Breeding Fish

What started as a 1 tank hobby 12 months ago is now a full blown fish breeding facility with grow out tanks etc.

What I need to know is, how do you find a buyer for bulk?

Example :
I have 2 batches of jewel cichlid fry, adds up to about 250 babies in total, and the parents don't stop...

What do you do with so much fish?!?!?

 

Based in Bloemfontein...

 

Hi and Welcome.

For the exact reason you mentioned is why I don't breed cichlids. My advice to is find a different species if you want to continue to breed, something that doesnt breed prolifically without your input and that you can keep many of if you cant get rid of the fry.

I would find a friend with an oscar or angels and give them the fry as feeder fish or you will sit with many more problems as the fry mature.

 

And here I thought I landed on a gold mine, after paying R240 for the pair of Jewels...

And your schooling fish like tetras and live bearers? Surely it would be more effecient for petshops etc to purchase locally rather than import?

Apologies for my ignorance, it is just very interesting to me that so many fish are being imported, when we could breeding locally.

 

My 2c: keeping a species like an African Jewelfish is specialised; that is to say not many people want to keep them as they are aggressive, require a larger tank, like to dig up plants, etc. This results in the market for them being very limited. The trend in aquariums has moved to small, planted aquariums with small fish and shrimp. This is what the LFS (local fish stores) know they can move quickly and make a quick buck.

 

Makes a lot of sense. Thank you.

So I need to figure out how to do controlled breeding, in collaboration with my LFS. Can't just go bulk....

Just on a side note, it isn't just the jewels. I also have neons, gmos, angels corys, shrimp, etc etc etc... Hobby basically exploded in 12 months...

 

Many, many years ago I thought that I could make good pocket money by breeding discus. That endevour ended in tears.

The price of Congo Tetras at the LFS's makes me think that they might be quite profitable.

 

If I could make a buck, that would be great, but I really just need a way to keep feeding this addiction...

 

I have bred many species over the years - threadfin rainbowfish, celestial pearl danios, emerald rasbora, naked rasbora mostly. I sold privately on gumtree as the LFS would offer me next to nothing for them, and it was store credit as well. I make a R5000 a year which I put back into my tanks. What I did find is that as my numbers of fry increase it bacame a lot more work. I had to raise more cultures of vinegar eels and microworms, I had to feed more to ensure that all fry got enough food and more WCs. Now I basically am breeding for myself, I sell hardly anything anymore.

Currently I am breeding Chopra danios and am busy conditioning/growing Santa Maria endlers, platinum rice fish and Vietnamese cardinals.