Ways to get rid of home-bred fish

[threecharacters]

I've been into aquariums in on and off for a long time, but I've never actually bred any. Recently, I've become interested in breeding fish. In particular, I'd like to try to breed every type of fish I've ever owned. This is the list (for my book-keeping purposes, and if anyone is interested):

Livingston's Cichlid (Nimbochromis livinstonii)
Golden Mbuna (Melanochromis auratus)
Pepper Cory (Corydoras paleatus)
Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
X-Ray Tetra (Pristella maxillaris)
Betta (Betta splendens)
Ram (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi)
Aphyosemion sp. (don't remember exact)
Honey Gourami (Trichogaster chuna)
Checkered Barbs (Oliotius oligolepis)
Cherry Barb (Puntius titteya)
Stiphodon sp. (don't remember exact)
Dwarf Pencilfish (Nannostomus marginatus)
Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma cacatuoides)
Monodactylus sebae
Banded Archerfish (Toxotes jaculatrix)

Obviously, this will take years, maybe decades, I may not have the dedication, and some of these fish may be impossible to breed in captivity (e.g. Archerfish?, Stiphodon?), but it seems like an interesting pursuit! I recently purchased "Aquarium Fish Breeding" by Jay F. Hemdal as a starting point. I'm also going to get the shell-dwellers Neolamprologus multifasciatus as a starting point (add that to the list too).

Besides actually breeding the fish and rearing the fry, I need to figure out a way to sell/give the fish away. People who have bred fish in the past, how should I do this? I do not want to ship the fish, and I'm not looking to make money off this endeavor. Should I form a relationship with the local fish stores? Does craigslist work well? Are there other options?

 

[Byron]

I do not deliberately set out to breed my fish, but some of them do and quite regularly. Fry tend to get eaten (actually it is usually the eggs so just the odd one may hatch) but a few times there have been more. I have a local fish store independently owned and it is very good so if she wants them that is where I take them, free.

 

[Donya]

Small LFS are a good option - places that are family-owned or very small chains that have just a few stores. Big, widely-distributed box stores often won't accept fish from hobbyists that aren't returns, but smaller shops will often take free fish. However, no shop will want want heaps of common varieties of fish from hobbyists, even if free. In general, it's unwise to produce large numbers of new fish unless you are prepared to ship. If you only have a handful of fish as a result of first learning how to breed a species of fish, then a small LFS will likely take them, but for anything beyond that you should be ready to ship.

Things like Craigslist are also alternatives that work, but anything where you have to meet up with random people of course carries certain risks that are less of an issue at a store. There is also a Classifieds section here where you can post fish, although it can be hard to find people in your specific locality since it's an international site.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I also give mine to the Lfs. I either sell my Goldie’s or get credit for them. I sell by word of mouth these days. My daughter lives in the country and locals know I have pond fish. I just give my platies and guppies to the Lfs. They don’t want to buy those.

 

[threecharacters]

LFS sounds like the best option. I do not plan on producing large amounts of fish. In fact, I plan of getting the fish, breeding them, giving all fish back to the store, and moving on to the next fish.

 

[finfayce]

Small LFS are a good option - places that are family-owned or very small chains that have just a few stores. Big, widely-distributed box stores often won't accept fish from hobbyists that aren't returns, but smaller shops will often take free fish. However, no shop will want want heaps of common varieties of fish from hobbyists, even if free. In general, it's unwise to produce large numbers of new fish unless you are prepared to ship. If you only have a handful of fish as a result of first learning how to breed a species of fish, then a small LFS will likely take them, but for anything beyond that you should be ready to ship.

Things like Craigslist are also alternatives that work, but anything where you have to meet up with random people of course carries certain risks that are less of an issue at a store. There is also a Classifieds section here where you can post fish, although it can be hard to find people in your specific locality since it's an international site.

excuse my newness or dumbness, but what is an L F?

 

[finfayce]

Local fish store?

 

[Colin_T]

LFS is local fish shop

LF is long fin

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Sell them to the local pet shop. Ebay or other online sites but specify pick up only. Aquarium society meetings.

The following link has information on culturing foods for baby fish. It's a good idea to start cultures a month or more before you breed the fish so they are ready when the fry appear. Most cichlid fry can take newly hatched brineshrimp from day 1. Tetras, barbs, rasboras, gouramis, Bettas have small fry that need green water and infusoria for the first 2 weeks and then they can be offered newly hatched brineshrimp.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/

 

[threecharacters]

LFS is local fish shop

LF is long fin

----------------------------
Sell them to the local pet shop. Ebay or other online sites but specify pick up only. Aquarium society meetings.

The following link has information on culturing foods for baby fish. It's a good idea to start cultures a month or more before you breed the fish so they are ready when the fry appear. Most cichlid fry can take newly hatched brineshrimp from day 1. Tetras, barbs, rasboras, gouramis, Bettas have small fry that need green water and infusoria for the first 2 weeks and then they can be offered newly hatched brineshrimp.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/

That link is excellent thank you!

 

[AbbeysDad]

I have bred, grown out, and sold some 200+ Swordtails. I have another 200+ that I'm currently growing out. These are robust (some show quality) fish.
I sell to the LFS for store credit or cash. I also sell at fish club meetings and annual public auctions. It's not for profit at this point, but helps with the cost of food and supplies - much like culturing live foods, it's an extension of the hobby.
Your fish list is ambitious and any breeding operation requires multiple tanks which means a lot of work in the fish room.
I suggest you touch base with LFS and see who would be interested in taking fish you breed and grow out. Btw, it's several months to grow out most fry large enough for retailers to be interested in selling. An important aspect of the conversation would be the species of fish they would be interested in as there's little success in breeding fish that there is no outlet for - money or free.

 

[seangee]

LFS or fish club.
The LFS may pay you for those that are rarely captive bred. Mine usually give a very low store credit but recently I mentioned that my dwarf chain loach were spawning and they said they would buy whatever I could provide as they don't have access to tank bred fish.

So far I have not intervened in any of the tanks so survival rates are low enough that I don't have to worry about it.

 

[threecharacters]

I have bred, grown out, and sold some 200+ Swordtails. I have another 200+ that I'm currently growing out. These are robust (some show quality) fish.
I sell to the LFS for store credit or cash. I also sell at fish club meetings and annual public auctions. It's not for profit at this point, but helps with the cost of food and supplies - much like culturing live foods, it's an extension of the hobby.
Your fish list is ambitious and any breeding operation requires multiple tanks which means a lot of work in the fish room.
I suggest you touch base with LFS and see who would be interested in taking fish you breed and grow out. Btw, it's several months to grow out most fry large enough for retailers to be interested in selling. An important aspect of the conversation would be the species of fish they would be interested in as there's little success in breeding fish that there is no outlet for - money or free.

You're right that I should check with the LFS to figure out what kind of demand they have.

I'm hoping to be able to do most of these fish with just the two tanks I currently have, a 29 gallon tall and a 10 gallon. The 10 gallon is set up as a shell-dweller tank and the 29 gallon is set up as a rough igapo biotope. I currently have Cardinals, a Ram, X-Ray tetras, and a Betta in the 29 gallon, the 10 gallon is cycling, but will have some kind of shell-dweller eventually.

My plan is to breed the shell-dweller's while they stay in the tank (my understanding is the parents are actually pretty good about not eating their offspring) rear the fry in that tank as well and then sell all the shellies. I'll overhaul the 10 gallon to suit the breeding of the Ram next I think (provided I can find a female Ram). I also like biotopes so I'll probably be setting this up as an Orinoco biotope. I'll move the Ram(s) into the 10 gallon and try to get them to breed. Once they breed, I'll sell all fish and overhaul the 10 gallon again to suit the breeding of the X-Ray or Cardinal tetras (likely a biotope again), and so on. The 29 gallon will be the landing pad for new fish while the 10 gallon will be the breeding and rearing tank. Does this sound reasonable? At some point I'm going to need more/larger aquariums, but I think this could work for many of the fish.

This is certainly not the best method, and a biotope may be a bad idea for efficient breeding, but I want to explore the biotopes of each of these fish as well.

 

[Colin_T]

Livingston's Cichlid (Nimbochromis livinstonii) - don't sell very well unless the shop has lots of customers that keep Rift Lake cichlids.
Golden Mbuna (Melanochromis auratus) - don't sell at all due to their aggressive nature.
Pepper Cory (Corydoras paleatus) - sell readily but also cheap from the shop's suppliers. Other Corydoras (rarer species) are worth breeding.
Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi) - you can always sell these.
X-Ray Tetra (Pristella maxillaris) - don't sell.
Betta (Betta splendens) - sell readily but you need lots of small containers to separate the males when they start fighting.
Ram (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi) - sell readily
Aphyosemion sp. (don't remember exact) - sell but not that much. However, they are worth breeding. Try to breed them in alkaline water (pH above 7.0) so you get more male offspring.
Honey Gourami (Trichogaster chuna) - they sell a bit but one pr can produce 500+ young and you won't be able to sell all of them to one shop.
Checkered Barbs (Oliotius oligolepis) - don't sell.
Cherry Barb (Puntius titteya) - don't sell much.
Stiphodon sp. (don't remember exact) - should sell reasonably well.
Dwarf Pencilfish (Nannostomus marginatus) - sell a bit and worth breeding because they are not coomonly available.
Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma cacatuoides) - good sellers especially if you have nicely coloured males. Breed them in alkaline water (pH above 7.0) so you get more male babies.
Monodactylus sebae - not sure if anyone has ever bred them. They grow big and take a while to mature, then they live in seawater.
Banded Archerfish (Toxotes jaculatrix) - they breed lots of archerfish in Asia but they aren't big sellers.
Shell dweller cichlids make good parents but aren't big sellers.

 

[Inchworm]

Possibly the best way to get rid of home bred fish is through a local aquarium society. They almost always have auctions at their monthly meetings where you can sell your fish and share the proceeds with the club. It's a lot of fun to meet other fishkeepers in real life, enjoy lectures from experts brought in for the occasion, and participate in competitions and other activities too.

Here are the links to the club listings, but I doubt if they are up to date. It wouldn't hurt to inquire if your independent lfs knows of any others in your area since, if they exist, the lfs probably helps support them.

U.S. - https://www.fishforums.net/threads/directory-of-local-aquarium-societies-and-clubs.418756/

U.K. - https://www.fishforums.net/threads/directory-of-local-aquarium-societies-and-clubs.418758/

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

We only have one LFS - I asked him if he takes fish his customers breed and he said "No, it's more trouble than it's worth" "I won't even feed them to my pirhanas" I thought - too bad, because half the fish I bought from him died and he wouldn't give me a refund because I didn't have a water sample from the exact day I put them in the tank (I had changed the water as soon as 3 of them died for fear of some disease).

watched some youtube videos on breeding bristlenose plecos and the two guys said they always have a waiting list for them but didn't say who they sell to. They probably had 30 or more 10 gallon tanks going for all the different sub-species and for all different ages. They did include their name/number/email in case you wanted to buy them.

It's a little difficult and expensive to ship fish. Both places I purchase from put them, double bagged, in a Styrofoam cooler along with either a heat package or a cold pack - then they ship overnight or 2-day. One place charges $48 for overnight shipping but only $18 for 2 day, plus $9 for the cooler. The other place charges $28 for overnight and they include the cooler, but they have fewer fish I want. Oh - also one of the stores pulls the fish 2-3 days early and doesn't feed them so there is no poop in the bag when you get them.

I've only lost one fish from shipping - she was alive until she hit my water which really freaked me out, but all the others were fine. Both stores cannot seem to get me a Moonlight Gourami - one shipped 2 blue gourami's instead, the other shipped two pearl gourami's (which I also had ordered) so I ended up with 4 pearl gourami's - they are beautiful fish. Not sure what the problem is with the moonies.

So if you could breed a moonlight gourami for me I'd definitely buy it from you!