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This article is from the Aquaria: Good (and Bad) First Fish; Breeding FAQ, by Dean Hougen and Elaine Thompson

38 Can I make any money breeding fish?

"I have a ton of baby fish. What do I do with them?"

Finding homes for baby fish can be almost as much of a challenge as
breeding them. Young fish can be given away, auctioned at aquarium
society auctions, traded for other species, or sold. Pet stores will
sometimes take African cichlids, guppies, and bettas, but many only
give store credit rather than cash.

As for turning breeding into a commercial venture, remember the laws
of supply and demand. For most common community fish, pet stores can
order whatever they want whenever they want it from importers, fish
farms, and wholesalers. The hobbyist, on the other hand, has
occasional batches of fish that the store may not need or want at that
time. The only thing on your side when you walk into a store with a
batch of unrequested fish is that locally bred fish are often
healthier and less stressed that fish that have been shipped and must
be acclimated to local water conditions.

If you insist on breeding saleable fish, try rare catfish, rare
rainbows, African cichlids, show quality fancy guppies, or marine
fish. Those are all difficult for stores to obtain. To make money
selling more common fish like angels, barbs, tetras, cory cats or
livebearers (other than guppies), you need many breeding tanks and
breeding pairs of fish to assure a constant supply. You must also have
fish of consistent quality.

Personally, I would recommend that you breed fish for the sheer
pleasure of it, rather than turning your fun hobby into a business
venture. There is nothing like seeing a pair of ciclids court,
disappear into a cave, and emerge in a few days with a swarm of
babies.

 

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aquaria, fish, acquarium, tank, first fish, breeding