Best Catfish to Breed?

[Divemaster]

Hey guys, I'm getting a 55 gallon tank for free or really cheap of my friend in a month or two. I haven't officially decided whether to do discus,US native(s), an amazon community, or breed cats. I do have a feeling though that I'm going to go with cats since it's about time for me to get a job and every good LFS in my area is to far to work at for min wage. Oh and my job has to be in fish . So Like I said the tank is 55 US gallons (48" x 12" x 20") and I'm willing to try any catfish that will comfortably fit a pair or group for life. My water's ph is naturally 7.6 but I can adjust it if that's an issue (although I'd prefer not to tamper with it). So I really like cories, plecos, and synos and they are all still options but what other catfish are out there that can be fairly easily bred in a 55. I also should be making at least some profit off this whole endeavor since this is what I'm doing in place of a part time job, and I need money to support my addiction I mean hobby, haha. Also feel free to mention some good cories, plecos, or synos to breed in addition to other cats. Thanks for the help guys!

[JamesFish]

Hi,

I would suggest a slightly better approach of looking at what is not for sale in your area.

Ancistrus are commonly bred over here at least the age old favourite common one and the price 50p-£1 for a small to normal shop size one so it effectively costs to raise them. I've done it 3 times now and lost heavily on every occasion due to feed and upgrading kit to handle them.

To replace a job I'm guessing it needs to pay out $30 a week on average? You will need 2-3 months for fry to get to size and unless you have great shops willing to buy off you a steady market. So your looking for a fish that spawns at least 50+ fry that get to sale size in 2-3 months and can be sold at $8+ each. If your wondering how I got to that figure its 12x30 and rounded up. 3 months of heating, light, water and food should also be factored in. So perhaps a small cat that sells privately for $12-15 each would be suitable for you? Remember you need bags and elastic bands as well. If your lucky nobody will pop your bubble as not paying tax etc not sure on US laws. The cost of adults that you can sex or a large batch of separate blood line fry will be high for any fish fetching that kind of money so likely to take a while to pay back investment.

Private sellers in UK normally get 1/3-1/2 the value of a shop size fish don't know about the US. For fry its usually pea nuts.

My advice get a part time job and use the tank to enjoy fishes you want to look at. Decorate, kit and stock very slowly so you can do your homework. That way you get a great tank to enjoy and know why you are working. Sorry but if fish breeding was easy, cheap to do and profitable allot of us wouldn't be going to work. But sadly anything easy to breed has flooded the market. I'm not saying this to be mean its just unlikely any private breeder can turn a profit unless they are constantly breeding new imports that are hard to get in that area.

P.S if you wish to go down that route I wish you all the best and hope you prove me wrong on the $ side and really enjoy it.

[Divemaster]

Would it be possible to divide the tank in half and do cories on one side with plecos on the other? Or would the other fishes fry swim through and get eaten?

[racoll]

I also should be making at least some profit off this whole endeavor since this is what I'm doing in place of a part time job

There are probably only a couple of fish you can make money on, and only then under the assumption that they will breed regularly for you. These are

Hypancistrus zebra

and

Peckoltia compta

, and probably only if you establish a name for yourself and are able to set up an online store (or via Aquabid, ebay, etc) and reliably Fedex fish anywhere in the country without losses.

Would it be possible to divide the tank in half and do cories on one side with plecos on the other? Or would the other fishes fry swim through and get eaten?

No, you need a multitank system with multiple breeding groups of parents, and several growout tanks for different age fry. It is just not possible in a single tank, and doubly not possible for two species in a single tank.

I remember Larry (apistomaster) wrote some great posts on setting up as a fish breeder. I suggest you have a read of his comments.