When I first started setting up tanks I got as hooked as was possible. I even considerd opening my own fish store as a way to be able to see and get so many new and interesting fish. I did not care if I never made a single cent but I needed to know it would not lose me all the money needed to get a store set-up. After doing a lot of homewaork I could not figure out any way to do it which would pretty much guarantee that plan. So, no store for me.
Over the first few years of seting up tanks I started working with bristlenose plecos. I had the long fins and they bred like crazy. The first problem was that I needed more tanks, more food and a lot more work and spending a lot of money. But the offsrping only sold for a few dollars each and most folks only want one or two fish, So, I started to be overrun. Selling them actual made o money at all and still drained money to mange them.
I used to have a fish wish list back then and at the top were zebra plecos. Fast frward and I got a breeding group busted into my IRA to pay for them. I got very lucky and soon after I got them they started to spawn. I soon had a waiting list for fish. The first sale I di brought in more money than I got from selling 100 bn. And sudenly everything changed. I had basically stumbled onto a way to pay for all my hobby costs. I even managed to recover all the money I had spent on the hobby from day one.
This has never changed and I ramped up to 20 -28 tanks and several species of B&w Hypancistrus which all spawned in my tanks. It led to m7 meeting a ton of fish people including some of the well know names who I met at weekend fish events. I was soon selling from the vendor rooms at such events. I could spend 3 days in crowds of fish keepers.
I do not know if this sort of thing is something you can or want to do. The key is I made it pretty sumple. I only worked with fish I wanted to have and wanted to see more of in the hobby. The key is to fins species that are bot pricier and also in demand by the more experienced/sophisticated hobbyists. I also managed to parlay eacj species so that it also paid for the next one I had to buy.
If you can find a similar way to do things, you might find you can pay for it all. I needed $3,500 to get started with my proven breeding zebra group. I also lucked into to being able to buy them. Without the help of Barbie F. who is a fairly well know person in the hobby in terms of the catfish community among other areas it never would have happened.
Magnum, I am not sure if you have a species which would fit the bill so to speak and enable you to do things that budget might otherwise constrain, it is something worth exploring. The best part is if you can buy fish to try to breed which are pricey and you succeed, you will not need to worry about paying for hobby stuff at all.
There is one more potential benefit to what I managed to do, The fish in have worked with are somewhat rare in the hobby. In 2006-07 there were not a lot of folks in the states breeding zebra plecos. Over the years between ones I had born in my tanks and a few more business oriented deals I managed to sell about 500 zebras born in my tanks and then another 450 purchased in various ways as well. Most of my sales were groups of fish which went to folks who wanted to spawn them. Today is is very easy to buy tank raised zebras all across the world.
I do not know if doing something similar would interest you. If it does and you can make it happen, it really opens a lot of possibilities. What I can tell you is that for the past 18 years I have had a real blast doing this. I am only at the end of the line for me because I got too old to keep it up any longer. For me this was never about being a business, it was about having the freedom to do a lot more re fish and the hobby than I ever imagined when I set up my very first tank.
When I was working to do my first tank, Idid a lot of research and I made a bunch of rules which ultimately were useless.
1. I wanted only fake plants and I ended up with 13 planted tanks over time.
2. I never wanted canister filters and I ended up with several two of which are still running over 20 years later.
3. I was sure I would never have one of those ugly fish which stuck to the glass using its mouth (yes, plecos).
4. I have never been a joiner, so it took me years to wise up and join a local fish club.
5. I never wanted to ship fish and I have sent out many boxes over the years.
6. And then there was this pleasant surprise. Selling fish also allowed me to donate to outfits and sites which were doing good things for the hobby and and fish keepers. There was a side benefit here as well. Since I was not a business when I would donate by being a sponsor I would let a few of my fish friend who did have a busienss to take credit for the sponsorship. So I helped them as well.
I hop my good luck might suggst this sort of endeavor as a way to afford everything you would want to do fish-wise. While it worked for me, I realize it may not appeal to or be possible for many of my fellow hobbyists. The stars just aligned right for me. Maybe thecan for you. You have the space and the drive if you want to give it a try. Just remember. Smaller more expensive stock is the key. That will pay for all the rest.
