all be doing it . The best you can hope for is making a couple (literally) of bucks. Even some of the bigger betta breeders don't really make that much money and still need day jobs.

Howabout breeding Frontosa? It hurts my wallet when I really like a frontosa, The only thing is finding a pair is difficult because of the money to buy 6 front'.

I breed peppered cories, because they lay the eggs. I turn them in for some store credit(turned in seven full grown for a brand new 200 Watt heater the other day). I don't expect to make a profit, just pay for some fish food, and other aquatic needs....and to fill out my own schools

-Keith #2


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Try breeding fish which suppliers rarely stock anymore!
I breed Blue acaras- easy to breed and I sell them at 5cm for $4 bucks each as 90% off stores can't get them from big suppliers.

It's the same as south american dwarf cichlids,
I also breed aggassiz dwarf cichlid- kind of easy and sell them for atleast $8
problem is I can only sell 4 on average per store.

Last edited by ghostfish at 12-Jan-2005 17:35

killis are real nice looking and can ship easily by mailing the eggs. bad thing is some have extensive dormant periods which can be a pain in the .

unless your a professional breeder. the best you can hope for is paying for the hobby itself. ive paid for some of my tanks by selling the plants that grow in them. as far as profit its pretty hard even to brake even.

i wasnt planning on breeding for profit, but thats whats happening i placed an add in the NP and i have 2 hits already, just price them a little lower than wally-world (1.50) and it can make all the diffrence, i am selling endlers for i think 1.50, because i realy dont like them, their colors are way too mixed up, and i personally thing most are ugly but hey this girl with a 75 gallon wants most or all! and i have like 20 so try that route, it worked for me, it may take a little while though to get noticed, but just be persistant

That is a really good idea, my lfs has a high demand for oscars and convicts(awkward, but they are the pink kind) and guppies. The only problem is breeding african cichlids like peacocks. The lfs will pay a nice sum of money them. Can anyone explain african cichlid breed? Thanks.

Last edited by trojan_man at 05-Jan-2005 22:33

the best ones are african cichlids they would sell the best if you want this to be a long term goal like several year get a colony of fronts

One fish I can suggest for you not to breed for profit: The convict cichlid or any similar medium sized cichlid that is very common. Here, where I live, not one pet store will even allow you to "give them" convicts. They are too commonly bred and sold, so there is no demand for them. Other fish I have seen them turn away are: Yellow Labs, the really bright Blue Cichlids, and Kribensis. Ones I have seen paid good prices for is Jack Dempsey young, Oscars, Angelfish, and Gouramis.
It pays to check with your lfs' to find out what they have a strong demand for, and then go from there.
I am breeding Guppies, Platys, and hope to breed my dwarf gouramis or pearl gouramis in the future.
I also have breeding angels, but havent yet attempted to hatch a spawn myself and so no babies so far. Once the baby guppies in the 10g have moved into their more spacious 25g home, I think I will try hatching an Angel spawn, as I can get 150 dollars for 100 pea size angels.


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Thank you.

max

"I live in Crosby, Texas 77532."
Sorry, but I'm unwilling to ship my fish outside of the state (or at least somewhere darn close-AZ, etc). I'm sure there's a store near you which will sell panda cories and BNs.

"Are they going to be ok with guppy fry?"
Cories and bristlenoses should get along with even the smallest of fish.

"Which will clean algae off the glass better?"
Ancistrus sp. clean algae off glass pretty darn well.

"Is there anything special about long finned ancistris except the obvious?"
Nothing really. They are considered to be a morph of the "original" Temeck's BN.

"I like the appearance of C. Sterbii. Is there anything special about them?"
Only that they will cost you quite a bit.

"What does C. Panda look like?"
http://images.google.com/images?q=corydoras+panda&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search

I live in Crosby, Texas 77532. Are they going to be ok with guppy fry? Would ancistris be ok? Which will clean algae off the glass better? Is there anything special about long finned ancistris except the obvious? I like the appearance of C. Sterbii. Is there anything special about them? What does C. Panda look like?

guppymax@arczip.com