# mbuna profitability



## baza (Apr 7, 2008)

hi guys/gals

Iam sure this question has been asked in the past I wanna get peoples opinions on here.

Here is my situation. Like most people I would love to breed these fish and start selling them as a small side business one day. From what i can tell the market is the limiting factor. I live in the tropics so heating the tanks is not required.

Basically i live in a small town with one pet shop that sells a small range of cichlids amongst other fish. This shop has the monopoly of the area. My plan is to breed and sell mbuna to this shop and if the shop cannot handle it or wont take fry, i will distribute fry through my house. I would advertise through the local newspaper selling "cheap cichlids".

My other option is a small city 1 hour away with several aquarium shops that i would offer my fish too.

I know most people say it cant be done rah rah but i feel i have an advantage of living in tropics not requiring the use of heaters. I will also utilize plastic containers as grow out tanks for fry. I also feel that by advertising in local paper with cheap prices could promote some sales?

any thoughts and ideas would be appreciated

thanks


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

I think the local availability will be the limiting factor more than anything. If you can offer something that people want, are willing to pay for, and have limited or no competition you can do just about anything.

Unfortunately that is not something that works real well here in the continental U.S. - there are so many fish stores and internet sites that making a business out of selling cichlids harder for hobbyists/small scale operations. And unlike you, most of the U.S. is not tropical areas - we can't raise cichlids outside year round.

From what I have seen on this forum through my time here is this - that Australia has a hard time getting many good/unique species imported in. If you can offer hard to find species - you could be in a very marketable spot.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Also I'd think to make more profit than leaving your money in a CD, you'd have to be fairly large scale. The very best breeders in the US get $5 a fish for the more common species, so you would need to sell a lot to compensate for the low profit margin. (I know prices are higher in Australia, but so is the cost of living.) You'd have to ship so don't forget to factor in the cost of shipping and your labor.


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## nchoe123 (Nov 11, 2007)

remember that stuff's a lot less fun when it's work!

what's the real limiting factor though? is it demand?


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

nchoe123 said:


> remember that stuff's a lot less fun when it's work!


Thank you for stating this. So many people I know that have tried to do business and ended up shutting down as they got burned out. Generally speaking, trying to make your hobby your job can ruin the fun of it.


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## Mr Goby (Apr 20, 2006)

I think you can get a middle ground and aim to make your hobby cover its costs to start with.
Some folks aim a little too high and then get bitterly disappointed when then fail to reach their targets.

My advice is to breed only Mbuna species that have colourful offspring e.g. Metriaclima estherae, M. lombardoi, Melanochromis johanni, Labidochromis caeruleus. 
Put the hobbyist bit aside when selecting species and breed initially for the market rather than your own whims and desires. If you can sell them on a regular basis then you might develop your local market a little more with time and introduce other species which might be less colourful as young but pretty when adults.
Don't try and sell little brown, grey or silver fish if you are looking for regular sales, they will sit around in a shops tanks for ages which is no good for you or the shop.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

> Also I'd think to make more profit than leaving your money in a CD, you'd have to be fairly large scale.


and...



> remember that stuff's a lot less fun when it's work!


Those are two very good statements to consider.

Keep in mind that whatever species you choose, it won't take long to fully saturate the demand for them in your area, and you will find yourself with tanks full of unwanted fry if you don't move on to other species before you reach that point.

Adult Malawi cichlds can produce 40+ fry with each spawn...It doesn't take long to flood the market with a species.

Shipping means taking on the responsibility of making sure the fish arrive alive and healthy. Sometimes that is easier said than done...Replacement fish will be at your expense.

If you want to do it just for fun, then go for it. It will take you quite some time to just break even - you'll need lots of grow out tanks and more supplies for the fry, though, so you should be prepared for that.

If you go into it with these things in mind, you shouldn't be too disappointed if you don't make alot of $...Do it for the fun of it, and if it stops being fun, you can always stop doing it!

Another thing to keep in mind is that should you decide this isn't what you want to do, resale value on aquariums and supplies is really pretty poor, so pick up used tanks etc. if you can!


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## baza (Apr 7, 2008)

hi

Thanks for all the replys guys/gals.

Just to clarify a few things i certainly have no intentions of shipping fish or competing with huge companies or anything lol.

Basically i just want to be able to supply the local area with cheap fish, Iam just thinking ahead on how iam going to distribute them. As a few people here have mentioned i see flooding the market and local demand as being the major problems. Possible soloutions to this are possibly only selling a few of each species and using the rest for food? anyone got any ideas on this?

However i do think that if i offer a product for cheap people are usually interested in a good deal. I know i try to get fish from breeders for cheap wherever possible.

Mr goby i reckon that is definiently the way to go. I personally have very little interest in fish that have dull females or dont colour up anyway. All my mbuna are colourful from the start.

I think i will just start with a little trial and see how things go. I currently have yellow and mpanga fry growing out along with a holding auratus. Maybe when these fry are ready i will put a little ad in the local paper and just see what sort of interest there is.

thanks


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

baza said:


> Basically i just want to be able to supply the local area with cheap fish, Iam just thinking ahead on how iam going to distribute them. As a few people here have mentioned i see flooding the market and local demand as being the major problems. Possible soloutions to this are possibly only selling a few of each species and using the rest for food? anyone got any ideas on this?


This might be a solution. Another might be to continually get new species in and breed them, then sell the breeders and pick up a new species. Personally, I don't like this way of doing things but maybe that's why I'm not a big cichlid seller either. lol.

I would definitely encourage you to just raise what you like to start out with and see how they sell (the trial and error route you mentioned). If you get a good reputation going who knows where it could go from there.


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## Mobius1230 (Sep 22, 2008)

> I think i will just start with a little trial and see how things go. I currently have yellow and mpanga fry growing out along with a holding auratus. Maybe when these fry are ready i will put a little ad in the local paper and just see what sort of interest there is.


 That's a good idea. Maybe even ask for ideas of fish that they would like to buy. Not necessarily in the NP, but you get my point.


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## dementedarego (May 8, 2008)

Okay from the experience of running an online fish store here is my Opinion.

First of all Find out if you can sell locally without any problems with laws.

next make enough to cover your profits. The more you have to care for the more you have to make.

Lastly as everyone says, you must establish yourself, If you can manage to find away of getting your name out there it is possible you could cut out the middle man (petstore) and sell for yourself. By doing this you can charge $4 for a fish that you could sell to a fishstore for $3 that they will sell for $6.

That is the Key. Once you can accomplish that you should have a somewhat consist group of buyers.


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## By-The-Lake (Oct 9, 2008)

Hi Baza if you decide to give it a shot you might be able to find a few clients on the site below.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/?ChangeLocation=Y

Cheers!


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## baza (Apr 7, 2008)

hi

Thanks for the ideas and advice.

I can definetly out compete local shop on cichlids however they have the advantage of doing all types of fish.

I figured i would sell fish out at a little less than half the price of a aquarium shop, does that sound reasonable?

The best thing i reckon is to put an ad in paper when fry are ready and just see what people will buy and want.

thanks


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## dittobaker (Sep 15, 2008)

My neighborhood has a huge simi-annual yard sale day twice a year. It's the only day out of the year we are allowed to have yard sales, so it turns into a big event. We have folks from all over the metroplex visiting our neighborhood.

A neighbor of mine sells his cichlid juvenilles at this yard sale event. I believe he sells them for $3-$4 each. Makes a nice fist full of money each year. He uses the money to help offset the costs of his hobby (he has about 20 show aquariums in his home).

For him, he's not looking to make a living off of it. The breeding and selling is his hobby.

Just thought I would share.


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## dementedarego (May 8, 2008)

You can sell them for 2/3rds of what petstores sell them for if you can have a decent selection to choose from and you can generate some notice and sells.


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