About breeding and selling..

[SC Fish]

So recently i came to the conclusion i want to start earning money in this hobby as - for a teenager who is still in school - being able to have a job at home which i will enjoy is going to be super important, but i have no idea what im doing.
 

My thoughts are:

I go to my lfs and buy 2 female and 1 male cherry shrimp for my 20g aquarium (which has fish in) and i will just let them breed casually (after doing some research i found they usually breed every 4 or so months and have around 35 shrimplets per batch, so i would end up with around 70 babies) then leave them to grow and get picked off in the tank, and which ever ones live to be big enough i will sell. - only because I'm not doing this as a job, its just a hustle for some extra cash. 

i also plan on propogating and selling stem plants, and maybe trying to grow java ferns and crypts for profit as well.

 

What i need to know:

When it comes to breeding, what can i do to stimulate the breeding process and what do i feed the baby shrimp so they grow fast and healthy? - i have shrimp pellets and algae wafers?

 

When i sell them, what size bags do i need? - and if anyone has a UK link to the bags you use for selling please let me know.

 

Also how much would i sell each baby for? 

 

and - for now - the last thing is , how do i advertise them and where do i sell them? - UK websites (i dont think my lfs will take them as my lfs is one or even THE largest fish store chain in the UK)

 

thanks for any help in advance 🙂

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2023 by SC Fish

[TOtrees]

I strongly recommend you start with at least a dozen shrimps, preferably 2 dozen. If you only start with 3, even if you're lucky enough to have all 3 survive, you'll spend your first 18 months or more growing your breeding population to the point that it can sustain harvesting. Buy from a breeder if you can, not a pet store. 

I suggest that you run your thought exercise backwards from how much you want to earn. But before that, plan on giving them at least 6 months just to learn how fast and well they grow in your tanks. You say "picked off" so I assume you have fish. This will go way better for you if you have a shrimp only tank, or shrimp-safe fish.

Let me use my own shrimp/numbers as an example... Let's say I want to make $30 monthly. And let's say I get $2 per shrimp. No one will pay good money for undersized shrimps, so I need 15 adults or near adults on top of the adults I want to keep as breeders, and on top of any still-growing juvies. Once I've sold those 15, if I don't have another 15 ready in another month, I'm behind on my projections. 

Currently, I can sell an average of 100 shrimps per month. I actually sell them in large batches to stores, anywhere from 100-500 at a time. Maybe every 3-6 months not monthly. And I sell them for a lot less than $2 each, because I'm moving higher volumes. I'd rather get $200 from one buyer than fight with dozens of online hagglers over the quality and price of my stock. 

Also, don't let the interwebs tell you how few shrimp you can have in a tank. I've pulled LITERALLY 600+ selling size cherry shrimps from a 20 gallon high. If you'd asked me how many I thought there were I would have said maybe 200. The unit price was low, but the buyer was happy with what they got (especially after they saw how well they survived in their tanks), and I pocketed $420 cash.  

Any fish store will buy from you if you have a quality product, in quantities they need, at a price that works for them. Find out who does the ordering for that location. Ask what they'd need or under what conditions they'd buy from you. Maybe you'll need a business license so they can pay you by cheque. Maybe you'll need to invoice them. Or maybe it's the other way and they'll only do store credit. But start by asking. 

So, spend a year breeding and growing them, before you start selling them. See how it goes. What foods work best? More or less water changes? Before you spend a year doing it, start with a month or two. If it goes well, split your colony into 2 tanks to double your returns. 

I also recommend paying more at the start for better quality shrimp, of types that are harder to find but easier to sell, for better unit price. I breed the bloody mary's and they've done really well for me. Super low rate of culls (less than 1%), and they keep their color from one generation to the next really well. 

[SC Fish]

On 7/12/2023 at 9:39 PM, TOtrees said:

I strongly recommend you start with at least a dozen shrimps, preferably 2 dozen. If you only start with 3, even if you're lucky enough to have all 3 survive, you'll spend your first 18 months or more growing your breeding population to the point that it can sustain harvesting. Buy from a breeder if you can, not a pet store. 

I suggest that you run your thought exercise backwards from how much you want to earn. But before that, plan on giving them at least 6 months just to learn how fast and well they grow in your tanks. You say "picked off" so I assume you have fish. This will go way better for you if you have a shrimp only tank, or shrimp-safe fish.

Let me use my own shrimp/numbers as an example... Let's say I want to make $30 monthly. And let's say I get $2 per shrimp. No one will pay good money for undersized shrimps, so I need 15 adults or near adults on top of the adults I want to keep as breeders, and on top of any still-growing juvies. Once I've sold those 15, if I don't have another 15 ready in another month, I'm behind on my projections. 

Currently, I can sell an average of 100 shrimps per month. I actually sell them in large batches to stores, anywhere from 100-500 at a time. Maybe every 3-6 months not monthly. And I sell them for a lot less than $2 each, because I'm moving higher volumes. I'd rather get $200 from one buyer than fight with dozens of online hagglers over the quality and price of my stock. 

Also, don't let the interwebs tell you how few shrimp you can have in a tank. I've pulled LITERALLY 600+ selling size cherry shrimps from a 20 gallon high. If you'd asked me how many I thought there were I would have said maybe 200. The unit price was low, but the buyer was happy with what they got (especially after they saw how well they survived in their tanks), and I pocketed $420 cash.  

Any fish store will buy from you if you have a quality product, in quantities they need, at a price that works for them. Find out who does the ordering for that location. Ask what they'd need or under what conditions they'd buy from you. Maybe you'll need a business license so they can pay you by cheque. Maybe you'll need to invoice them. Or maybe it's the other way and they'll only do store credit. But start by asking. 

So, spend a year breeding and growing them, before you start selling them. See how it goes. What foods work best? More or less water changes? Before you spend a year doing it, start with a month or two. If it goes well, split your colony into 2 tanks to double your returns. 

I also recommend paying more at the start for better quality shrimp, of types that are harder to find but easier to sell, for better unit price. I breed the bloody mary's and they've done really well for me. Super low rate of culls (less than 1%), and they keep their color from one generation to the next really well. 

Hey, thanks for all the info. Seriously it helps ALOT . Personally I don't know if I'll start with that many, maybe I'll get 9 in the same ratio. I have an insane fear of being over run. I will however try to locate other fish stores near me that will be interested in buying shrimp from me. 

I also only have a spare 5 gallon to my name, however I have a 10 gallon that I COULD use for growing some of the shrimp, but chances are they will be greatly picked off in there as I have some platies in that tank.

 

The 20g is a tall so maybe it works out like u said, I have neon tetras, a weird duo of guppies (both from friends who didn't want them.) a gourami I got for free at my lfs and a small group of ottos.  So many of the babies- possibly over half will be munched on.

[TOtrees]

I think you'd get more shrimp babies out of that 5 gallon without fish, than a tank with those fish. ALL of those fish will happily eat baby shrimps, and gouramis in particular are very good at it. That tank i mentioned that produced 600 shrimps? It has a pair of honey gourami, which are very "peaceful". 😐 But there were ZERO baby shrimps in that tank; all 600+ were made well before I added the two gouramis. In the end, it made counting and sorting a lot easier. And I learned that if you ever want to REMOVE a shrimp colony from a running tank, the way to do it is add a predator that will wipe out the babies for you, then just net all the adults. 

A shrimp only setup can be super easy. Gravel substrate, sponge filter, no heater, basic light enough to grow fast unanchored plants like guppy grass, hornwort, java moss, some lava rock for surface area, piles of pebbles or larger gravel for cover, done and dusted. Snails will be your friend, they seem to help the shrimps along. So this could be in a 5 gal tank, or a bucket or tub, or whatever.

A fish you CAN keep with breeding shrimps (in my experience) is bristlenose plecos. 

[SC Fish]

On 7/12/2023 at 10:44 PM, TOtrees said:

I think you'd get more shrimp babies out of that 5 gallon without fish, than a tank with those fish. ALL of those fish will happily eat baby shrimps, and gouramis in particular are very good at it. That tank i mentioned that produced 600 shrimps? It has a pair of honey gourami, which are very "peaceful". 😐 But there were ZERO baby shrimps in that tank; all 600+ were made well before I added the two gouramis. In the end, it made counting and sorting a lot easier. And I learned that if you ever want to REMOVE a shrimp colony from a running tank, the way to do it is add a predator that will wipe out the babies for you, then just net all the adults. 

A shrimp only setup can be super easy. Gravel substrate, sponge filter, no heater, basic light enough to grow fast unanchored plants like guppy grass, hornwort, java moss, some lava rock for surface area, piles of pebbles or larger gravel for cover, done and dusted. Snails will be your friend, they seem to help the shrimps along. So this could be in a 5 gal tank, or a bucket or tub, or whatever.

A fish you CAN keep with breeding shrimps (in my experience) is bristlenose plecos. 

Just to mention it's a sparkling gourami

[TOtrees]

I haven't kept them, but they sure are cool. I've watched a lot of videos from foo the flowerhorn on youtube. he kept a small planted tank with sparkling gourami. I never saw any baby shrimps in his vids. I don't think the babies would be safe. 

Just checked back to his vids: https://youtu.be/ptR7ngChDqs?t=217 Here's one where a 24 month old tank with cherry shrimp and a sparkler gets a piece of boiled carrot (link goes to the carrot feeding). See how many baby shrimps you can find/see? Nada. And that's in a very heavily planted tank with lots of cover. 

I'm not trying to rain on your plans, just want you to know what outcomes are likely. 

 

 

[SC Fish]

On 7/12/2023 at 11:02 PM, TOtrees said:

I haven't kept them, but they sure are cool. I've watched a lot of videos from foo the flowerhorn on youtube. he kept a small planted tank with sparkling gourami. I never saw any baby shrimps in his vids. I don't think the babies would be safe. 

Just checked back to his vids: https://youtu.be/ptR7ngChDqs?t=217 Here's one where a 24 month old tank with cherry shrimp and a sparkler gets a piece of boiled carrot (link goes to the carrot feeding). See how many baby shrimps you can find/see? Nada. And that's in a very heavily planted tank with lots of cover. 

I'm not trying to rain on your plans, just want you to know what outcomes are likely. 

 

 

Ok well, I'll definitely have time to sort it all out. I won't start till after holiday anyways. I do appreciate all the help!

[Cinnebuns]

I will caution you that to actually make profit in this hobby requires large numbers. Even then it likely won't be as much profit as a part time job. To do things ethically requires spending money which cuts into profits. I'm not trying to discourage you, but trying to be realistic. It costs money just to get it started and also to maintain and it takes decent numbers to start making the sales to where you overcome that. 

I def would recommend shrimp and guppies if you do decide to do this. I absolutely would keep the shrimp species only. Also, try to sell locally or on ebay rather than to your LFS. It takes more work but you will get 3x or more from it. 

On 7/12/2023 at 4:45 PM, SC Fish said:

Just to mention it's a sparkling gourami

Sparkling gourami 100% will eat shrimp babies

Edited July 13, 2023 by Cinnebuns

[SC Fish]

@Cinnebuns

Thanks for the cautioning (don't know what to call it aha) but like I said I'm not here to make a lot of money, just something extra to my pocket money so I can buy and do just that bit more .

I will however take the advice and will most likely get 6 females and 2 males at minimum

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/12/2023 at 12:50 PM, SC Fish said:

I go to my lfs and buy 2 female and 1 male cherry shrimp for my 20g aquarium (which has fish in) and i will just let them breed casually (after doing some research i found they usually breed every 4 or so months and have around 35 shrimplets per batch, so i would end up with around 70 babies) then leave them to grow and get picked off in the tank, and which ever ones live to be big enough i will sell. - only because I'm not doing this as a job, its just a hustle for some extra cash. 

I would highly encourage you to check out my shrimp journal. I had a similar concept and I've learned a ton from where I first started.

A few quick tips:

-Start with at least 10 -15 shrimp. Give yourself enough genetic variation.

-You want wood in that tank

-Make sure you have a plan for water changes

-Check out Mark's Shrimp Tanks videos for any and everything

-Make sure you cull and have a plan for culls, even if that is food or a very cheap tank. You'll need at minimum two tanks if you plan to keep culls.

On 7/12/2023 at 12:50 PM, SC Fish said:

i also plan on propogating and selling stem plants, and maybe trying to grow java ferns and crypts for profit as well.

Bentley Pascoe has some wonderful videos on this topic.

On 7/12/2023 at 12:50 PM, SC Fish said:

(which has fish in)

What kind? How does the tank look?

[tolstoy21]

On 7/12/2023 at 3:50 PM, SC Fish said:

the last thing is , how do i advertise them and where do i sell them?

 I'm not sure what fish hobbiest marketplaces are available in the UK, but I sell a decent amount through ebay.  Is ebay popular in the UK? 

 

On 7/12/2023 at 4:39 PM, TOtrees said:

I'd rather get $200 from one buyer than fight with dozens of online hagglers over the quality and price of my stock. 

Agree 100%, even tough I sell exclusively online.  But yeah, that's part if the gig. You make small margins on small scales, but reap the rewards when I larger sale comes in. To make money on small sales, you have to make a lot of them consistently. I tend to use small sales as a means to make customers happy the hopes that this pays off with a good review. Good reviews are worth gold when you sell online. The more you have, the more you sell.

On 7/12/2023 at 4:39 PM, TOtrees said:

Also, don't let the interwebs tell you how few shrimp you can have in a tank. I've pulled LITERALLY 600+ selling size cherry shrimps from a 20 gallon high.

Also agree 100%. I have more Crystal Reds in a 20g than I can possibly count. I had a week where I sold a similar amount, that is, many hundreds, and the tank barely looked like I put a dent in the population. You can overstock shrimp pretty successfully as long as you keep an eye on the water quality.

 

On 7/13/2023 at 12:04 PM, Cinnebuns said:

I will caution you that to actually make profit in this hobby requires large numbers. Even then it likely won't be as much profit as a part time job. To do things ethically requires spending money which cuts into profits. I'm not trying to discourage you, but trying to be realistic. It costs money just to get it started and also to maintain and it takes decent numbers to start making the sales to where you overcome that. 

More truth and good advice. And don't get discouraged, just know that the road to success (even small scale success) takes time and some dedication. I have made a decent amount selling fish over the last two years, but it's taken a good amount of work (which I enjoy doing) and lots of reinvesting the money I make. Three years into taking breeding and selling seriously, I still break even (which, to be honest, is kind of my goal -- I've pumped a lot of the money I've made back into my fish room). I project it will be at least another year until I am i a place where I can start making actual profit for myself.  But even then, this is a side hustle/hobby. I'm not quitting my day job, that's for sure!

Honestly, all the advice you've gotten thus far is very solid and accurate. But, in the end, if you enjoy keeping and breeding the shrimp, then the work you put in will be time well spent.  It's not hard to make some money selling fish, but it's also not easy.

On 7/12/2023 at 3:50 PM, SC Fish said:

When it comes to breeding, what can i do to stimulate the breeding process and what do i feed the baby shrimp so they grow fast and healthy? - i have shrimp pellets and algae wafers?

Shrimp just breed whether you want them to or not. No need to stimulate them. However, they will breed more frequently at the higher end of their acceptable temperature range. I keep my shrimp at 78F/26C for this very reason.

As far as babies are concerned, go with a powdered food like BacterAE. I put small piles of lava rocks in my tanks as the newborn shrimp like to hunker down and hide and wait for food to come to them, since they cannot compete with the adults when food is scarce (and it will be if you have a large population of shrimp). A fine powdered food will drift to them where are waiting in some safe nook or cranny.. 

 

On 7/12/2023 at 3:50 PM, SC Fish said:

When i sell them, what size bags do i need? - and if anyone has a UK link to the bags you use for selling please let me know.

If you're shipping shrimp, use breather bags. If you're dropping them off, use regular 3 or 4ml poly bags. The size you use all depends on how many shrimp you want to put in a bag.  The breather bags I use are 25x15cm.  I put 10 shrimp in each bag. These are small bags. I could probably stuff 20 in each, but I don't.

On 7/12/2023 at 3:50 PM, SC Fish said:

Also how much would i sell each baby for? 

Spend some time online seeing what sellers in your area are charging and try to get a feeling if people are actually buying them at that price if you can. I usually look a person's review history, and place like ebay will show you some other info, like how many times a product you're looking at has been purchases, or how many items an ebay seller has sold in the history of their account. Once you get this info, stay competitive -- aim to price things similar to the what the average asking price is for your market.  And don't under-price things, because this can backfire and drive the market into the dirt, and then everyone loses. On the other hand, also be practical; for instance I will undersell if the fish I'm breeding just isn't moving for the price I have listed because you can't hold onto livestock forever.

Anyway, hopes this helps some.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I had a colony of blue dream shrimp and blue Hawaiian Moscow guppies in a 40 g tote. It earned about $100 a month but I usually stopped in to the LFS every 2-3 months. I had it go to my account at the shop as I had a 20+ tank fishroom and addiction - still recovering! I had manzanita wood, lava rocks in piles a La LRB Aquatics and Marks Shrimp Tanks. Lots of moss, I pile in as much Java moss as possible and it always sells as well. I had dwarf water lettuce that sold as well. Overall a very profitable setup and cost was 2 sponge filters, crushed coral 1 kg, 1 bag of medium lava rocks, and a shop light from a home diy store. And the livestock. 

Genetics sells so I want to reiterate what everyone said - I bought 11 blue dreams from LRB and another 20 from a breeder in my state. That combo yielded high quality bluest of the blue dreams. When I walked in with a bucket my LFS treated me like Norm from the US TV show Cheers - always happy to see me but pissed they’d have to pay me. 

Best of luck with you side hustle! Have fun! 

[tolstoy21]

On 7/25/2023 at 2:12 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

Genetics sells so I want to reiterate what everyone said - I bought 11 blue dreams from LRB and another 20 from a breeder in my state. That combo yielded high quality bluest of the blue dreams. When I walked in with a bucket my LFS treated me like Norm from the US TV show Cheers - always happy to see me but pissed they’d have to pay me.

100% agree.

If you want to out-side-hustle the other side-hustlers, having a better quality product to offer is the best route. For shrimp this means solid pigmentation, vivid coloration, nice patterning (for shrimp with patterns), shrimp that aren't puny and are free from any deformity, etc.

So if you're going to focus on shrimp, start with quality shrimp from a reputable breeder rather than grabbing whatever shrimp are at your LFS. Then make sure to keep up with culling to remove any shrimp that would set you in the opposite direction of where you want to be in terms of coloration, genetics, etc.  

The same applies to fish, but I find shrimp are easier to work with in terms of selective breeding.

And as others have suggested, have fun with this!

Edited July 25, 2023 by tolstoy21

[JettsPapa]

One thing I've found helpful when trying to sell to stores, especially with plants, is to offer something they don't already have.

[Schuyler]

It sounds like everyone else has pretty well covered most stuff.

One thing I would add is that making a profit off of it can be difficult especially if you're just working out of your bedroom.

My recommendation would be to breed a fish you like because you like it and then if you end up making money then that's a bonus.

[SC Fish]

On 7/26/2023 at 2:53 AM, Schuyler said:

It sounds like everyone else has pretty well covered most stuff.

One thing I would add is that making a profit off of it can be difficult especially if you're just working out of your bedroom.

My recommendation would be to breed a fish you like because you like it and then if you end up making money then that's a bonus.

i could but i dont really have the money to buy another aquarium to breed and raise fish, especially i have no space in my room - well i think i do but my parents are rather strict - the only option i would have is my 5 gallon in the room next door to me - unless i can convince my parents to let me get another larger tank or let me use the room next to me for fish stuff (but i highly doubt they will let me for many reasons). i dont really have that option sadly. if i did you already know id be growing tons of plants to sell and personally use, attempting to breed otos and tetras. but its just not a thing i have space for sadly. im beginning to think doing anything related to this would be a waste. mostly because where i live this hobby isnt exactly big. so that means limited buyers (and shipping online is expensive and no one wants to pay a 16 year old 20 pounds+ of shipping for 3 fish/shrimp they cant guarantee will arrive alive) .
 

 

[Schuyler]

You could try your have at killifish, rainbows, or rice fish and sell eggs. Killis don't take much space and pop out eggs like crazy. Those eggs can be shipped with standard shipping rather than needing any rush shipping.

I raise Nothobranchius in basically Tupperware containers. Not as much demand but easier to sell online. I know there is someone selling them in Scotland.

 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

The other option is cold tolerant species outside. Neocaridina shrimp can overwinter as can ricefish. I had a very successful tub with green jade shrimp and Miyuki ricefish. Many solutions. I agree with @Schuylergo with something you’re passionate about. Eventually your tastes will change but as you learn and move through the hobby the skills stay with you. 

[SC Fish]

On 8/1/2023 at 5:04 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

The other option is cold tolerant species outside. Neocaridina shrimp can overwinter as can ricefish. I had a very successful tub with green jade shrimp and Miyuki ricefish. Many solutions. I agree with @Schuylergo with something you’re passionate about. Eventually your tastes will change but as you learn and move through the hobby the skills stay with you. 

the thing is i can definatley try to breed them, but like i said selling locally will be a mess as there isnt much buyer potential around me. - and shipping isnt really an option either as stated before- so i would end up being overun with fish that i dont have homes for.

[tolstoy21]

On 8/1/2023 at 6:28 AM, SC Fish said:

The thing is i can definatley try to breed them, but like i said selling locally will be a mess as there isnt much buyer potential around me. - and shipping isnt really an option either as stated before- so i would end up being overun with fish that i dont have homes for.

I used to sell shrimp on CraigsList. There always seems to be a bunch of shrimp for sale on there in my area.

I don't love CL, but it works if there are no other selling methods available to you.

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 7/25/2023 at 12:05 PM, tolstoy21 said:

So if you're going to focus on shrimp, start with quality shrimp from a reputable breeder rather than grabbing whatever shrimp are at your LFS.

How would you know quality shrimp from a reputable breeder? Just read the reviews, or are there green flags or red flags to watch out for?

[tolstoy21]

On 8/2/2023 at 11:36 AM, Rube_Goldfish said:

How would you know quality shrimp from a reputable breeder? Just read the reviews, or are there green flags or red flags to watch out for?

There are some places online that have a pretty good reputation -- The Garden of Eder, Shrimpy Business, So Shrimp, Billy Boi Aquatics, Flip Aquatics, etc.

Pretty much I read the reviews and follow, or have seen, some of these sellers on YouTube.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I think that in terms of red flags 🚩 I’d look out for prices that are tremendously different from the fish stores and other online sellers. Yes some folks have a superior product and all but that’s worth 25% or so but not 50+%. This is especially true when starting out.
 

If you are working to strengthen your genetic pool and there’s a trait you really want then it may be worth the extra funds. The example I give is I got Blue Dreams from a breeder in my state. They were nice but the color was trending toward blue jelly and I wanted that deep blue. I bought a small group from LRB “shrimp Jesus “ and that group of 7 shrimp led to a deep navy blue shrimp. Presently I’m working on some Santa Claus guppies and I really like my females but my males I think need some strengthening in terms of color and finnage. I’m going to get some more with these traits and after QT start breeding them in to the line. 

Shipping - With shrimp you can go with 2-3 day shipping typically but with fish overnight or 2 day would be the max I’d do. If it’s eggs 2-3 day is fine.