Beginner breeder

[Mbrye]

I’m trying to make a small profit on the side of my regular job. Now I don’t have salt water fish but I am trying to breed guppies, does anyone have suggestions for being able to sell them wether there for food or pets it does not matter to me.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Guppies??? The freshwater live-bearing guppies?

In the 60's and 70's I breed Tiger Barbs (egg laying) and would be lucky to make pennies per fish. I'd have tanks with 300-400 fish in them. Wholesalers don't want to pay, and especially for guppies that breed faster than rabbits.

Unless you have a large breeding operation and other "higher priced" fish, you're only going to make small change.

Oh, and welcome to R2R....a saltwater forum site! :cool:

#WelcometoR2R

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'd suggest you test the market by visiting a store, such as Walmart, that has a pet department, and tell them you're a breeder and want to know what they would pay for guppies.

 

[Mbrye]

Guppies??? The freshwater live-bearing guppies?

In the 60's and 70's I breed Tiger Barbs (egg laying) and would be lucky to make pennies per fish. I'd have tanks with 300-400 fish in them. Wholesalers don't want to pay, and especially for guppies that breed faster than rabbits.

Unless you have a large breeding operation and other "higher priced" fish, you're only going to make small change.

Oh, and welcome to R2R....a saltwater forum site! :cool:

#WelcometoR2R

Yeah that’s kind of what I’ve been hearing my wife and I are also trying to breed our bettas as well

 

[Mbrye]

I'd suggest you test the market by visiting a store, such as Walmart, that has a pet department, and tell them you're a breeder and want to know what they would pay for guppies.

I have talked with some pet shops around here and one says they’ll do in store credit

 

[brad shawn]

I always had good luck with African cichlids had a lfs I would deal with they gave me a few bucks per fish Which I just spend there anyways. shell dwellers from tangynika are easy. Fry stay right in the shell and you can grow out in a separate tank. I never got into live bearers. But find some wild caught endlers those are harder to come by. Gotta find a niche.

 

[Mbrye]

Our pet shop close to my house sells them for about $3 a a guppy I figured on selling mine for half that if I can

 

[Mbrye]

I always had good luck with African cichlids had a lfs I would deal with they gave me a few bucks per fish Which I just spend there anyways. shell dwellers from tangynika are easy. Fry stay right in the shell and you can grow out in a separate tank. I never got into live bearers. But find some wild caught endlers those are harder to come by. Gotta find a niche.

How would I go about finding a niche

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

I'd suggest you test the market by visiting a store, such as Walmart, that has a pet department, and tell them you're a breeder and want to know what they would pay for guppies.

I used to work for Walmart. They used a single vendor for all of their fish. They stopped carrying them last year and all of the fish systems should be out of the stores by now. I bred just regular guppies back in 2013-2014 and had good luck selling them on craigslist in trios. I was kind of surprised by the response I saw. I will have to say though that when I moved and couldn't take them with me, I had to give them to a LFS for free.

 

[Mbrye]

How would I go about finding a niche

I also don’t know of anyone that has wild caught fish as far as tropical or anything else

 

[Mbrye]

I used to work for Walmart. They used a single vendor for all of their fish. They stopped carrying them last year and all of the fish systems should be out of the stores by now. I bred just regular guppies back in 2013-2014 and had good luck selling them on craigslist in trios. I was kind of surprised by the response I saw. I will have to say though that when I moved and couldn't take them with me, I had to give them to a LFS for free.

That stinks

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to R2R!!! There are regular guppies and "show" guppies and the same with bettas and the price is usually quite different. You may want to get some information from the IBC (International Betta Club) or the IFGA (International Fancy Guppy Association). Whether you are line breeding bettas and/or guppies or breeding cichlids, please realize that you will need several tanks and it is important to have a solid plan for how sell them first whether you are selling on line, craigslist, LFS, etc. because you aren't making money when you have hundreds of fish that you have breed and nobody wants them (been there, done that :oops: ). I still breed fish, but I am far more intentional than I was originally. Good luck!

 

[Mbrye]

Welcome to R2R!!! There are regular guppies and "show" guppies and the same with bettas and the price is usually quite different. You may want to get some information from the IBC (International Betta Club) or the IFGA (International Fancy Guppy Association). Whether you are line breeding bettas and/or guppies or breeding cichlids, please realize that you will need several tanks and it is important to have a solid plan for how sell them first whether you are selling on line, craigslist, LFS, etc. because you aren't making money when you have hundreds of fish that you have breed and nobody wants them (been there, done that :oops: ). I still breed fish, but I am far more intentional than I was originally. Good luck!

Thank you and I thought I had a selling source until the pet shop told me later on that they just do in store credit

 

[brad shawn]

I also don’t know of anyone that has wild caught fish as far as tropical or anything else

Breed something that isn’t as common or hard to come by that people want. I’m using endlers as an example because I was looking for them at one point for a planted tank and couldn’t find anything decent. There’s wild caught available I say get a trio and keep the bloodline pure. Everyone is jumping on the nano tank bandwagon it seems and endlers they are a good fit. Also neocardinia or cardinia shrimp as long as you keep the blood line and don’t cross anything. There’s some online sales is where you’re going to have to go for certain things I’m sure. But honestly with a couple tanks best you can do is support your hobby. Won’t make a thousand bucks a month or maybe you will!

 

[brad shawn]

I say you find a species that you like and that’s easy to breed but get a known strain that way you can say you have “super extra flame tail starburst” guppies for sale. don’t go to pet smart and get random guppies. ( I mean you can) but people who are into the hobby want to know what they have so they can maybe source another female or male at some point. People aren’t going to give you money for cross strain guppies. But regardless have fun with it! It’s a start, a few months down the road move onto something else Perhaps. What do you currently have?

 

[Mbrye]

I say you find a species that you like and that’s easy to breed but get a known strain that way you can say you have “super extra flame tail starburst” guppies for sale. don’t go to pet smart and get random guppies. ( I mean you can) but people who are into the hobby want to know what they have so they can maybe source another female or male at some point. People aren’t going to give you money for cross strain guppies. But regardless have fun with it! It’s a start, a few months down the road move onto something else Perhaps. What do you currently have?

We have two guppies two red eye tetras two penguin tetras one giant danio one green glow danio two female mollies two male mollies one male betta one female betta they are not the fancy expensive ones and there separated and one little pleco

 

[Mbrye]

Breed something that isn’t as common or hard to come by that people want. I’m using endlers as an example because I was looking for them at one point for a planted tank and couldn’t find anything decent. There’s wild caught available I say get a trio and keep the bloodline pure. Everyone is jumping on the nano tank bandwagon it seems and endlers they are a good fit. Also neocardinia or cardinia shrimp as long as you keep the blood line and don’t cross anything. There’s some online sales is where you’re going to have to go for certain things I’m sure. But honestly with a couple tanks best you can do is support your hobby. Won’t make a thousand bucks a month or maybe you will!

Fingers crossed lol