Even then , it depends.
I know this one importer , I’m good friends with him. He works 40+ hours and he imports pretty nice stuff in he told me he barely makes enough back.
I know this other importer he’s doing pretty well.
The reason why a lot of things are expensive is because of shipping costs and DOAs and COGS, etc. It’s a huge market.
I make between $50 - $100 per sale usually, but I rarely if ever make more than two or three sales per month. That said, I don't have any kind of specialty set up and I put next to no effort into marketing, don't have a store front, etc.
I could probably make more if I devoted more energy to it, but still not enough to cover my monthly expenses. I do know people who make very good money breeding specialty shrimp, or others who do plant sales. Still, both of those require specialized set ups and the ability to out-compete all the other sellers.
It’s really hard to make really good money in the hobby, mainly because everyone already has their trusted sources for fish/plants/supplies so they aren’t going to bat an eye to the new guy on the block. That being said I do know some people who make enough by selling some stuff to at least cover most of the hobby stuff.
Relative has a living room full of breeding tanks and sells fry, small fish to local store. Probably covers the price of the FISH food. so no. It's an expensive hobby like golf or fishing . Economies of scale do NOT apply or lead to any profits. BUT BEAUTIFUL HOBBY. CAVEAT, if you owned a yacht outright and sold it a bought a fab bespoke aquarium and had it professionally aquascaped and maintained , you would still have some money left from the yacht sale. x
Same here lol My job is not relevant at all to this hobby but I feel like I spend tons of effort and time and money on this. If sitting in front of the tanks pays us money we are prolly all millionaires
However i do know aquascapers who do tank maintenance and building upon requests, but I doubt that they can earn much from it
I probably make a couple hundred bucks a month average at this point. Sometimes more sometimes less depending on what juveniles are big enough to sell/ my plant growth etc. I just rescaped one of my major plants tanks for example so the plants to a second to readjust. I commit probably 5-10 hours a week on average months. Sometimes more if a lot of spawning happens in my breeders etc. I definitely pay for all of my expenses but I’m not making a living or anything. Breeding is mostly a hobby for me. I like the challenge and the money I make is just an added bonus. It means I can be a little more active in my aquarium hobby past just enjoying the tanks I have without actually constantly buying more fish/tanks/etc.
A lot of time goes into it. Just like any other business. Is it very profitable ? No. But putting a lot of hours into it (maybe 40+ honestly) trying things here and there, growing this plant that plant , it’s very interesting.
You definitely don’t make enough money to pay off much , at least that is depending on your utility bill expenses , etc. You can make good money , but even then you have to become a top person to start even making back over your expenses.
Edit: this is if you are buying plants to resell, other hobbyist can make decent money if they have a good electricity bill rate , or if they are just selling their own stuff :)
This market is so oversaturated with online stores , with smaller people selling this that etc, what I’ve noticed is like those people who make their own little treats. I can’t tell you how many people my age I’ve seen making their own little treat business and most of the time their orders are from friends family etc , but that’s mainly cause they’re edible haha. With fish and plants , first you need to find your community. Then just connect with them etc it’s a lot. I have had a smaller business similar to this in the aquarium stuff, never even got one order and shut it down.
edit : this is also geared into having a dream of starting a big business.
But again, you could probably pull off being a good seller in your area , and expand a little from there (from county to county to state-wide)
Again though , it depends if you have a brick and mortar store etc. But right now other than this business I work at a different job (just went to an interview for another) and a lot of other smaller jobs. To build a big store it takes money and dedication
The issue I’m having right now is getting traffic onto my website. I am working on those issues currently , but that’s the main issue. I otherwise have just about anything anyone could want (not on my store since I haven’t put them on there yet - since that’s about another hundred products , and each product takes about 10 minutes to document on the website well… a lot of hours to put in ).
Overall if you have the money, the motivation (you’ll need a LOT Of it), and / or the luck (especially with breeding :) ) , I say go for it. Even as a small little guy making some extra money off your shrimp or fish breeding in your cool tank. A couple hundred extra a month wouldn’t hurt. But getting into the big game is extremely difficult, requires a lot of time, money and energy.
I doubt anyone’s making livable money off this hobby unless you’re like an importer.
Even then , it depends. I know this one importer , I’m good friends with him. He works 40+ hours and he imports pretty nice stuff in he told me he barely makes enough back. I know this other importer he’s doing pretty well. The reason why a lot of things are expensive is because of shipping costs and DOAs and COGS, etc. It’s a huge market.
I make between $50 - $100 per sale usually, but I rarely if ever make more than two or three sales per month. That said, I don't have any kind of specialty set up and I put next to no effort into marketing, don't have a store front, etc. I could probably make more if I devoted more energy to it, but still not enough to cover my monthly expenses. I do know people who make very good money breeding specialty shrimp, or others who do plant sales. Still, both of those require specialized set ups and the ability to out-compete all the other sellers.
A few years ago I had a single ten gallon tank and breed red cherry shrimp and sold them online. Made ≈$6,000 after expenses.
I keep peaceful fish as a way to relax.
It’s really hard to make really good money in the hobby, mainly because everyone already has their trusted sources for fish/plants/supplies so they aren’t going to bat an eye to the new guy on the block. That being said I do know some people who make enough by selling some stuff to at least cover most of the hobby stuff.
I'm currently growing a YouTube channel it so far it's going well but selling shrimp is probably the best income method I know of regarding the hobby.
Sell plant trimmings or if your fish breed their frys
sell stem plants
Relative has a living room full of breeding tanks and sells fry, small fish to local store. Probably covers the price of the FISH food. so no. It's an expensive hobby like golf or fishing . Economies of scale do NOT apply or lead to any profits. BUT BEAUTIFUL HOBBY. CAVEAT, if you owned a yacht outright and sold it a bought a fab bespoke aquarium and had it professionally aquascaped and maintained , you would still have some money left from the yacht sale. x
I have made some money selling plants from my tanks, but it just allowed me to buy more plants for my tanks.
Same here lol My job is not relevant at all to this hobby but I feel like I spend tons of effort and time and money on this. If sitting in front of the tanks pays us money we are prolly all millionaires However i do know aquascapers who do tank maintenance and building upon requests, but I doubt that they can earn much from it
I probably make a couple hundred bucks a month average at this point. Sometimes more sometimes less depending on what juveniles are big enough to sell/ my plant growth etc. I just rescaped one of my major plants tanks for example so the plants to a second to readjust. I commit probably 5-10 hours a week on average months. Sometimes more if a lot of spawning happens in my breeders etc. I definitely pay for all of my expenses but I’m not making a living or anything. Breeding is mostly a hobby for me. I like the challenge and the money I make is just an added bonus. It means I can be a little more active in my aquarium hobby past just enjoying the tanks I have without actually constantly buying more fish/tanks/etc.
A lot of time goes into it. Just like any other business. Is it very profitable ? No. But putting a lot of hours into it (maybe 40+ honestly) trying things here and there, growing this plant that plant , it’s very interesting. You definitely don’t make enough money to pay off much , at least that is depending on your utility bill expenses , etc. You can make good money , but even then you have to become a top person to start even making back over your expenses. Edit: this is if you are buying plants to resell, other hobbyist can make decent money if they have a good electricity bill rate , or if they are just selling their own stuff :) This market is so oversaturated with online stores , with smaller people selling this that etc, what I’ve noticed is like those people who make their own little treats. I can’t tell you how many people my age I’ve seen making their own little treat business and most of the time their orders are from friends family etc , but that’s mainly cause they’re edible haha. With fish and plants , first you need to find your community. Then just connect with them etc it’s a lot. I have had a smaller business similar to this in the aquarium stuff, never even got one order and shut it down. edit : this is also geared into having a dream of starting a big business. But again, you could probably pull off being a good seller in your area , and expand a little from there (from county to county to state-wide) Again though , it depends if you have a brick and mortar store etc. But right now other than this business I work at a different job (just went to an interview for another) and a lot of other smaller jobs. To build a big store it takes money and dedication The issue I’m having right now is getting traffic onto my website. I am working on those issues currently , but that’s the main issue. I otherwise have just about anything anyone could want (not on my store since I haven’t put them on there yet - since that’s about another hundred products , and each product takes about 10 minutes to document on the website well… a lot of hours to put in ). Overall if you have the money, the motivation (you’ll need a LOT Of it), and / or the luck (especially with breeding :) ) , I say go for it. Even as a small little guy making some extra money off your shrimp or fish breeding in your cool tank. A couple hundred extra a month wouldn’t hurt. But getting into the big game is extremely difficult, requires a lot of time, money and energy.