commerical breeding set-up

[jnc324]

Hi all.

I currently live in New Zealand and want some guidance/advice.

Firstly ill let you know a little about our market place; mainly its small due to the populations.
All our LFS get stock from importers that have quarantine facilities. There are a handful in NZ and due to the expense in starting/maintenance these facilities the cost here is pretty shocking. As all imported marine fish must be quarantined for 3 weeks and are checked by inspectors for disease the costs can be at times, shocking.
Regular supply is also another issue. we seem to go in waves of whats available. For instance general prices at LFS for tangs $150-300 when they are available. A basic maroon clown $75 and some of the designer clowns (I have seen them once in NZ $300 each).
For instant was in one of the Auckland main marine stores and all was available was a handful of tangs $$$, one maroon and about 12 clownfish... its a bit sad really.

I have a room available to me and I am thinking of starting my own little commercial room.
The focus is clownfish, Cardinals, Seahorses and maybe Mandarins.
Also the possibility for frag grow tanks and anemone rearing.

I have a clownfish breeding rack that I am getting in the next two weeks with a grow out tank that is one of those large freshwater plant displays that ill be converting (Think those cascade tanks that flow into the chamber below it)

I am looking at reducing my costs as heavily as possible and the focus in a ready supply.
Looking at selling direct to the hobbyist and a commercial aspect.

For clown pairs I was thinking;
True Perc
Blacks
Onyx
Purple Maroons
Saddleback
Clarks
Sebae
Allards

Again, this is if I can find the above species.

Couple of pairs of Kaudrens Cardinals and 2/3 pairs of kudas.

We once in a blue moon see these type of fish come up for sale and the retail is anywhere from $100-250 depending on time/availability/specie.

Basically looking for some guidance on how to make this successful. If this works out I am looking to open my own quarantine facility and do my own importing.

I have access to NSW and plan to try and grow my food as much as possible.
I am trying to design this in such a way to make everything as automatic as possible to reduce labour.

A big question of mine is how many pairs do you think I would need to keep a steady flow. Note that the demand here is low but also the cost is high if you get what I mean.

The goal here is to start such a room/operation that it would be financially obsolete to import these fish due to the cost associated with them.

[carrots]

Do you have you any experience breeding fish and growing cultures? The time commitment is huge not to mention energy cost to run and heat all the tanks. I worked with breeding clowns and found that it was a labor of love. Never came close to covering my cost for; food, electricity, water, salt not to mention my time & labor. If you haven't bred them before start small with a couple of pairs. Good luck

[president89]

There is very little demand for these. Stick with the Percula and Ocellaris Variants.

Saddleback
Clarks
Sebae
Allards

[jnc324]

thanks for the replies.

I have a dedicated fish room and plan on treating this as a business.
At the moment clown fish sell to the public at $100-250 depending on species and availability. The idea is to price out the importers in that it would be no longer cost effective for them to import say 100 pieces and then pay really expensive quarantine costs on them.

The idea is to also grow out anemones and corals. Again the same situation. Basic corals sell for arround $150 and I am unsure when was the last time I saw a anemone for sale for less than $120.

Sadly out market is a rip off. Its the sad truth. We dont get any where near the quantity/quality that is seen overseas.
The plan is also if I can do this sucessfully, I plan to move into actual importing of my own.
Again, many business try and fail at this in NZ, so if it was to done it has to be on a scale where you can out compete other importers. That is simply how many fish you can import at once to drive down those vastly expensive quarantine inspectors fees.

But the goal at this stage is my own marine room, slowly expanding on species of clowns/corals ect.

For instance, our market is so cut-off I have only ever seen one species of seahorse in NZ, bar our native.
Also the first perc morph I saw and they sold at $300 each. There was 2 available.

[carrots]

If I were to do it again I would start with minimum 4 pairs. I was getting babies every two months from my pair. Parents can stay in 10 gallon tanks bare bottom with bubble sponge filters and clay pots. The rearing tanks started at 2.5 gallon and went to 5 gallon and up from there once they were off live food. Water for changes was pulled from a large reef tank. Use a good quiet air pump to run all the breeding tank sponge filters and cultures. Have a central heat source to heat the fish room and keep it around 78-80 degree so you don't need heaters for all tanks. Those are a few things I can suggest.

[CoralsAddiction]

Originally Posted by jnc324

For clown pairs I was thinking;
True Perc
Blacks
Onyx
Purple Maroons
Saddleback
Clarks
Sebae
Allards

Never heard of purple maroons....

[Mashaw]

It is a very time consumming effort and i think you will be hard pressed to do it alone and with only one room, once you start adding up all the gear you need and space you need you will see that you will be better off trying to rent out a mates shed or something to do it

[jnc324]

ive got a room inside a garage.

space wise for breeding pairs;
rack system for the pairs I was thinking of tanks 30cm long/high and 40cm deep. Works out to be about 36 liters or 10 gallons.
is that big enough for the more aggressive species such as maroons?

[Mashaw]

Yes that will work iv seen them being bread in smaller tanks

[maxheadroom]

You would need 3 larval tanks for each breeding pair you have. Mine spawn about every 9-11 days.

[maxheadroom]

Here's my little setup

[jnc324]

how is that plumbed?
Is it one connected system?
how are you filtering?