Small breeding bussiness??

whiteymoza · Post by **whiteymoza** » 19 Aug 2006, 15:20

Ok I dont think there is much point in posting this yet because as of now this is still in its very early planning stages..

I am thinking of getting a bank of 24in tanks (9 tanks in total) And using them to breed fish. Bristlenose ancisterus and possibly angel fish.

I dont know yet if I should sell online or to local shops but any input would be useful.

Does anybody have any surgestions i.e. better fish to go for for breeding, or a better method of going about this project. I used to work in an LFS and I remember customers bringing in Bristlenoses and angel fish and getting around Â£1 a fish, As bristlenoses breed fairly reguarly and grow fairly fast for the first few months is this a good idea?
It is really just an experiment and to gain a bit of experience for the future as I plan on going into the business.

I will update as I go along.

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 19 Aug 2006, 23:44

If your going to do this, make sure you have quality breeding fish. And dont allow interbreeding inside families.

For Ancistrus, if you are planning to sell, i would (Probably struggle to) find some wild Bristlenoses, and breed those.

whiteymoza · Post by **whiteymoza** » 20 Aug 2006, 12:11

Wild Bristlenoses?!

No Problem!

flash · Post by **flash** » 20 Aug 2006, 12:28

hi
i breed a few fish to help pay the electric and food bills.the best ones ive found are corys panda,sturbi,etc they sell for about Â£2 each and my local shops cant get enough i also breed sturisoma and rhinoloricaria i get Â£3 for those .i agree with pictus man good quality unrealated stock will sell well every time i visit all my local shops often and if i find any good fish i introduce them into my breeders teams thus improving it all the time. the best advivce i could give is gather as much information and advice as poss .theres a lot of very knowledgable aqaurists out there and most of them are only to happy to share.
good luck flash

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 20 Aug 2006, 13:56

I know what you mean about living in the UK ( it sucks, most of the time)

But if you were able to find wild or direct descendants of wild fish, im sure you would get alot more customers.

whiteymoza · Post by **whiteymoza** » 20 Aug 2006, 15:40

This is excellent! Thank you for the advice I shouldnt have any problems getting wild caught fish ordered in for me for a lowish price and shifting the fish should also be fairly easy. The one thing im having difficulty looking for is old second hand aquarium systems like what you see in the fish. I remember when I first started at my old job we were just moving in the new systems and trying to get rid of the old ones. They were selling at about Â£100-200 depending on age, Most of them were thrown away

I wish I had had the interest at the time and had taken one on! At the time my hobby was only just growing and I didn not have the interest or space to keep it! I didnt even have a tank at home so I considered the fish at work my "pets!"

Post by **medaka** » 20 Aug 2006, 23:23

All the best with your venture, however!

I have been keeping and breeding fish for 30 yrs, and when I was in full health I had 56 aquaria, breeding quite a few differing species from Rainbows to Catfish..I now have 33 tanks and still breed..If I make anything at all, I count on it as a bonus. I have seen over the years many people whom thought they could make a living out of breeding fish including a guy who could breed many species, seemingly without any effort, who set up 300 tanks with the intension of making a living.. after 18 months he found he couldnt meet his overheads let alone take a wage, sadly(I liked the guy,and his knowledge was excellent) he no longer keeps anything. on a smaller scale, when I worked in a LFS, a customer set up 10 tanks and had a go at breeding, unfortunatly he hadnt researched "Trade prices" and tried to sell zebra danios to shops at 50 pence each; not realising that at the time after V.A.T. LFS were buying them in at 12 pence ea. Saying that, as you have worked in a LFS you are probably aware of this.
Sorry to sound negative but, IMHO

I would advise that it may be better to breed as a hobby & not as a business.

whiteymoza · Post by **whiteymoza** » 20 Aug 2006, 23:39

True very true the trade prices are quite low considering the prices of the fish sold I remember the mark up on some L-Numbers was Â£15 to Â£60!! I dont really intend to make money just an excuse to getmore tanks and gain experience!