Hi and appeal

[Dean]

Hi all

I have been a lurker ever since this site started, really great site.

I have a problem and I hope you don't think I'm being rude by asking this in my first post, but I'm in a bit of a pickle and getting desperate, hopefully you guys can advise me.

I have been a hobbyist with both freshwater and marine tanks for probably about 17 years now, I have just recently lost my job (thanks to the recession) and I am battling to get re-employed. I have 6 empty tanks lying in the garage and was thinking maybe I should try do some breeding. I have a bit of spare cash I can put into this with regards to livestock etc. Are there any pleco's I can put my heart and soul into and start breeding to help make some money? I know that sounds bad (breeding to make money), but I'm at a loss as to what else I can do to support my family, yes I can scrape through and live off of benefits for the rest of my life if I don't find employment again, but just sitting at home day in and day out and not doing anything is a waste of life.

Are there any pleco's I can put my heart and soul into and start breeding to help make some money? I was thinking of doing some L333 and maybe L046 if I can find any.

Thanks everyone. :blushing:

 

[scatz]

the main problem here will be you want to breed plecs that will give you a good return, i.e people will pay lots for like the L046, but it will cost you an arm and a leg to get the breeding group, plus running costs, then if they do breed, you have 6 months wait before you can sell the fry on, and then you're still only talking about a small handful of them if you get a good spawn.
i'd look more at sp like L144 or albino BN's, not a great money maker, but you should be able to get rid of stacks of these at lfs' or private sales.
You'll make up for in numbers what you miss out on in value compared to breeding zebs

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the tips, I'll look into those that you mentioned.

 

[Zebra Pleco]

L46's are a good money maker if they breed, my colony, went to through a stage of 15-18 eggs every 6 weeks for almost 2 years. Now for the last 2 years I have had nothing, sonce I moved house, just can't get them back into the spirit of things.

I think fish should be kept as a hobby, and if they do breed and and you can sell the fry, then its a bonus.

Keeping zebs, requires high filtration, high temps, high oxygen, which inturn requires good reliable equipment. My breeding tanks (3fts) have an external Eheim wet/dry filter and 2 x internal Ehiem Aquaballs, then I have 2 x heaters, 2 x air pumps. Plus all the test equipment for water etc and changing the stuff, it does get expensive.

Hope this helps.

 

[Doodles]

Hey Dean, welcome to Plecoplanet even though you have been around for a while:welcome:

 

[bigbird]

Hello Dean,

:welcome: and not a bad question. This has been asked a lot of times. Breeding as mentioned before is not at easy at it looks and you need time, dedication and fun in this Ls group. It all takes time. Rough start up costs for Ls if you wish to have breeding colonies in your 6 tanks would be a huge amount if you want 333 or 046. If you buy the Ls at 5cm it will take 2 years or more for them to grow to maturity, then you need to get them to spawn and then raise the fry. I am not trying to put you off, however these ventures into breeding to make money, might wourk if you have a large bank account to back you up. My suggestion would also be to start off with BN pepermints or albinos and slowly build up your stock to sell. In the meantime aquire some Ls at 4-5cm, which are cheaper, then let them settle and grow. The outlay is the same, cost and time. For BN the profit is less but for other Ls more, thats if you are lucky. Good luck and this forum is great as we always give our own opinion...cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[RobHarrison]

Hi Dean and welcome to PlecoPlanet, as reguards with breeding for cash id go with L144 or super red brisltenoses if you can go for the super reds they breed on a big scale and the price is pretty good for fry, also get some nice Endlers for the same tank they breed on the own acord and the young they have will either pay for food etc by taking them to a local fish shop or sell via forums and Aquarist Classifieds, Good luck if you have any questions what so ever people on here are more than happy to help

 

[Big-B]

:hi: Dean, :welcome: even though you have been around for awhile. :hi: I cant help you because I have never bred fish to make a profit before. I'm sure there are many folks here that can help you. Good Luck :thumbup:

 

[Brengun]

 

[Breamlegend]

:*:

 

[Irene0100]

hello, I breed several types of plec but certainly dont make any profit, i doubt if i even pay for the food and elec, never mind any set up costs.

there must be better ways to make money

 

[Gem400]

Hi Dean, :welcome:

I'm afraid I agree with Irene, theres way too much cost involved with no guarantee's of any or much return from breeding. The money I get from breeding probably pays for the food if that and doesn't even touch the electricity costs etc. If you do go ahead then I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Stan]

:hi::welcome: to Plecoplanet!! :clap::clap:

 

[Mooo]

Dan...Hope you work something out...

 

[Doug]

Hey man and welcome!

I agree with the post before. With 6 tanks you will struggle to turn a profit. People who breed for a living have lots more that that and have all the stuff set up to reduce costs. for example, one of the bigger breeders of bristlenose I know off in Aus on the east coast has a room out the back which is very heavily insulated which mean he saves costs on heating, he keeps the room at 26 degrees, so no heating of the tanks is required, he runs the whole room on solar power so electricity costs are none after the set up (about $12k i believe). He uses huge sump filters to save costs on filtration. I think he has about 30 tanks in there and from that he makes a good living.

I run 6 breeding tanks and a grow out tank breeding all of the different bristlenose avaliable here in Aus and I manage to turn a small profit from it. no where near enough to sustain myself though. After I pay for the food, the power, the water etc then I have enough to reinvest into my main display discus tank and maybe grab a slab of beer. So, it makes my hobby cost free. that said, if i had a bit more free time I think i could squeese it a bit more but I don't like to push my breeders too hard.

My suggestion to you would be along the same lines as bigbird. Start off with some Bristlenose, they are easy enough to get going and you will always be able to sell the fry. It is also a good way to learn the ropes of breeding plecos. The process is essentially the same for most plecos, however, it gets harder and the fish get pickier as you move from bristlenose, to peppermint bristlenose to the L numbers.

once you have saved up the cash from the bristlenose, then invest in some peppermints, get them going then use the cash from them to get the L numbers.

I dont think you will be able to make a living off them but if you are smart and do things efficently then you might be able to turn a small profit. I know i do which helps me as I'm doing my PhD and the scholarship is about $4k below the poverty line so I need to subsidise my income any way I can.

Good luck man! Realy hope you get it going, bit of extra cash and that satisified feeling of breeding fish