ChefConfit Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 So my wife has approved me putting more tanks in the basement(once we finish it) as long as I can make enough money off of them to cover the costs of running them. Show off how you use the hobby to make some money for me and others thinking about trying to make money can get ideas. My current plan is to get a rack with 3 shelves. One will have a 20g plant farm/shrimp breeding tank, middle shelf will have a display tank and the other will have either a 20g for breeding or 2 10gs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat_Rigel Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 I recently saw one of Cory's videos regarding this, I believe it was the "Making money breeding fish" series. He pointed out that you can breed multiple species in the same tank- for example, guppies, cherry shrimp, mystery snails, and hey, grow some Java fern too! I currently have a nice balanced setup with an established colony of assassin snails (they are VERY popular at the local fish club auctions,) cherry shrimp, tons of hornwort, and what I am hoping will be a breeding line of guppies. So I unknowingly had this set up pretty similar to what Cory suggested. I actually consider this my display tank, but hey, if you can make money off of it too, why not? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Whew! Profits are tough. Actually bringing in more than you spent while probably not charging for your labor is hard to do with tropical fish. That being said, I think I pulled that off once back in the 1980s when I bought Jack Wattley cobalt discus from Jack, bred them and sold baby discus for $5 a piece. I lived in married student housing, the water out of the tap was good quality, the utilities cost next to nothing, and I grew my own food for the fish, so expenses where low. The key to profits is keeping expenses low. Angelfish sell well if they are of desirable breeds, but I don't think I have ever broken even with angelfish. On a totally non-serious note: To make a $1000 breeding tropical fish - start with $2000 and quit when you are down to your last $1000 Should a massive fire hit your fishroom - there is always the insurance money Start a wildly popular YouTube channel and work 24/7, you might just break even Ask @Dean’s Fishroom - he seems to know how to actually turn a profit 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Maybe you need creative accounting. I have spent an inordinate amount on tanks lately--still less than I used to spend on eating out, entertaining, clothes, and travel. I mean, can we count as a credit the latte you did NOT buy, the movie you did NOT attend? I did not get to go to Paris. I can buy as many tanks as I want. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 I don't know if I'll make any profit, but here are the 50+ dwarf red coral platies I'm raising. They come from two batches that are a few weeks apart. I've been feeding them live baby brine shrimp, Easy Fry Food, and Sera Micron, and they've been growing like crazy. The water sprite in the back is also starting to pick up, so maybe I'll be able to sell some of it as well. 🙂 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenP2003 Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 (edited) I'm definitely not breeding for profit, but I'm accumulating some opportunities for store credit -- that's all my LFS does. Livebearers and cherry shrimp doing whatever they want to do. One day I'll get my pleco pair to breed again. Male keeps fanning then expelling white eggs, no fry. Only got fry once, last October, one survivor. The endlers are breeding nicely in here. Quarantine tub currently growing out the neon black platies going to the LFS, along with extra ludwigia trimmings, corkscrew val runners, and some bacopa. Edited August 10, 2020 by StephenP2003 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 59 minutes ago, Irene said: I don't know if I'll make any profit, but here are the 50+ dwarf red coral platies I'm raising. They come from two batches that are a few weeks apart. I've been feeding them live baby brine shrimp, Easy Fry Food, and Sera Micron, and they've been growing like crazy. The water sprite in the back is also starting to pick up, so maybe I'll be able to sell some of it as well. 🙂 @Irene's answer is a much kinder, happier answer than my jaded answer. I'm going with what she said. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat_Rigel Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 1 hour ago, Irene said: I don't know if I'll make any profit, but here are the 50+ dwarf red coral platies I'm raising. They come from two batches that are a few weeks apart. I've been feeding them live baby brine shrimp, Easy Fry Food, and Sera Micron, and they've been growing like crazy. The water sprite in the back is also starting to pick up, so maybe I'll be able to sell some of it as well. 🙂 I am definitely ogling those platys. So cute! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean’s Fishroom Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 (edited) Well you asked. . . Don't let your wife see this, she will change her mind. Breeding for profit is IMO one of the hardest things to do on the hobby level and also a very mis-represented statement. It's not just did you turn one pair of guppies into 1000 of them and you took some to your local shop and traded them for some fish food. Or were able to spawn a pair of angelfish and sell 30 of them to your local shop for two months in a row. Did they pay your water bill?, did the pay your electricity bill?, did the help pay your rent or mortgage payments?, what about your insurance?, and did they pay you a wage that you are worth for all the time you spent? My guess it the answer to all of these questions and others that could come up is "no". So I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but I really think the better question is, "Can I make my hobby pay for itself?" This even though it doesn't sound as great is much more achievable and can be done on very many different levels, from a couple tanks to over 100 of them. More tanks means more overhead, not necessarily more "profits". Also means more work. . . So yes, you can breed fish for profit, but I feel like a far better first step is to make you hobby pay for itself, once you achieve that you very well won't think that profit is necessary. That does BTW turn it from a hobby to a business. . ... Edited August 11, 2020 by Dean’s Fishroom 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChefConfit Posted August 12, 2020 Author Share Posted August 12, 2020 20 hours ago, Dean’s Fishroom said: Well you asked. . . Don't let your wife see this, she will change her mind. Breeding for profit is IMO one of the hardest things to do on the hobby level and also a very mis-represented statement. It's not just did you turn one pair of guppies into 1000 of them and you took some to your local shop and traded them for some fish food. Or were able to spawn a pair of angelfish and sell 30 of them to your local shop for two months in a row. Did they pay your water bill?, did the pay your electricity bill?, did the help pay your rent or mortgage payments?, what about your insurance?, and did they pay you a wage that you are worth for all the time you spent? My guess it the answer to all of these questions and others that could come up is "no". So I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but I really think the better question is, "Can I make my hobby pay for itself?" This even though it doesn't sound as great is much more achievable and can be done on very many different levels, from a couple tanks to over 100 of them. More tanks means more overhead, not necessarily more "profits". Also means more work. . . So yes, you can breed fish for profit, but I feel like a far better first step is to make you hobby pay for itself, once you achieve that you very well won't think that profit is necessary. That does BTW turn it from a hobby to a business. . ... Making the hobby pay for itself is all I really want out of the tanks I'm planning to set up. If I can manage to have the experience of breeding fish, raising fry and propagating plants without ruining my family's budget then I'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean’s Fishroom Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 49 minutes ago, ChefConfit said: Making the hobby pay for itself is all I really want out of the tanks I'm planning to set up. If I can manage to have the experience of breeding fish, raising fry and propagating plants without ruining my family's budget then I'll be happy. Exactly!!! And that is a very good attainable outcome or goal of a fishroom. Especially if you can get the family in the fishroom once in a while when you have some success to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herefishyfishy Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 Irene, where do you plan on selling those beauties? I would totally pick a few up from the LFS. (We live in Denver) Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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