How To Make The Most Money Breeding & Selling Aquarium Fish 

Do you call them ahead of time? I just have so much social anxiety that I really just want to know people's routines to sell fish. I have platies that bred like crazy and my tank is now overrun and I don't have friends or family that have the necessities for their care, they're the type to still put them in bowls and never see it as an issue😬😭

@@dabskiiboii74 i dont call. i just show up and pull a quart sized deli cup full of mollies out of my bag (I re-use takeout containers to save plastic). unless the fish look actively unhealthy, they'll be thrilled. if you say something like "I was hoping to trade you for a few shrimp" its casual without seeming like your expecting free stuff. 9 times out of 10 getting fish from a local person is cheaper for them than buying from box stores, and the fish are usually better quality too because they're bred in local waters. the only place they've said no to me is the big box stores like petco and petsmart since they have like, a nation wide system

@@MJW173ok makes sense, I asked the PetSmart where I got the original platys from and the employee there recommend going to smaller local stores as well since they don't take any outside sellers, what kind of bags do you use to transport the fish in? and where do you aquire them? I started with 3 platys and currently have about 23, the bio load is becoming too much without very frequent water changes. It's a little stressful at the moment..😅

@@dabskiiboii74 like I said in my last reply, I use re-useable deli cups, not bags. I get them from when I order takeout. I just wash them real good before I put fish in there. Theres no need to waste all those plastic bags the pet stores use

@@dabskiiboii74Lmao I have social anxiety too I hate it how big is your tank I have guppies and swordtails in my outdoor ponds and they breed like crazy gotta get rid of some too 😂

Definitely start back bro don't give up on your passion you sounded like you loved your fish and business don't stop following what you love I'm fairly new to this haven't even started really didn't know this was a hustle till 1 hour ago but I love fish and recently moved here, share your tips and inspiration keep motivated you can do it

Please try it again.. maybe just the process and seeing the fish start new life will give you a brand new start and new way of looking at your old hobby / passion. Trust me life sometimes does throw curve balls and you feel overwhelmed but the feeling that your accomplishments bring is priceless!!😅

Start again! Maybe at least do shrimps and plants? Give it time for everything to grow, make sure your shrimps develop nice colors, etc. with Aquaswap, Aquabid, and EBay you might have an easier time getting started again

sorry that is the past know keep trying or you will never know

I really like this post because it thinks outside of the box of selling to LFS or online (Aquabid, ebay, etc). This would be a great thread topic on the acoop discussion board if it is not already.

Your comment was so relatable! About 7 years ago I was taking a short break from the hobby during a time I was relocating. When I was starting to get settled I saw one of Cory's videos about a particular guppy and that set me off on the path of finding and breeding show guppies. I also had a similar experience about 20 years ago when I saw a photo on the front of a fish keeping magazine in a pet store. It's a "That's the fish I want" moment that can turn into a real quest and mission.

@@mattkinsella9856 Thank you, I was in and out of the hobby a couple times and spent from November 2017 until April 2018 in various hospitals learning to walk talk, move arms and even swallow again. I was unconscious for about a month with a fever or 104, after I woke up my family brought me a betta in a less than gallon tank. Best thing that ever happened to me, I forced myself to move and take care of him. That’s how I found Aquarium Co Op videos. He lived out his days in a fifty five gallon tank when we got home. The fish that I fell in love with was the Super Red Bristle Nose, I drove stores nut having them order them in and cherry picking what I wanted. Now those stores and other people wait for my fish. One is a pet/ feed store and I pay for my baby chick order with super reds. Getting sick was can’t say a good thing but it opened up a great new part of the hobby for me.

@@johnwood738 Great to hear you made a recovery, that sounds about as rough as it can get! I have a calico super red and he has such an interesting pattern. Just yesterday I put him in a breeding tank with the only female bristlenose I have to see if I can get some young that look like him. I wish I had a similar female to put him with but I guess I'm just going to have to try and "make one". All the best to you and I hope all things keep getting better for you.

Hey, that's awesome! Congrats!!

With the exception of a handful of fish that require soft water for eggs to hatch.... Give any fish 3 to 6 generations to acclimate to your water, and you can be the supplier of gorgeous fish bred in your local hard water. My experience in the 80s and 90s, with the exception of some S. American black water species (discus, neon tetras, leaf fish...) almost everything could be bred in the liquid rock we call tap water within 6 generations. Most could transition in 3 generations (1st gen I purchased, 2nd gen in blended water, 3rd gen raised in my tap). Occasionally it took a couple more gens to acclimate eggs to my tap. My fish sold for close to retail prices, because they didn't die in the store, and they didn't die in their new homes, so the LFS didn't have to refund fish. Most LFS plan on at least 10% of stock (in the 80s they planned on 30% of each order) dying. If you supply "bomb proof fish" the store doesn't have to deduct those proposed losses from what they pay you. I took almost a third of each batch and pushed the limits to see what the fish could withstand, so I would **know** what high nitrates, ammonia, rapid pH or temperature changes looked like on my fish. Those kodak pictures helped improve both my fish lines and the educational information provided by the LFS. Not everyone needs to geek out to that degree, but it helps when those of us who did share what we learned. Bolivian rams can be acclimated fully to hard water, and their eggs will hatch in increasingly harder water with each generation. Discus eggs have to have soft water to hatch, but once hatched can be slowly transitioned to local, hard tap water (and semi cooler temps... like 78°) with each water change... as long as the water is increased in GH & KH slowly and ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are kept non existent. 1st gen discus are fairly intolerant of change, so wait until parents are easily caring for their offspring before taking half a batch to start acclimating (generally the parents eat the first 3 to 6 attempts before they figure out parenthood, and fry not raised by parents are less likely to acclimate well, and less likely to take care of their own offspring). Once you have a half dozen reliable breeding pairs in your tap water, you can sell off everything else. To accommodate the few egg layers that need soft water for eggs to hatch, prime the breeding pairs to lay with multiple water changes (imitating the onset of rainy season) along with adding live foods (BBS, worms, daphnia) and watch your hatch rates go up. You may have already known all of this since you bred fish before. I typed it all out for anyone new to breeding to learn. Jack Watley was the only reason I had any successful discus hatches... and he's also the reason I decided that there absolutely had to be a better way!😅 Feeding discus fry egg yolks by hand was absolutely not my idea of fun in the hobby.😂

@@THandP_org Thanks! I appreciate the feedback.

Have a bigger fish pet and have some free food for it if you can't sell. Not trying to sound crude, but it can help. Especially if you come from an ecosystem perspective.

That is what I was about to ask. Like do I wait for the next spawn THEN sell? So when the people ask for more I have some ready? Or do I just not sell all of them right away?

@@njmoonfrost6145 If I have more than 40 or 50 fish I'll tell the store I have 20 or 30 available, then if they sell well you will have more to give them. It also buys you time to breed more fish.

Yeah, I think it's easier to get them interested on a nice strain, you just don't sell quite as many, but it's a good way to get the door open.

It’s in the footer under links. www.aquariumcoop.com/apps/store-locator

Rather than cash? What's the strategy there?

Do you have a list of these forums?Thanks

@@ricardosmythe2548 being KIND to fellow humans rather than focusing on profit motive

@@hejbeautiful5488 I personally use r/AquaSwap

@@speedracer9132 fair play giving them to people but why vouchers from sales to shops instead of cash?

www.aquariumcoop.com/products/aquarium-co-op-brine-shrimp-eggs

It looks like some type of apisto. ~ Zenzo

@@AquariumCoop it’s body is a bit too flat to be an apisto, also the red eyes. Could it possibly be a blackbanded sunfish? Or are those not sold in the aquarium hobby yet?