# What to breed, will be my first breed attempt :)



## sharky (Jan 11, 2013)

Hi all,

I finally have a secure job with an income to afford to go one step further with my hobby. Breeding.

Now before I start breeding anything I want to get as much information as possible first.

I live in Vancouver and would like to start small... not mass breeding. I'd like to breed and sell to at least cover the expenses needed to breed.

I'm open for any recommendations on what to breed. I thought about Betta's but it seems every other breeder breeds them and the market is already starting get flood with Bettas.
It doesn't have to be fish, it can be frogs, crabs etc. My goal is to get very good with the first species I chose, to eventually begin breeding enough to finance the next species to breed (whichever it will be)

Long story short:

what would you breed in Vancouver to cover your expenses while getting experience with breeding in order to eventually expand and breed multiple species or just a different maybe more difficult and expensive species?

Thank you very much


----------



## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

Live bearers! Guppies or platies or swordtails. High, steady demand, $3-4 retail each and a group nearly guarantees breeding. Fry can go on crushed flake; no infusoria, no bbs, no 100% waterchanges every day. You could always sell to LFS for money/credit and they'll take them because people, experienced or not, continually buy them.


----------



## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

I would say to stay away from the convict cichlid. They breed very well but are not easy to sell. It seems that there is lots of interest in some of the following types of fish.

Flowerhorns although expensive can produce many fry.
African cichlids are also popular here.
Some of the fancier freshwater shrimp.

That is just a couple of ideas.


----------



## sharky (Jan 11, 2013)

I will definitely get some information about the mentioned fish.

What abet Mollies and Betta's, despite the live breading fact. Would they sell decent? I'm asking because I really like those two fish.

And where do you guys sell? Do you just walk in to different fish shops and ask if they want to buy?

@sunshine_1965 ; what do you consider fancy shrimps?

Thanks again.


----------



## blurry (May 10, 2010)

Id say try cherry shrimps to start off if your going to shrimps, their not fancy but they reproduce pretty good and sell for $1 each or $2, Guppies are good for starters too. For fancy shrimps crystal red can sell and the higher the grade the more they sell for.


----------



## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

sharky said:


> What abet Mollies and Betta's, despite the live breading fact. Would they sell decent? I'm asking because I really like those two fish.
> 
> And where do you guys sell? Do you just walk in to different fish shops and ask if they want to buy?


Live bearers always sell, plain and simple. Every store always has a few tanks devoted to them. Bettas not so much, keep in mind that they only sell in singles generally. If you have a reputation as a good customer at any LFS, that's a good place to start. They will want to buy in quantity at a price half to one-third the retail value.


----------



## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Blue eye panaque... queen arabesque... green phantom... blue panaque... columbian zebra...


----------



## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

+1 on blue eye Panaque. Just make sure you start with a BIG breeding group, special order a whole bunch of wild caughts. I wonder where you could get something like that...... Oh yeah probably Charles.

Sorry sharky, this is a poor attempt at humor.


----------



## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

sharky said:


> @sunshine_1965 ; what do you consider fancy shrimps?
> 
> Thanks again.


I mean shrimp like the pumpkin or snowball some tigers to start with. If you get good with them then get into the more expensive ones like crystal reds or blacks. Then if you dare get into the king kongs.


----------



## sharky (Jan 11, 2013)

DBam said:


> +1 on blue eye Panaque.


Oh I love those fish. Maybe in a couple years I can take them into consideration for breeding, if even possible :bigsmile:

All of the fish Charles listed are just beautiful, but certainly not for beginner breeders .


----------



## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

charles said:


> Blue eye panaque... queen arabesque... green phantom... blue panaque... columbian zebra...


Why not? Everything except the blue eye panaque are being bred by someone already. Even the BEP is being worked on in Asia at the moment.


----------



## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Well here's my thoughts. You would have to sell privately to get any kind of profit. Then one here. A few there.waiting for people to come to your house . Or sell to petshops for low price in bulk and decent size so buyers will buy. Petshops don't have tank space or time to finish growing out. 
Guppies and mollies etc don't sell till grown enough to get nice tails and size. Bear in mind petshops need to make a decent profit so you wouldn't get alot. You have to separate the males and females to get good growth. Petshops get them at low prices from wholesalers and transshipped. 
Cories are always in demand . Pepper Cory, juli Cory, sterbai Cory. 
Bettas aren't flooded in the market and never will be as an introductory fish. You would need jars all over your house. 
Also wholesalers sell hundreds each week. It's the main staple. 
I'd go for something like galaxy rasboras or rainbows. Neon dwarf are always popular. 
Breed for the challenge not to support your hobby as it won't. With your hydro, food, etc you won't make money. 
Large fish , that aren't a staple arent in large demand and the market gets flooded and the price bottoms out very fast. Then you can't give them away. They also have thousands of fry and you can't house them to grow them out big enough to sell. 
A good example is the convict cichlid. They are picked up for feeders. 
Angels...stores will buy them if you get them to quarter size and you get good fins on them. Marbles are everywhere...and crosses. Something pure like goldens or half blacks or blacks or kois .or blues. Alot of people breed angels. 
Pleccos take forever to grow. But it would be challenging. Leopard frog pleccos are always in demand but one or two people breeding here in town.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

My current project is trying to breed galaxy's and and neo shrimp


----------

