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What Do People Want?


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#1 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 08 January 2018 - 09:30 PM

The thought of breeding fish for profit crosses my mind every now and then, gets me thinking as to how I'd approach this endeavour. And it's something I've been taking half seriously, breeding fish for profit would be way more interesting than getting a casual job at Macca's or Woolies.

 

Garden variety livebearers such as guppies and mollies are boring, and not exactly uncommon, also already very cheap at various LFS and pet stores, which is why I wouldn't be breeding them.

 

So it's got me wondering if I were to start a small business selling fish, what's in high demand right now? Natives are my specialty (plus they aren't common in the marketplace) but I don't know if a ton of people are interested in them?


Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 22 October 2020 - 09:00 AM.


#2 Delapool

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Posted 09 January 2018 - 07:24 AM

Any have much colour?

#3 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 09 January 2018 - 08:38 AM

Well, on the most part, no. The pygmy perch does colour up quite a bit during the breeding season, there's a variant that's all red, but other than that, most of them are just brown and grey.

 

http://www.coburgaqu...vittata-mod.jpg

 

http://www.aquariuml...62&d=1338198432

Photo by Juls


Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 22 October 2020 - 09:00 AM.


#4 Delapool

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Posted 09 January 2018 - 06:00 PM

Idk, I’ve kept purple-spotted gudgeon (or whatever they are called) over in QLD and thought they were nice but not sure they would appeal to everyone.

I’d be after something that appeals somehow - behaviour, colour, pattern I guess. That’s just me - at some point I’d like to do a native tank - maybe a biotope but not at moment.

Ignoring any collection details or restrictions but anything in snails or shrimp? I thought snails were pretty boring but have seen some very nice patterns on US forums and they seem to breed like rabbits (which could destroy the market I guess lol).

Just some idle thoughts, I just buy fish, don’t intentionally breed them.

#5 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 09 January 2018 - 07:46 PM

In terms of behaviour, most of the natives are pretty boring

 

Purple spotted gudgeons do get quite colourful, they would certainly appeal to some people, though I have never seen them at my LFS.

 

I guess there might be some interest in the more colourful shrimp, such as cleaners and cherries. Not sure about snails though


Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 22 October 2020 - 09:01 AM.


#6 Delapool

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Posted 10 January 2018 - 07:07 AM

Probably true on snails - limited market. Tbh I’m thinking it sounds a hard sell to general market. I mean I like natives and all, just not sure there

#7 Jules

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Posted 10 January 2018 - 09:07 AM

Try to breed some jardinis ^_^ ....... people go nuts for leichardtis these days and the down fall and hard to get jardini is well sort after. Sure there not easy to breed but it would a pretty awesome feat if you do.

 

Like the guys in S.A. breeding the silver aros! That's amazing.

 

But I agree with Delapool, hard to say there is something that is truly sort after or the in thing atm, fish market has slowed down big time...... Quite sad really, seeing lots of rays for sale now for a good price when years ago some of us had a list of people who wanted pups before they where even born.



#8 Delapool

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Posted 10 January 2018 - 09:36 AM

Was looking at some rays going on QLDAF.

#9 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 10 January 2018 - 09:47 AM

Woah, I don't have the space nor funds to even keep a single jardini or leichardti (same with rays), as cool as they are.



#10 Jules

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Posted 10 January 2018 - 11:47 AM

Rays sell better over there still (2 of my last batch went that way and I got what I wanted - not had to sell them to cheap like here), but a lot more active the industry over there too, nice influs of exotics and TBs on the East Coast.

 

Definitely right pseud. need a bit of space, id imagine ponds to breed jardinis in.

 

What about rare exotic plants, seem to be a lot of people into that, rare shrimp variants seem to be of interest still, and micro fish, like Galaxy rasboras (such a cool little fish!)



#11 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 10 January 2018 - 01:21 PM

If I had a huge tank or pond, I might consider getting a few rays and breeding them, but I don't :( .

 

I guess plants could be sellable, also shrimp might be profitable too, cantonensis and cherries might be of appeal. Micro fish wouldn't be too hard to breed, just a few small tanks for some neon tetras.


Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 22 October 2020 - 09:01 AM.


#12 Chopstick_mike

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Posted 10 January 2018 - 03:35 PM

Personally I think tangs are still a big hit and some of the Malawi’s That were super common 3 or so years ago like neon spots etc would be more profitable and much easier to breed in volumes

#13 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 10 January 2018 - 05:46 PM

Blue tangs need a large tank too, too large for me at the moment. I guess breeding cichlids could be somewhat profitable, but I've never kept them.

 

Specialising in certain fish types might be profitable, such as micro fish (neon tetras, sparkling gourami, bumblebee gobies, bettas and livebearers), unusual fish (mudskippers, killifish, hillstream loaches, axolotls, soles, eels, bullrout) or native fish .


Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 22 October 2020 - 09:01 AM.


#14 Jules

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Posted 11 January 2018 - 07:41 AM

Very hard to find profitably these days in the hobby, unless you breed something that will sell nearly immediately and make decent money.

Breeding on a small scale is more sustaining the hobby and recovering your costs (including initial purchase of fish and maintenance of them ie, food, power and water usage, meds etc)



#15 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 11 January 2018 - 08:18 AM

That's what I'm trying to find out, what kind of fish people want that I can easily breed from home. Is it rarity? Or is it just colouration? Then I'd try breed some killifish.


Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 22 October 2020 - 09:02 AM.


#16 Delapool

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Posted 12 January 2018 - 07:43 AM

For me - colour and something different. Killifish sound tempting but never kept them.

#17 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 12 January 2018 - 11:14 AM

Colour isnt hard to accomodate for, even the most commonly kept fish species such as guppies and gourami can be quite colourful.

Something different, now thats interesting. Killies, bullrout, mudskippers, now those really attract aquarists.

I spoke to the staff at Aquotix yesterday and I gave them my number to notify me when they get mudskippers in stock. Apparently mudskippers do come in occasionally, which would provide me with an opportunity to buy a couple (emphasis on a couple, theyre not exactly cheap) and try breeding them.


Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 22 October 2020 - 09:02 AM.


#18 Jules

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Posted 12 January 2018 - 03:47 PM

I believe they are hard to breed, digging mud pits for spawning and raising fry, very cool animals though. Pet magic Cannington used to frequently stock them



#19 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 12 January 2018 - 04:45 PM

A bloke on Reefuge.com managed to breed them, he just let them dig their own burrows and spawn, but I don't know if he got to raising the fry. A German bloke also managed to get them to breed.



#20 pseudechisbutleri

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Posted 15 January 2018 - 01:21 AM

But these are the only incidents where mudskippers have been recorded to spawn in captivity, I believe they are seasonal and won’t be breeding all year, plus various sources on the Internet have even stated that captive breeding has not been done before, possibly implying a degree of either difficulty or rarity when it comes to captive breeding. Thus, I wouldn’t be able to rely completely on mudskippers as a source of income and I’ll instead need to breed an oddball that is easier to breed, but still with a high enough demand as to where they could still sell for a reasonable amount, Kuhli loaches were something I had in mind, and though captive breeding is still uncommon, it’s not completely unheard of and there are numerous instances of captive breeding, though more often than not, breeding occurs accidentally. Other easier-to-breed oddballs I’m considering are glass catfish and corydoras




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