Looking to make a small profit with a fishkeeping project. Thoughts and advice?

[Sgooosh]

Breed zebra plecs! $200 a pop!

No, really though... Sounds like a plan! Though I'm not sure how lucrative guppy breeding is for selling in the US. In the UK, you just give them away for free on Gumtree (the UK's equivalent to Craigslist) and ask no questions. If you're lucky enough (incoming sarcasm), you'll have someone go "ooh, I'll have that nice one; that pretty one; the one with the xyz tail; the one with the spots" and on and on until you really do think they should be paying you for it. Since they're so readily available, it might not be as easy to sell them as you'd like to think - even the nicer ones. You do have a shot at it though, of course. Breeding is a gamble as is everything else in life, so if you want to take that gamble then by all means do. However, if it goes belly-up, it might not be the most fun or easy to clean up.

As far as plants go, I believe @Sgooosh has his duckweed farm that he's making some money off, so maybe he'll be able to give some pointers on that. Like @Crispii said, guppy grass would be great. Java moss is pretty easy as well! On top of that, you could try amazon frogbit or elodea ...iirc the American term for it is anacharis(?). Again, like Crispii mentioned, some plants may be illegal in certain states and countries, so watch out for that if you plan on selling across states and internationally.

Hope everything goes well, give us updates if you go ahead with your plan(s)!

we call it elodea normally but anacharis was the old way of saying it i think

They bought my EBA back for $10 and gave me $1.33 for each of bloodfins. I guess I am very fortunate!

Hey OliveFish,
I have some tips on selling plants,
floaters are the easiest
i'd start with duckweed, salvinia, red root floater, frogbit, or water lettuce
i only sell duckweed n water lettuce right now but once i get a farm going im selling all of them
tip: do not grow small floaters like salvinia and duckweed with bigger ones like water lettuce
it gets stuck on the roots and is a pain to remove every time LOL

i'd really only start with floaters because other stuff like stem plants and elodea people can mass; produce in huge ponds with tons of bio load
something that is not fish related is house plants
you can farm house plants easily inside or outside, and sell it for a good amount

 

[Sgooosh]

I have never heard of spiky moss! Where I live there is not a ton of demand for anything lol. I plan to ship. I have family all over the US so will do a couple "practice runs" to make sure the fish and plants do well!

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Perhaps I could do corydoras of some sort? People seem to love the Salt and Pepper cories, which are one of the pygmy varieties. That would work well with a 12 or so gallon tote!

spiky moss is a rare type of carpeting moss similar to CHristmas moss i think

I am looking at a pair of red dragon ribbon finned guppies whose grandparents were imported from Indonesia. I will likely sell through Ebay, and offer shipping as there is not much demand in my immediate area.

oooh i want some guppies, but sadly i'm not close to your area

 

[OliveFish05]

I have decided a bit more on what plants I would like to focus on growing to sell, and would love to hear thoughts on my selected list

Anacharis/Elodea
Water Wisteria
Red Ludwigia
Java Fern
Brazilian pennywort

Salvinia Cucullata
Red Root Floaters
Duckweed
Amazon Frogbit


I will likely grow the plants in my existing tanks to start before diving into fish and all. Which would be best to do in my coldwater axolotl tank?

 

[Colin_T]

Salvinia, duckweed, elodia, ludwigia and pennywort will grow in the axo tank but they all grow faster in warm water.

Java fern is a slow growing plant so you won't be selling much of it.

You could add Water Sprite and one of the smaller Vallis species to your list. Narrow Vallis does well in cold or warm water and can grow rapidly. Twisted/ spiral Vallis does better in warm water and can grow well when it has settled in.

Get Hygrophila ruba/ rubra and H. polysperma, and some Ambulia. They all grow in cold or warm water but grow better in warm.

 

[Colin_T]

In warmer weather, if you have space in the back year, set up some kiddy wading pools or look for plastic/ fibreglass fish ponds that are 18-24 inches high and grow plants and fish in them. You basically set them up and let them go and harvest plants every few weeks. It's minimal work and maximum return.

 

[itiwhetu]

If you are going to breed fish for profit you need about ten times the amount of water than you think you do. Thats the first point. If you are going to breed a common fish like a guppy, you need to breed one that no one else is breeding. Try to have a market for your fish before you start, otherwise you could be left with a lot of fish that no one wants.

 

[OliveFish05]

In warmer weather, if you have space in the back year, set up some kiddy wading pools or look for plastic/ fibreglass fish ponds that are 18-24 inches high and grow plants and fish in them. You basically set them up and let them go and harvest plants every few weeks. It's minimal work and maximum return.

I just put it out in the yard? Let the sun handle it?

 

[OliveFish05]

If you are going to breed fish for profit you need about ten times the amount of water than you think you do. Thats the first point. If you are going to breed a common fish like a guppy, you need to breed one that no one else is breeding. Try to have a market for your fish before you start, otherwise you could be left with a lot of fish that no one wants.

Ok. I am looking at purple dragon guppies, which sell for about $15 each plus shipping here. If I make even $1.50 a fish (which is what my LFS will pay for a "guppy", just any colorful guppy) I will be satisfied I am also looking to focus mainly on the plants to start

 

[Crispii]

Ok. I am looking at purple dragon guppies, which sell for about $15 each plus shipping here. If I make even $1.50 a fish (which is what my LFS will pay for a "guppy", just any colorful guppy) I will be satisfied I am also looking to focus mainly on the plants to start

watch you grow illegal plants and sell them in the black market for hefty price

 

[itiwhetu]

Ok. I am looking at purple dragon guppies, which sell for about $15 each plus shipping here. If I make even $1.50 a fish (which is what my LFS will pay for a "guppy", just any colorful guppy) I will be satisfied I am also looking to focus mainly on the plants to start

The value in your guppies is if you can prove that they are line bred. So be careful not to keep any other guppies apart from those ones.

 

[OliveFish05]

I have 1 of these... I think...

Would one of those flimsy summer kiddie pools work for an entire summer? Would I be able to haul it into the garage in the winter and throw in a heater and hook up a light and have it still work?

 

[OliveFish05]

The value in your guppies is if you can prove that they are line bred. So be careful not to keep any other guppies apart from those ones.

I would keep strictly the one type of guppy in the setup

 

[OliveFish05]

Get Hygrophila ruba/ rubra and H. polysperma, and some Ambulia. They all grow in cold or warm water but grow better in warm.

Do you know about willow hygro? I have some that is growing rapidly in a room temp tank. I will look at the ambulia! It looks very similar to cabomba...

 

[Colin_T]

Yeah just find an area in the yard that gets full sun, fill the pond with tap water, add dechlorinator, add some plants that are planted in trays or pots, and let them go. Cover the entire base of the pond with trays/ pots of plants.

I used trays that were about 18 inches x 14 inches x 4 inches high and put clay, garden fertiliser and gravel in them. Starting from the bottom of the tray and working up, I had gravel, lawn fertiliser, clay and more gravel. I plant the plants in that and when the plants were about 18 inches long, I took cuttings that were about 10-12 inches and sold the cuttings. The plants divide at the cut section and produce 2 shoots. Let them grow to 18 inches and take more 10-12 inch cuttings from them.

If you get too many cuttings you can plant them in small pots with gravel and sell them further down the track as rooted potted plants. They sell for more because they have a developed root system and are in pots.

 

[itiwhetu]

I would keep strictly the one type of guppy in the setup

I mean on your property. Just one type of guppy.