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I have been thinking about selling aquarium plants that have been grown in aquarium water. Cory says this can be lucrative. He says that the plants we purchase are grown on farms from the ground. This is why they have a tendency to melt back when we first introduce them to our aquariums. My question is: Is this worth it? Is there a demand for plants grown under water? For an example if Aquarium Co-op sells Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus for $11.99. What do you think I could sell the same product for but that is was propagated and cultured in aquarium water, algae and snail free? I don't want to breed and sell fish but I believe I have found a niche for growing aquarium plants in water and a way to ship them. I would ship them in aquarium water, not soil and potted. What do you all think? Should I even try this?

Today, I sold some fish & plants to my LFS. Got $60 cash for everything. This sounds so exciting to enthusiastic aquarists, so I thought I’d share some details about how this all goes down. In part, maybe you’ll get some tips that will help YOU sell your stock (yay!) Or, likely, some of you will see ways I can improve (please share!) This began many months ago with BAP breeding projects. Think through how much food you feed one tank over six months. Just realize... that’s got to factor into any notions of profit. Furthermore, several years of carefully developed relations with the LFS manager need to be factored in. We have spent a LOT of money at this place, and have a working agreement (I’ll describe below) for how to calculate price points. Now... Yesterday, I texted the LFS manager, asking if he’d like to buy any fish and plants. I offered: 10x Corydoras Aeneus, 10x Fundulopanchax Scheeli, 10x Mollys, and 10x Cherry Shrimp Neocaridina. Also, one bunch each of Ludwigia Repens, Wisteria, Anacharis, and Valisneria Americana. He replied: yes to corys and killis, and yes to plants. Now... for anyone who is trying to remain a mere hobbyist while turning a dime... life has a fun way of getting in the way. No matter how well you plan, eventually something will challenge you! For me, it was my baby son refusing to sleep all night. He’s teething, and otherwise being irritable. I pulled baby duty so my wife could sleep. That has a way of knocking your plans. Friday commenced with physical therapy for my pre-k son who is recovering from elbow surgery. This followed by hair cut for him (turns out my hairstylist skills are just the worst), and pickup of groceries. Then, close to noon, my prep begins in the fishroom. I’m relating this because these basic life factors were not calculated into my “I’ll just sell some stuff to my LFS!” plans yesterday. Anyway, here’s how I get things ready: First, I siphon water from my 33 gal long Emerald killifish colony using a medium tubing length drawing tank water through small, fine-pore prefilter sponge intake to prevent excess duckweed or algae in the specimen container. Next, I rest a large net into the tank to allow fish time to get used to it. Then, I affix a single Sera-O-Nip tab to the front of the glass. Soon, the Killis gather round... Then I scoop out a net full... And drop them into the specimen container... Once fish are _in_ it is much easier to _remove_ unwanted fish than it is to catch more from a heavily planted tank. I find they’re easier to count when looking from above when a light is shining up through from beneath... I decided to go with 14x. If the buyer only wanted 10x, I’m fine with giving the 4x extras. I drop in just 1-3 drops of Kordon’s Amquel to lock Ammonia. I try to label the bag before adding fish... Next, I bag in a large plastic bag — thicker ply than usual. I try to leave 2/3 air to 1/3 water ratio... After knotting up the bag, I float in tank to match temperature... So that’s ONE bag ready. Not fast... and NOT mess-free! Next are the Bronze Corys. As before, I drain tank water through a filtered siphon... I set in some Algae wafers and a net... And soon some wander near... This works, but only to a point. Corys are fast and intelligent! Unfortunately, to catch more, I had to remove _everything_ they could hide under... And once I finally caught enough to total 10x, there was a lot of excess grunge and algae... So, I use airline to siphon out algae, prepare a second container with filtered tank water, and move the Corys over... Now with much less algae, I add several drops of Amquel... Label the bag... And set with Killis into a thermal bag... NOW! To get Cherry Shrimp... I drain exactly 16 oz. of Killi water to specimen container. I clip some Java Moss... And now to catch some cherry shrimp... Now, I’m using Long Life breather bags (which is why only 16 oz. of water) They’re designed to allow exchange of oxygen and CO2 _through the plastic_ . I label before filling... If reading all of this is tiring... try catching everything while making a wet mess everywhere 😂 Finally, we’re ready for PLANTS! Clip / pull and _label bags_ Valisneria Americana... Wisteria... Ludwigia Repens... And finally, Anacharis... Now ... ready to roll. First! It’s 1:30 pm. I need coffee. And lunch. OK! Now ready... We agree on price points based on his wholesale prices. He pays me cash straight from the till. All things considered, folks, keep your day jobs!! If you’re trying to make money, this is _not_ how to go about it. But what’s awesome and so satisfying is pulling the bags out, one by one, at my LFS, and seeing how healthy and vibrant the fish and plants look, and knowing that this will survive to the customer’s tank, and provide them with endless fascination and delight. That’s worth it! Plus... $60 is something...

Hi all Has anyone had experience with selling on aqua bid? My main aquarium is a 125 gal planted community tank which is heavily planted with Anubis barteri and Java fern. I have had this tank set up for many years, which has let the Anubis & Java fern become well established. (some might say overgrown 😀) I want to slowly add more plant diversity and open space to my aquarium. Prior to COVID I would take excess plants to my local club, but currently we are not having in person meetings. Has anyone had any experience with selling on Aqua bid? In particular shipping plants like Anubis and Java fern . I have purchased live food starters from Aqua bid, but I have never sold anything. Any insight would be much appreciated.

I absolutely love marimo moss balls, and I'm even considering starting a store selling them. This brings me to some ethical questions- I know they are becoming increasingly endangered in the wild. (Edit) I know most are farm raised, however I am still interested in their conservation. Are there any funds/conservation efforts for them? (Also, on a less important note- has anyone kept large quantities of them? Any recommended setups for it?)

Sold some long cuttings of stem plants to our LFS today: Wisteria, Anacharis, Ludwigia Repens. Sold for $23. Went in to sell fish (had a list of available species). But with the storm, and shipping all backed up, next week is going to flood the system with fish orders. But plants? Well! They had none... so I offered. 🌱 🪴

Today I did something I have never done before. After talking to my LFS I decided it was time to experiment with harvesting some of my baby swords on the runners. I had previously Ordered rockwool and baskets. I then took my lids off for easy access to the runners. I selected the runner with the largest growths on it. I then snipped the runners and took the plant lings and placed them in the rockwool and then into the baskets. I have now taken the finished product to the LFS and left 10 of them with them. We are gonna see how well they sell before I collect more. I was able to get 20 viable plants off this runner and took the 10 best to the shop. The rest are now in a separate tank waiting to see if they take off. I would be interested in hearing any feedback on this if anyone has a better way to go about this. I spent 20 dollars on 55 rockwool and basket setups. Do you all think this is a nice touch or not worth the money?