# Can you make money in this hobby?



## TBemba

I don't mean can you make a little money and support your hobby money. I mean can you breed something in this hobby and make a living at doing it?

Example: shrimp or Frags.


----------



## arc

Make a living....I doubt it. Crunch some basic numbers in terms of time/equipment/overhead vs volume sold and it doesn't make sense. I speaking in terms of the average person with 3-5 tanks. You could recover some money by selling shrimps/frags/fry/plants though. I'm sure there's some people here that can better answer this as I've just been selling to get rid of extra stock.


----------



## Joeee

High quality CRS maybe? Maybe some REALLY nice Bettas or those $40 guppy pairs I've heard so much about. I can imagine it creating a bit of a profit but not too much.


----------



## bigfishy

breeding stingray!



or breeding some ultra rare fish like the Kelberi Peacock Bass!


----------



## Altumnut

well it all depends on what you define making a living!!!!!!
I would say....yes if you are single, living with your parents, no bills to pay.
I would say....no if your married, have a mortgage, bills to pay and maybe a kid or two.
Just my 2 cents....but I think many would agree.

...Ralph


----------



## Joeee

Altumnut said:


> well it all depends on what you define making a living!!!!!!
> I would say....yes if you are single, living with your parents, no bills to pay.
> I would say....no if your married, have a mortgage, bills to pay and maybe a kid or two.
> Just my 2 cents....but I think many would agree.
> 
> ...Ralph


Simple solution, sell the kids and spouse.


----------



## matti2uude

Altumnut said:


> well it all depends on what you define making a living!!!!!!
> I would say....yes if you are single, living with your parents, no bills to pay.
> I would say....no if your married, have a mortgage, bills to pay and maybe a kid or two.
> Just my 2 cents....but I think many would agree.
> 
> ...Ralph


I would have to agree with you.


----------



## TBemba

So if you invested $$ in growing frags SW stuff I heard some frags $30 a head.

If you had a 10 ft by 10 ft frag tank could you grow enough corals and sell them for enough to make a profit? or does it cost too much to grow them?Or does it take too long?

ps. I have no frag experience (zero)


----------



## ameekplec.

I'd say no. It's easy to make a few bucks (or a little more ) but to fully support yourself? You probably wouldn't be very successful, or else a heck of a lot more people would be doing it (myself included ).


----------



## Philip.Chan.92

To make a living, you would need your own store and have suppliers, the profit margin is smaller when you buy from suppliers as opposed to breeding fish etc yourself but the time it takes for them to grow and breed is much too long to turn a profit. Just look at stores like Lucky's, that's how fish stores have to be run to be profitable.


----------



## TBemba

ameekplec. said:


> I'd say no. It's easy to make a few bucks (or a little more ) but to fully support yourself? You probably wouldn't be very successful, or else a heck of a lot more people would be doing it (myself included ).


I don't believe you can breed anything in the hobby to make serious money... But sometimes I wish I could.


----------



## TBemba

You would need something the size of a Trout Farm or the farms they have in Florida or Asia. Wonder if a guy like Jack Wattley made a living breeding discus?


----------



## ameekplec.

Not really. Many people breed fish and don't deal with the public - it takes too long, wastes too much time (why deal with 100 guys buying 5 fish each, when you can sell a lot of 500 at once? Also, did I mention that the 5 guys only want to come on weekends, and at different times, demand to choose individual fish, and try to haggle you for $2?), and avoids the need for costly expenses like running a store and having staff and rent.

Also, Lucky's is one way of doing business. Certainly not the only way.


You could breed....expensive dwarf plecs, make high-end ($100+) frags, designer clownfish, rare dwarf angels. 

Or just sit back and enjoy what you've got


----------



## TBemba

ameekplec. said:


> Not really. Many people breed fish and don't deal with the public - it takes too long, wastes too much time (why deal with 100 guys buying 5 fish each, when you can sell a lot of 500 at once? Also, did I mention that the 5 guys only want to come on weekends, and at different times, demand to choose individual fish, and try to haggle you for $2?), and avoids the need for costly expenses like running a store and having staff and rent.
> 
> Also, Lucky's is one way of doing business. Certainly not the only way.
> 
> You could breed....expensive dwarf plecs, make high-end ($100+) frags, designer clownfish, rare dwarf angels.
> 
> Or just sit back and enjoy what you've got


Oh I enjoy what I have and recommend that to everyone.....but wouldn't it be cool to be a breeder of Aquarium inhabitants? I wouldn't want to sell anything to individual people. no one coming to your house crap. I would want like you said 500, 1000 units sold to like a major players . Heck if you could make a go of it you would have a warehouse or a big barn out back of your house.

You would only see the Fed ex guy once or twice a day.


----------



## Philip.Chan.92

Well you gotta be commited and spend pretty much most of your time trying to maximize survival of each spawn for fish etc...too much work unless you know exactly what you're doing and have the time for it. That's just my opinion, I pretty much got back the money I used for plants and such by selling my own, as for making a living, it's just out of reach for me, not enough time


----------



## TBemba

People that breed Discus and I only know this from being on the Simply Discus forum ( back when i was way into Discus) some of these guys build huge warehouses with tanks wall to wall. All the tanks are on automatic drip systems that change 100% of the water everyday. They have everything automated no heaters in tank stuff only sponge filters.

These people breed strains of discus and sell them for some serious money. What if you did this with Arowana ? If you have seriously high quality stock and you have huge tanks. Those things lay major eggs no?


----------



## bigfishy

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> To make a living, you would need your own store and have suppliers, the profit margin is smaller when you buy from suppliers as opposed to breeding fish etc yourself but the time it takes for them to grow and breed is much too long to turn a profit. Just look at stores like Lucky's, that's how fish stores have to be run to be profitable.


This is a perfect example!

H2O aquatic in New York, which specialize in stingrays and they can make a living thru breeding high quality fish

http://www.h2ocustomaquatics.com/about.html





TBemba said:


> People that breed Discus
> 
> These people breed strains of discus and sell them for some serious money. What if you did this with Arowana ? If you have seriously high quality stock and you have huge tanks. Those things lay major eggs no?


Breeding Asian Arowana is impossible in this part of the world, people have already tried in amazon (Asian Arowana and not Silver / Black Arowana) with no luck. For some reason, the magnetic field is affecting the Asian Arowana from breeding


----------



## dl88dl

TBemba said:


> Oh I enjoy what I have and recommend that to everyone.....but wouldn't it be cool to be a breeder of Aquarium inhabitants? I wouldn't want to sell anything to individual people. no one coming to your house crap. I would want like you said 500, 1000 units sold to like a major players . Heck if you could make a go of it you would have a warehouse or a big barn out back of your house.
> 
> You would only see the Fed ex guy once or twice a day.


If you sell 500 or 1000 frys around 1"+ to a major player they will only give you .25 cent to $1 each depending on the type of fish.


----------



## KhuliLoachFan

This is what in Business School is known as the Pie Conundrum.

Mrs. Smith bakes really good pies. Much better than the pies that come from the supermarket. Everyone says that her pies are so good, that she should go into business and sell them. She starts out making pies using her home kitchen and her little home oven. She graduates to a small commercial bakery facility. Fast-forward fifty years and she is gone, but her name lives on, on the front of the number one selling brand of mediocre pie sold in every supermarket. 

The same thing happens to you when you let your hobby (fish) start to be your job. You are always on the curve, trying not to fall off of it. You will be always sliding towards something larger and larger in scale, with higher and higher risk, and less and less fun. In short, this is a hobby for most of us, it should stay that. Some of us might open up a store. Some of us might try to make a little money on the side breeding something. 

But here is the dilemma with breeding; Anything that is high-demand is already serviced by commercial large scale breeders. Anything small-demand is already handled by a loose-knit network of 1000s of small basement hobby breeders who provide their stock to the better LFS. You are, in short, a little fishy in a big pond,and there is enough competition even at the hobbyist-level to keep you from selling your stuff for much. I see guys who "did everything right" selling 1" F1 cichlid stock on PN and they think I should give them $15,more than I would spend for something nice and F1 at Finatics, at 1.5", that would go for $9.99. Just because Bob the Basement Tropheus Breeder thinks his fry are worth $15 each doesn't mean anybody else does.

If you wanted to work, full time, 70 hours a week at something related to this hobby, and make at least $80K a year, my guess is that you would be hard pressed to do it without destroying at least one other guy out there who is already doing whatever it is that you're doing, at a commercial level. Salaried jobs, by the way are 40 hour jobs. Sole-proprietor small-Business-owners routinely work 70+ hour weeks.

He on the other hand, has more experience at whatever it is that he's been doing for 3 or 4 years or 40 years, than you, a hobbyist-marketplace startup.

Businesses that cater to segments that are hobby in nature are inherently unstable,and when the economy takes a downswing, they are the first to suffer, and last to recover. Those that last (like Menagerie for instance) offer best-in-class experience to their customers and have a significant investment in building their business. It ain't easy. 

And we all know what it looks like when an incompetent noob sets up shop and thinks he can run an LFS better than the old guard. ;-) Let's not speak about that, any more, shall we?

In short, no, I don't think so.

W


----------



## Darkside

You can make a decent buck breeding and selling some SW fish like dottybacks. But you would need space, specialized equipment and startup cash.


----------



## wtac

IMHO, I emphatically say NO if you are just looking to breed a few species in the Canadian market. The US is a different beast altogether primarily due to the MANY large city centres and adjoining communities. It all boils down to numbers in that the Canadian market is a drop in the bucket compared to the US.

Take it from me, it takes a special type of person to go into this carrer path and an even more special "significant other" as you do what you have to do. Throw in kids and extended family...you don't know when work ends and life begins. When it comes to staff, it's just as difficult to find and again, factor in their significant others and family obligations.


----------



## KhuliLoachFan

If I wanted to support myself full time while doing something related to fish, I think that both retail and breeding are poor choices, if you have a mortgage to pay, and kids to feed.

Imagine you can breed some exotic saltwater species that go for $200 each. Let's say it's some kind of seahorse. Suppose that a ban on capture on your species prevents those who capture your species from competing with you. Suppose your species take 1 year to reach that size. How many do you have to sell per year, and how much cash do you need up front to breed a sufficient quantity of these fish to support yourself? All it takes is for someone to buy $400 worth of fish and they can open a competing business breeding these things. What do you do if disease wipes your entire breeding stock out, or taints it so that nobody will buy from you? 

In short, you need a commercial breeding program that carries sufficient species diversity, salt or fresh, that no one species being wiped out can carry you out of business. You have to go big, or go home. In short, for freshwater fish, if you want to compete with Big Als Florida Fish Farms, you have to start something on the same, or larger scale. For salt-water, maybe you could succeed much more easily growing out frags. I have seen people on youtube that are doing that at a semi-commercial scale, at home with a green-house out back, growing coral frags using sunlight, and large plastic tubs. This guy must have spent $120k building a facility (a greenhouse really) in his back-40 (large country property, not a city guy) to get this going.

Anyways, for those of us who live in the city, there ain't no breeding program you can run in your basement that will earn you your keep. 
Unless you live in your parent's basement, and your rent is $0, and all you need to do is make enough money to buy pizza and a movie ticket now and then.

W

P.S. There is way more money in breeding dogs, than in breeding fish.


----------



## TBemba

maybe the money is in Aquarium plants? They grow fast and under the right lights and co2 you could have a forest in no time. people are always looking for nice healthy pants and they seem to not go out of style. But maybe the cost to grow plants out weighs the price you can sell them at?


----------



## KhuliLoachFan

Here's the problem. 

Plants sell for the same price range as fish (Plants and Fish for freshwater tanks sell for between $1 and $20, typically).

Fewer people buy plants, than buy fish. Ergo, you have chosen the smaller market segment. Secondly, few people will repeat-buy your plants since many plants are easy to grow, and will propagate and grow without trouble, leading to no repeat sale when the plant grows ok. The plants that melt just frustrate the user, leading to very few repeat sales of the plants that don't grow well.

If I wanted to supplement my income, I think I might come up with some craft+plant idea, like growing "moss walls", or java-fern-on-logs, which I could sell for $30-$50 each, to the odd person who wanted them. However, the higher the price goes up, the fewer people will want them. 

So you are fighting against a system with feedback loops (the economy) which is not going to give you a free lunch.


W


----------



## Canadianbettas

I wouldn't say make a living but... I wouldn't say profit either.. I've breeded bettas.. the time, money, I invested... was quite a handful... I did it more as a hobby... The cost of tanks/equipment/food/bettas etc etc thent he time.... eeks can get hectic...


----------



## TBemba

So the answer is *NO* you can't make serious money in this hobby.


----------



## dl88dl

TBemba said:


> So the answer is *NO* you can't make serious money in this hobby.


Yes, you can not make serious money but you can make enough to keep your hobby going without using the kids education funds


----------



## fishclubgirl

Yes, you can make enough to fund "fish" trips and the like but would need a big set up to make a living. My hobby is breeding bettas and that is funded by the plants I sell. Plants are easier to ship too. Not all of my customers have "aquatic" green thumbs and do come back for more. However, with the new regulations in the new year, I will be curious if there's more demand for "home made" fish.


----------



## Cory

In order to support yourself breeding fish you need a way to breed vast quantities on the cheap. Essentially, this means a farm. That's why most of the commercial fish breeders here are Koi breeders. Farms here can support Koi. There are also huge indoor facilities that work but the initial investment is beyond the means of most folks. The fish I breed and sell just cover the cost of keeping them with a little extra for me and that's with over 20 tanks and lots of man hours per week. I love doing it so selling the fish is really just a means to keep the hobby affordable. Of course, it also helps to have stock on hand that is healthy and ready to go when I need to stock customer tanks as well. There are a few species like discus that could be profitable under the right conditions on a smaller scale but the problem then becomes finding buyers. Most of the stores here get discus from thailand, singapore etc. and good luck competing with their prices. Even if you could, you'd have to sell a lot and Toronto alone isn't enough to sustain a person. 

Even with my small scale setup I have to sell to fish stores occasionally because there is more than I can sell online at the time. I get about half of what individuals pay me and in some cases the store owners have to come from out of town to buy from me . Honestly, the only reason I breed fish is because A) I love breeding fish as a fun hobby and B) selling the offspring allows me to keep the number and variety of fish I want to without becoming too expensive. I'm definitely not hoping to get rich off of it.


----------



## TBemba

I personally like to raise fry and accomplish breeding some fish. But the selling part is so unpalatable to me that I will either give fish away to people I know or trade for something, take them to the local fish club and make enough to buy some fish food. Last thing is to take them to the LFS and ask for store credit or fish food. For this reason I keep most of my fish for 3 + years. 

So i would never do it as a business but I was curious of what other people thought.
I would like to maybe get something cool that I could breed and make a little enabling money 

I have some Corydoras hastatus that are putting out a few fry but nothing major just growing the colony up. I also have Multis that continue to add to the colony and would probably bred more if I was to thin out the colony.


----------



## Gshock

bigfishy said:


> This is a perfect example!
> 
> H2O aquatic in New York, which specialize in stingrays and they can make a living thru breeding high quality fish
> 
> http://www.h2ocustomaquatics.com/about.html


You cant really compare Mike with a hobbyist. His facility is a couple times the size of Indoor Jungle's space, not to mention the value of all his rays put together is a couple times more than what most of us earn for a living in a year. Most rays that come out of brazil go directly to or through Mike in one way or another. Unless you've got a beginning investment as big as him, you wont be making profit breeding rays. Just the food bill would kill you within the first year.


----------



## BillD

There is an old saying in the hobby that goes like this ' If you want to make a small fortune breeding fish, start with a large one.' Having said that, there are people doing it. It is a tough way to make a living, with all the vagaries farmers have to face.


----------



## vaporize

Well to make a living, perhaps on the service side; to get rich or moderately rich is very tough.

There is only one guy that I know of involved in the hobby that drove a Lamborghini ... and even that he has to sold it off with the economic downturn. Business is very unpredictable and has big fluctuations.

There are guys that own & built huge green houses in the states, his land is built on a gas well and basically utility company is giving him free utilities to get access to his land/gas. He still chose to taken an industry related corporate job as suppose to grow as a coral farmer. He basically have all his operating expenses covered more or less too (except the initial cost of the building) and some salt & chemical.

As for SW commercial breeding operation, I can tell you that in the last 3 years, 2 of the 3 largest ones in the world were up for grabs. So you tell me if they are really profitable. FW hatcheries on the other hand were a bit more successful if you can locate yourself in the tropics like florida or singapore.

Breeding SW dottybacks ????? HA HA HA Breeding seahorses?? Hehe Maybe breeding leafy sea dragon - those are US$2000 a piece wholesale ... but wait they need to eat live mysid shrimp that cost (even in bulk) $0.50 a pop and they need hundreds per day... 

Plants can be a very interesting market if you can put out Amano style tanks. Definitely not the plant farmers, but more or less an interior designer that focuses on FW planted tanks. 

I knew of a few long timers, owned retail -> wholesale -> service, they all said service is much better in comparison .... but I don't see them being rich or even well-off.


----------



## KhuliLoachFan

Agreed. I like to take my fish to the fish club, and auction them off for a buck or two, and buy some fish food with that. I like to buy from, and trade/sell to the better LFS, so that they will be there when I want them.

I am glad to live in Toronto where I can go to a good LFS. 

W


----------



## sugarglidder

on a small scale you can at least break even. I have a numbr of friends that make a lot of money breeding and selling fish. but and I mean but!! you have to know what your doing, spend around 10-12 hours a day!! and it is a 7 day a week job, never a holiday. I will have 400-800 tanks up and runnng in the next 2-3 months!! it is a large scale job. just to set up a large fish room your loking at anywhere from $10000-$30000 to get the room setup!! tanks, tank lids, lights, air pumps, water system, UV, foods, live foods, then I forgot stock. and yoru not buying young stock you have to buy stock that gives you money asap to start the paying of asap!!! a bank loan!! nope thy wont in this market!! it is tricky!! but anything is possible. 

but you also have to understand you have to breed fish you like to!! because if you dont it will become a pain more then a job. you will not make a profit for upwards of 3-5 years!! my friends all have over 30000-50000 gallon fishrooms. and bred everything from guppies to killies, neons, cardinals, etc!! 

I do have a friend breeding silver aro's, and super reds aro's! but he is a buddy and will not let me see his fish room!!! lol



Good luck!! 


but one question!! why??????????????????


thanks


john


----------



## KhuliLoachFan

Holy crap john! Do you own a farm or something? A barn full of tanks?

W


----------



## Aquatic Designs

In simple terms NO.

You will need large out door ponds to breed fish in the numbers needed to make a living out of it. And the cost of hydro and overhead will kill any profits. 

Fish from Asia are just too cheaply produced and so common in the market place you will not be able to compete. Both in price and availability. 

But you can select rare and popular fish that stores don't usually carry and make a decent side income from your regular job.


----------



## AquaNekoMobile

Aquatic Designs said:


> In simple terms NO.
> 
> You will need large out door ponds to breed fish in the numbers needed to make a living out of it. And the cost of hydro and overhead will kill any profits.
> 
> Fish from Asia are just too cheaply produced and so common in the market place you will not be able to compete. Both in price and availability.
> 
> But you can select rare and popular fish that stores don't usually carry and make a decent side income from your regular job.


Yah I agree with A.D there. You can make money but more money on the side and not something you can really live off of as you have to have a place to hold the tanks, power as mentioned, thus you have to have a home to house those items and the home is another cost.


----------



## Fish_Man

At first I thought it would be great having side $$ but it just seems too much of a hassle of advertising and having people come over to take a look at it and such... now I just have tanks for my enjoyment.

I'm sure some people can make a living out of this hobby but probably not in Toronto IMO.

Its best to work in the health care system since its more stable


----------



## AquaNekoMobile

Fish_Man said:


> At first I thought it would be great having side $$ but it just seems too much of a hassle of advertising and having people come over to take a look at it and such... now I just have tanks for my enjoyment.
> 
> I'm sure some people can make a living out of this hobby but probably not in Toronto IMO.
> 
> Its best to work in the health care system since its more stable


Why not just set aside X hours a week on X day so anyone coming can come at that time. That way it's not alwas people coming at different hours and such.

That is one of the thing sI've thoguht abot if I plan on breeding some stuff of people coming at different times and such. Say 2hr window every day and sunday at X time so people can make a trip up and at different times.


----------



## Fish_Man

AquaNekoMobile said:


> Why not just set aside X hours a week on X day so anyone coming can come at that time. That way it's not alwas people coming at different hours and such.
> 
> That is one of the thing sI've thoguht abot if I plan on breeding some stuff of people coming at different times and such. Say 2hr window every day and sunday at X time so people can make a trip up and at different times.


the problem with that is... I don't know for sure when I'll be available each day... when I do have time, I'm usually catching up on stuff I need to do and such.


----------



## bettaforu

I raise and sell dwarf orange crayfish and blue orange eyed tiger shrimps!

I can assure you that by the time I have enough of them to sell it does NOT even cover my original stock cost never mind the tanks, filters, pumps, gravel, plants and lighting needed to house them in.  or the time taken to do water changes, tank maintenance, testing water every day!

Add to that I deliver from Burlington to Markham for a tiny charge that does not even cover my gas, and I drive a Leased car!!! My mileage goes up with every delivery.

We do it because by selling off our raised stock we can purchase new blood, other than that....forget making money


----------



## bcarlos

To AD's point, the opportunity for making money is in providing fish that cannot be found in most LFS. The risk you take here is that your clientele is a very unique breed, and finding them takes some patience. There is some money in breeding these types of fish, but to John's point, you have to factor in the cost of raising these fish to maturity (or buying them mature, which is not always easy). 

My opinion, unless you have a niche (think Mike from H20, or Watley in the 80's with Discus), there is little money in breeding. There is more money to be had in importing, provided you take the time to build relationships with reliable suppliers, and have the start-up money to purchase enough stock to cover shipping costs.


----------



## ameekplec.

I think at best for the slightly-above-average hobbyist, you might be able to make money in that you're able to recoup part of the cost of the broodstock, tanks, equipment, but I'd be surprised if anyone really broke even considering all costs (food, electricity, water, etc).

Either way, any money I get from my stuff goes right back into more livestock/equipment. More toys!!


----------



## KhuliLoachFan

Exactly. In the end, I have a "trade and give" policy to my fish-hobby-nerd friends; We give each other stuff. More hobby fun, for less money, that's my goal. Make money? Ha. I can earn 20x-100x as much per hour of work by doing computer consulting, or any other high-skill trade, compared to this. Heck, I can probably make more money per hour working at McDonalds than I can in this hobby.

W


----------



## vaporize

KhuliLoachFan said:


> I can earn 20x-100x as much per hour of work by doing computer consulting, or any other high-skill trade, compared to this.


200X agreed.


----------



## zenafish

Joeee said:


> High quality CRS maybe? Maybe some REALLY nice Bettas or those $40 guppy pairs I've heard so much about. I can imagine it creating a bit of a profit but not too much.


May it be the BEST betta or the RAREST guppy strains on this planet, there's still no money in it.

Ask me...been there, done there, and doing it no more.


----------



## zenafish

vaporize said:


> Breeding SW dottybacks ????? HA HA HA Breeding seahorses?? Hehe Maybe breeding leafy sea dragon - those are US$2000 a piece wholesale ... but wait they need to eat live mysid shrimp that cost (even in bulk) $0.50 a pop and they need hundreds per day...


Now now, Vap, don't crush my dreams LOL

I can import seahorses landed cheaper than I can breed and grow them. It's hard enough to break even, let alone to get rich. So I do it just for fun, and meanwhile hold one full time and one part time job. Although that involves putting up with those dreadful looks I get from the other (better) half once in a while.

As long as you break even, CRA won't come after your business either


----------



## TBemba

zenafish said:


> Now now, Vap, don't crush my dreams LOL
> 
> I can import seahorses landed cheaper than I can breed and grow them. It's hard enough to break even, let alone to get rich. So I do it just for fun, and meanwhile hold one full time and one part time job. Although that involves putting up with those dreadful looks I get from the other (better) half once in a while.
> 
> As long as you break even, CRA won't come after your business either


I was hoping I could move Hawaii and live in a nice little hut down by the beach and collect species in the morning and ship them to Canada in the after noon. The rest of the day I would spend laying in a hammock sipping Tropical drinks

aahhhhhhhh


----------



## Holidays

Maybe train the fish to do some trick and open up a fish circus or some sort.


----------



## KhuliLoachFan

A $40 betta is of interest to three people per year. Total profit $120.

You go upscale, your market shrinks. You go mass market, your margin shrinks.

It's called capitalism for a reason folks. You can't make a killing with no work, and anybody who says different is *selling you* something.

Imagine an aquarium-industry Tupperware MLM. How evil ....

Okay, who wants to make MILLIONs a year, staying at home playing with your aquariums? Join up under me in my new MLM, AquaParty. You host Aquarium Parties in your friends homes. Your friends will be delighted at the opportunity to purchase a 5 gallon tank for only $950, that comes with the exclusing AquaParty guarantee: You will like it or [*mumble mumble*] your money back.

W


----------



## Holidays

or if you can make your discus or angels dance around...lol...make your own show "Fish got talent"


----------



## Holidays

^ "Fish got talent" is copyright by me...so don't even think about it! heh


----------



## vaporize

TBemba said:


> I was hoping I could move Hawaii and live in a nice little hut down by the beach and collect species in the morning and ship them to Canada in the after noon. The rest of the day I would spend laying in a hammock sipping Tropical drinks


if you are by yourself, prepare to spend most of your week chasing yellow tangs and flame angels. If you are good at deep dive, that's where the money is with the bandit angels  You might be sipping tropical drinks, but you won't be enjoying the drinks as you will be talking on the phone with the oversea importers begging them to order more or chasing after them for your money _*especially that*_ toronto one.

the last hawaiian collector I talked to was begging me to collect their debt for them and had a hard time keeping up with his truck payment.


----------



## TBemba

vaporize said:


> if you are by yourself, prepare to spend most of your week chasing yellow tangs and flame angels. If you are good at deep dive, that's where the money is with the bandit angels  You might be sipping tropical drinks, but you won't be enjoying the drinks as you will be talking on the phone with the oversea importers begging them to order more or chasing after them for your money _*especially that*_ toronto one.
> 
> the last hawaiian collector I talked to was begging me to collect their debt for them and had a hard time keeping up with his truck payment.


well as a life time Canadian I would probably not need much in the way of possessions if I lived in a hut down my the beach or collection point. ( Maybe it would have to be in a more remote and less expensive location) Like Cuba but not now that there is soo much oil in that area.

Maybe supplement my income by making Shell trinkets for the Tourists.

Seriously I always thought while on vacation that if I arrived at a vacation spot it would be great to have someone formally from Canada to be there and show me around.


----------



## AquaNekoMobile

I am curious how much one can make selling shrimps as a suppliment income? Say per week in take? 

I see a few people selling shrimp like Killer007, I think Jimmyjam (nick correct?), and obviously Jamesren. I'm sure there are some others but that's off the top of the head.

Like anyone care to take a guess what Killer/Jimmyjam/Jamesren's weekly ballpark plant/shrimp sales are? 

I do know with shrimps you have to buy about 10 or so new shrimps from time to time to keep the bloodline strong so you'll likely be buying from the other sellers circle or from LFS's tho I really am curious the weekly high-to-low in take is.


----------



## KhuliLoachFan

My guess is that it's less than you would earn from working the same hours at McDonalds.

W


----------



## vaporize

KhuliLoachFan said:


> My guess is that it's less than you would earn from working the same hours at McDonalds.
> 
> W


or Tim Holtons


----------



## TBemba

vaporize said:


> or Tim Holtons


$400 a week for having a 30 gallon tank setup with shrimp sounds like pretty good money.

But let say I had 10 tanks would that be like having 10 People working at this Place for Minimum wage? $10.50\hr under the table?


----------



## vaporize

KhuliLoachFan said:


> it's less than


I think the keyword here is *less than*


----------



## TBemba

vaporize said:


> I think the keyword here is *less than*


Well selling fish and fish stuff out of your basement has to make you more money that having a store front. Less over head

You might not have as much traffic but then again most LFS do not advertise as much on Forums and other free sites.

Every dollar is also under the table and no paper trail.

I would assume you can make a pretty good profit or all these people currently doing it would not go to the trouble of driving hours across country and dropping of stuff at predetermined destinations.


----------



## bettaforu

First off I think asking how much someone on this forum makes a week selling their fish/shrimps/crays is in POOR taste! If you want to know something like that ASK the appropriate people and IF they don't want to tell you then leave it at that....

I doubt very much if ANYONE can survive even on a part-time basis on selling their fish/shrimps/crays/stingrays etc. The amount of time wasted in having to keep the tanks going, constantly fixing and purchasing new equipment, RO water even, electricity, gas to go get stuff, fish food (shrimp food is NOT cheap!) all adds up and at best you might recoup some of the money you spend on your stock.

Case in point!  I just got back from picking up my new shrimps from the US...as one of the packages didn't arrive the same day as the others, I had to stay overnight $45 US room + $20 dinner $ 10 breakfast + $20 gas all in US funds and when I got the package ALL THE SHRIMPS WERE DEAD!!!Cost to me $160 US! That was for 30 shrimps! 

Now I have to try to get the breeder to compensate me for the shrimps, maybe he will, maybe he won't. My shipping costs are non-refundable, my gas down and back, non-refundable, my overnight accommodation and meals, non-refundable.....AND IF I really want this type of shrimp I have to do it all over again! 

Do you think I will make money off this.....highly doubt it!!!! I would have to charge everyone $20 shrimp now to re-coup my loss already....not going to happen.

Stick to something easy like working at Timmies!


----------



## TBemba

bettaforu said:


> First off I think asking how much someone on this forum makes a week selling their fish/shrimps/crays is in POOR taste! If you want to know something like that ASK the appropriate people and IF they don't want to tell you then leave it at that....
> 
> I doubt very much if ANYONE can survive even on a part-time basis on selling their fish/shrimps/crays/stingrays etc. The amount of time wasted in having to keep the tanks going, constantly fixing and purchasing new equipment, RO water even, electricity, gas to go get stuff, fish food (shrimp food is NOT cheap!) all adds up and at best you might recoup some of the money you spend on your stock.
> 
> Case in point!  I just got back from picking up my new shrimps from the US...as one of the packages didn't arrive the same day as the others, I had to stay overnight $45 US room + $20 dinner $ 10 breakfast + $20 gas all in US funds and when I got the package ALL THE SHRIMPS WERE DEAD!!!Cost to me $160 US! That was for 30 shrimps!
> 
> Now I have to try to get the breeder to compensate me for the shrimps, maybe he will, maybe he won't. My shipping costs are non-refundable, my gas down and back, non-refundable, my overnight accommodation and meals, non-refundable.....AND IF I really want this type of shrimp I have to do it all over again!
> 
> Do you think I will make money off this.....highly doubt it!!!! I would have to charge everyone $20 shrimp now to re-coup my loss already....not going to happen.
> 
> Stick to something easy like working at Timmies!


Stick to Timmies I like that, You seem like a real sweet heart. I don't feel so bad for you lossing the shrimp now after that comment. 

I never asked what people make but it must be worth your wile $$ wise or there is something wrong with why you continue to do it


----------



## ameekplec.

TBemba said:


> I never asked what people make but it must be worth your wile $$ wise or there is something wrong with why you continue to do it


Cause it's for the love of the hobby 

or profit, I suppose. Niche markets are sexy!


----------



## bettaforu

Well in my case, after breeding and showing Arabian horses, then breeding and showing Bettas, I have now graduated to Shrimps! 

We do it because we *LOVE* it...not to make money, although IF we have extra stock that we can sell off to give us enough money to buy new stock, then that's just great. 

A breeder always wants to upgrade what they have, whether it be Horses, Bettas or Shrimps (in my case) that costs $$ so when we have enough of a type of shrimp that we feel we can sell to pay for the new upgrades then that's what we do.

I am always upgrading and purchasing new different types of shrimp so that I can eventually share some with other hobbyists and still make enough money back to buy even MORE exotic type shrimps  . Its a never ending circle!  IF we didn't Love doing it we wouldn't....simple.

PS.. TBEMBA....shows your NOT a true hobbyist, making that kind of comment on such a loss!

Fellow hobbyists would comiserate with me over the loss of those exotic shrimps, not for the money lost, but for what they could have given to other hobbyists down the road. They were RED TIGERS.


----------



## Ciddian

lets calm down a bit and not jab at each other..


----------



## TBemba

I guess I am not a True hobbyist lol 

Love of the hobby? I don't sell fish for profit? If I do it's at a loss or I donate them to a fish club auction. bettaforu you show what kind of person you are by your comments, I could never say anything to make you look worse than you say for yourself 

I find people that collect animals to feel "*SEXY*" or to boost their status are not doing the animals any favours. I do feel bad for them their self esteem must be so low. why risk the shrimps life? why demand wild caught fish and decimate the environment? I buy tank raised when ever it's an option. I keep fish for years. I get what I want and just waited over 8 months for tank raised fry to get big enough to buy. I am a responsible fish keeper and hope I am never considered a "*TRUE HOBBYIST*" by your standards


----------



## bettaforu

TBemba: For your information...these were tank raised shrimps! NOT wild caught, but very beautiful just the same and a terrible loss. They were very hard to find.

I don't need to buy anything to feel as you say *SEXY...*I am a HOT lady!!!  as anyone that has seen me knows!  As you don't know me I would thank you to keep your nasty comments to yourself....this discussion is NOT about me. 

However, that is not what was asked here, the question was " Can you make money selling fish/shrimps/crays/etc etc ".

The answer has been given over and over....*NO you can't!!!! *

FYI....I do not make a profit on my sales as I include free delivery from where I live to many parts of TO , that in itself is a freebie...gas costs money, mileage on a leased car costs money, and I don't charge for that! I also donate shrimps/fish/plants etc to auctions, so PLEASE get off your highhorse!

IF it were that easy to get the type of exotic shrimps that hobbyists sell, then everyone would be doing it. Some people just cannot or don't want to go to the expense, or hassle of trying to get these shrimps in to the Country, so they leave it to people like me and others to do that for them, and reap the benefits of getting what they want without having to leave their house.

As to the part about making money....that's a JOKE!

No one makes money, unless you find a specific type of fish/cray/shrimp/etc that NO ONE else has and everyone wants, then maybe.....

BTW: What exactly do YOU raise? Lets hear what you have at home?


----------



## Holidays

bettaforu, do you raise or have red wood/fan shrimp?


----------



## TBemba

Good answer that you can't make money. That was my original question thanks for your thoughts.

As for what I keep. I currently have a Giant Gourami (Osphronemus goramy) I have wanted one for more than ten years and always thought they are really too big to keep and they have a life span of 25 years ( huge commitment ) 

I finally decided that I truly want one and will except the expense and dedication. Cost $10 for baby. To keep him/her their whole life Thousands $$$ and a huge tank.

I have a group of Red laser corys and I have had them over 3 years and am currently trying to breed them.

I have a group of hastatus corydoras that have been breeding nicely in my 10 gallon along with my cherry shrimp.

I have a breeding colony of Neolamprologus multifasciatus that I have had for over 4 years in a 20 gallon they are the greatest fish to watch  Must be 15 generations in there or pass thru from the original 6 picked them up for 15$ at a club meeting.

I also have some newly acquired Altolamprologus sp 'Sumbu dwarf' I have been looking for these guys for over 2 years. I know a guy that had some fry and I waited about8 months for them and they are excellent worth the wait and the quality of his fry are awesome.  5$ each Superb deal. I may have to wait 2 years for them to mature and hopefully get a pair. Then it takes at lest 6 months before they are big enough to get $5 for them.


----------



## bettaforu

Holidays: No sorry I don't have any fan/wood shrimp! I did get a couple last year from Dragon Fish Aquarium in Mississauga on the Dundas in the Chinese Centre. They were very big...at least 3 inch long, and price was $6.99 each I think. Last time I was in there they still had some, and that was about week ago.


----------



## Holidays

bettaforu said:


> Holidays: No sorry I don't have any fan/wood shrimp! I did get a couple last year from Dragon Fish Aquarium in Mississauga on the Dundas in the Chinese Centre. They were very big...at least 3 inch long, and price was $6.99 each I think. Last time I was in there they still had some, and that was about week ago.


I was there a week ago too, I saw they got a bunch of new plecos, I didn't see fan shrimp...I saw a few crayfish, should've asked.


----------



## zenafish

Holidays said:


> I was there a week ago too, I saw they got a bunch of new plecos, I didn't see fan shrimp...I saw a few crayfish, should've asked.


If you ever go by Hamilton, drop by the Big Al's there...they almost always have them in stock, along with the big sign that warns "these shrimps are EXTREMELY sensitive to water quality". I like that


----------



## Joeee

zenafish said:


> If you ever go by Hamilton, drop by the Big Al's there...they almost always have them in stock, along with the big sign that warns "these shrimps are EXTREMELY sensitive to water quality". I like that


And the sick fish sign that says "These fish are not yet ready to be sold". Goodness, how I love responsible shop owners.


----------



## Holidays

zenafish said:


> If you ever go by Hamilton, drop by the Big Al's there...they almost always have them in stock, along with the big sign that warns "these shrimps are EXTREMELY sensitive to water quality". I like that


Thanks, I'll wait a bit more maybe they'll be on weekly special around miss or vaughan


----------

