Is it possible to make $ breeding sea horses?

[dulim]

I have spent thousands on my single 50 gal reef tank and I was hoping to make some sort of money. Is it possible. How much time and equipment does it take?

[derrikd]

if you can get them eating frozen and healthy. market them well yes i think you can, i will pay more for them if they have this.. if you do, ill be your test dummy..

[Izsabelle]

dulim..Too much time and too much equipment. Most who do this don't do it for the money, but for the love of seahorses.

If you are interested in making money invest in a few good corals then sell off the frags. Right now Lords are the money maker.

[Seahorsewisprer]

Blue tort, purple monster!

I'd buy them from you! But, the time it takes means you'd have to sell them for like $100 bucks each to make 12 cents an hour!

[Veganman]

The going rate for a CB Reidi is around $30.00 wholesale. For most home aquarists, including myself, supplying the market at this rate is a loss.

The magic is in volume. To be profitable, a LARGE operation is the only way to turn even the slightest profit.

As Izsabelle said, most do it for the love of seahorses, not money.

[derrikd]

where can u get SH that are not WC, eating frozen for 30.00??

[Izsabelle]

That's a wholesale price. The only way you'll get that price is if you have a business license.

[derrikd]

ahh i see, is 60.00 good for them at a retail location?

[Izsabelle]

60 is an excellent price from a retail place, but find out if the tanks all share the same central filtration unit. If that's the case pass on the horses.

The reason for this is because the horses are CB and are free from parasites and diseases, but if they are sharing water with the other WC fish you could possibly be buying a horse that is infected.

[derrikd]

ok thanks

[dulim]

Great advice you guys. I kinda figured that it would not be profitable but I had to ask. I've always loved these creatures since I was a kid. I remember seeing some in a hexagon tank and I was in love. It's a shame that they are so difficult to keep. O by the way, a LFS owner presented an idea on how to keep the sea horses feed on a constant basis. He said to have a population of breeding guppies which live with the sea horses. The sea horses will readily take the baby guppies as food. Have any of you heard of this? Sounds kinda fishy. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Izsabelle]

I've heard of it and it's not the best solution. Baby guppies aren't an ideal source of food and it just sounds more like a pain the a$$. Can you imagine how many guppies you'd have to keep on hand to keep the horses fed? It's so much easier to feed frozen mysis 2x a day.

I defrost it, then drop it in their food bowl. How easy is that? :P

[LisaD]

Iz is right. Seahorses are not too hard if they are CB (therefore disease free, trained to eat frozen mysis, adapted to aquarium conditions). You also MUST provide the proper tank environment and non-aggressive, non-stinging tankmates (if any). But anyone from a reef keeping background should be in a good position to maintain high water quality. I think the hard part is giving up those stinging corals in a seahorse tank, and adjusting to the need for lower current than you might have in an SPS tank. :)

There is a hobby breeder, screen name DanU on seahorse.org that is scaling up a large home business. His seahorses get rave reviews and his current waiting list is extended until June. I don't know if he has turned a profit or not, but he is going like gang busters. He wrote an article for the site Library on his methods.

Lisa

[mrme]

any seahorses anyone here breeds , i will happily pay $30-40 each for them

and will order a few .

[Veganman]

DanU on sh.org knows his stuff. No question.

[sealover113]

Thats for sure. I have been breeding and raising since August, 7 juvies, 4 sold so far. The rest are growing out a bit since they are smaller. I can use the money to buy corals and stuff, but I definately do it for the seahorses!

[rcmike]

Sure, you can make a small fortune raising seahorses....




























First you start with a large fortune..................

[Veganman]

LOL! rcmike!

[verytricky]

Originally posted by mrme
any seahorses anyone here breeds , i will happily pay $30-40 each for them

and will order a few .

Me too. Unfortunately there is no way they are going to sell at that price.:(

There are SOME people who buy wild caught from the wholesaler, then sell them as captives at a huge profit. They usually dont eat frozen foods, and usually are full grown - a dead givaway IMO...

The true cost of raising a seahorse from fry to adult meand the cost price is around $40 each 5 month old. Then the breeder has to make some profit. I would expect to see true captive bred seahorses costing around $75 minimum to around $100 average.

Also look for someone who has documented success, and a steady trickle of seahorses. Someone brand new who suddenly has full grown captive bred seahorses for sale in a 'batch' is usually a cheat!