What size is sellable?

[BigJfish12]

Hello,
Just wondering how big and at what age guppies are considered sellable?

 

[GaryE]

In stores and auctions here, when the males have full sized tails and are young adults.

 

[BigJfish12]

Yes ok so how long roughly?

 

[GaryE]

I haven't sold guppies to a store since I was a kid, but a few years ago, I sold swordtails. They wanted at least 75% of adult size, and at least 30 fish before they'd look at them around here.
How long it takes to grow them will depend on how often you change water, what size tank you use for rearing, and what the diet is (quality and frequency). You will have to watch the males don't nip the big tails. It was pretty common here for stores give 10% or less of what they sold the fish for - I got 65 cents per fish for one species they sold for 10 dollars. You don't get rich, but it takes away the overcrowding issues.
It's common for new aquarists with easy fish like guppies to get 100 babies and think 300 bucks, but 10 is more like it, maybe 20 in store credit. Guppies farmed in south Asia are dirt cheap, and are alwaysadults when they arrive. That's the competition.

 

[BigJfish12]

Yes ok thanks very much, yeah wasn't doing it to get rich but to lessen the expense of the hobby. About 3 years ago I sold platy fry to my lfs and I got just under 1 dollar each for 21 of them.

 

[emeraldking]

Hello,
Just wondering how big and at what age guppies are considered sellable?

Starting from juvenile till adults.

Yes ok thanks very much, yeah wasn't doing it to get rich but to lessen the expense of the hobby. About 3 years ago I sold platy fry to my lfs and I got just under 1 dollar each for 21 of them.

Well, you could make more money out of it by selling it to other people instead of a store.

It was pretty common here for stores give 10% or less of what they sold the fish for - I got 65 cents per fish for one species they sold for 10 dollars

When I sell mix guppies to a store, I get €0,75 - €1,00 per guppy. If I sell guppies of the higher segment to a store, I get €2,50 - €5,00 per guppy, depending on the strain. But I mainly sell to people (mostly other breeders) which result in a way better price.

When I sell my mix or mutt guppies, they're still of a good quality. A lot of stores in my region are aware that.

But yes, will selling guppies make you rich? Not at all...! When I speak to Asian breeders of guppy farms or even an Asian smaller guppy business, they think they are getting rich. But don't forget that what they call a lot of money, is peanuts to the western world. On Facebook and through my website, I get a lot of messages from Asian breeders. They all wanna do business. In my opinion, transhippers will earn more money than those breeders.

 

[Colin_T]

Most shops buy them when they are similar size to the fish they are selling.

It normally takes 2-3 months to get them to saleable size if they are fed well. If they aren't fed well, it could take 6 months or longer to reach a saleable size.

 

[BigJfish12]

Thanks for your help everyone