Most realistic profitable Caridina to breed?

[ShrimpP]

I'm debating what softer, acidic water Caridina (CRS/Bee params) I should breed to get the most realistic profit numbers. Sort of feel like a bad guy for saying "breeding for profit"  Right now I would just be doing one tank, so only one variant (obviously not looking to make a fortune, or I'd set up racks of tanks. more just thinking the shrimp would be breeding anyways, so why not make a little side change while they keep multiply). A mixed gene pool does interest me as well, but right now I don't have the time to devote into setting up multiple tanks to separate variants or grades or create new lines.

What I mean by realistic is one shrimp may be more costly per shrimp, but sell fewer of due to the premium price. For example, maybe most of the time you would make more profit off of selling more CRS/CBS than you would Pintos.

And whatever other realistic factors that may come into play such as this or that shrimp produces more offspring per clutch or more frequently, or more offspring survive to a juvenile age, what grades are likely to come out reflecting prices, etc.

Are some noted to produce more females than males, so more chance of berried females=more babies? I have heard of warmer temps seeming to cause more eggs to become females.

 

Still thinking if I were to get one variant

[Loumeer]

To be honest with you.  The only way to make a profit selling shrimp is to import tons of them and then sell them.

Even doing this I think the profit margins are so low that it would become more than a full time job to be able to see a living wage.  I may not see all the aspects clearly but I don't think selling shrimp is a great profit revenue.

[DETAquarium]

What are your intentions? We all would like to cover our costs with a little money here and there, but what do you deem as profitable? Profitable is simply income greater than expenses, but how much gross income are you attempting to meet or exceed?

 

Some of the wealthiest people in the world started a business through a hobby they loved, they simply thought of income and profits as a mere second.

[ShrimpP]

Guess this came across wrong. I'm not trying to make any huge profit or I'd set up a whole shrimp room. I was just thinking along the lines of, if you could only keep one variant of Caridina, which variant would realistically bring in the most profit? Again, the realistic part being factors such as, price per shrimp, amount of customers/sales (there might be costlier variants, but may sell less amount due to the premium price or may produce less), etc.

 

Not looking at it as a professional business standpoint, pretty much just like any other hobbyist that keeps some shrimps, just rather than (example) keeping/selling cheap red cherry shrimp, I would prefer to keep/breed Blue Diamonds or another higher value Neo instead. Although again, those realistic factors I am talking about may come into play. The higher value shrimp may be worth more per shrimp, but the higher price may yield less sales as a result and despite the higher price tag, the pattern/color may be less desired for most (like my mentioned example of maybe profiting more off cheaper CRS vs Pintos or RW, though I don't know if that exact example is true or not. I guess an example of profiting more off of TT or OEBT vs Misch or Tibees might be more accurate). I guess one could have higher value shrimp and if they aren't selling, just sell them at a lower cost.

 

Just seeing this as a nice little spare change every once in a while, not by any means relying on it as a stable income. Just trying to get "the most bang for my buck if" you will.

Hope it's cleared up some. I'm thinking the higher end Cards that breed true (offspring still high % of high grades. so probably not pintos?) would be the best bet.

[Loumeer]

My original point still stands.  I started keeping shrimp and had a similar viewpoint that you did. "If I could breed these out I could make some side cash". I bought some CRS at around $7-8 dollars a piece.  I set up a tank and everything was going smooth.  A few months down the line almost all of them died because of a bacterial infection. On top of that when I started to get more CRS the price dropped to $3-$4 a shrimp.

 

Today I have a decent colont of TB but they are not breeding very well.  My point is that it took me years of trial and error to get "decent" at breeding shrimp and even now I don't have the survival rate to start selling shrimp. 

 

Inevitably I think trying to breed any animal only works when you put years and years into it and become a "known" breeder.  The breeders who make their own lines of shrimp by putting years and years of work into it end up making money in the hobby.  

 

The best thing you can do is PM the people in this forum who sell shrimp on the forum and ask them what they did to get there.  The people I recommend you talk to are Mayfly, Shrimpscales, Plamski, and Greenpepper.  As far as I can tell these people are breeding shrimp in their homes and selling them online for a small profit.  I would imagine that they had to get a good breeding colony going first and cull for a while.  Realistically they probably did not start turning any kind of proft for a 1.5-2 years and even then I imagine it mostly just helps them pay for their hobby and running their tanks and in then end it ends up being a net wash.

 

If you want to make money invest it in your 401k, CDs, and Roth IRA.  If you want to keep shrimp then just enjoy the hobby and if you happen to get a good breeding colony of nice quality shrimp you could have the opportunity to get some of your money back that you invested in the hobby.

 

This is a lesson I learned the hard way and to be quite honest with you I enjoy the hobby so much more now that I am not worried about trying to make a buck off of it.

[DETAquarium]

To answer your question, research a shrimp that is just hitting the market.For instance when Pintos hit the market they were well over $100.00 a piece, now you can buy them for as little as $15.00. Super Red CRS, Golden Dragons, Aura Blue Tigers, etc. all fetch or fetched a high dollar amount when first introduced. The key is to research to find out what is new in Europe or Asia, as they are leading the industry, buy/import for yourself that breed, breed them out before others start importing the same.

 

I would choose a Tiger, or CRS/CBS/etc. As Taiwan Bees and Pintos are much slower in maturing and breeding.

[warlock]

if you want to make a $1,000 with freshwater Dwarf Shrimp... 

Start with $2,000

[miwu]

If this is just for profit, my vote would be for CRS. As you mentioned, some shrimps are priced higher per shrimp but are more difficult to sell and breed, etc. CRS is easy to breed and almost guarantees a profit. Others may have you end up spending more than you make. But honestly, given that you already know this is not going to make a lot of money, if any, why not choose a type that you'd really enjoy?

[EricM]

33 minutes ago, DETAquarium said:

To answer your question, research a shrimp that is just hitting the market.For instance when Pintos hit the market they were well over $100.00 a piece, now you can buy them for as little as $15.00. Super Red CRS, Golden Dragons, Aura Blue Tigers, etc. all fetch or fetched a high dollar amount when first introduced. The key is to research to find out what is new in Europe or Asia, as they are leading the industry, buy/import for yourself that breed, breed them out before others start importing the same.

 

I would choose a Tiger, or CRS/CBS/etc. As Taiwan Bees and Pintos are much slower in maturing and breeding.

 

I remember paying $150+ for a single black king kong. now you can get 10+ for $100 in most places.

 

[EKLiu]

I'd start with something basic such as CRS.  There are lots of people who want to start out with some inexpensive CRS before moving up.  Also keep in mind that the market for nice shrimp is pretty small.  Just because you see people selling some amazing looking shrimp for big $$$ does not mean that anyone is actually buying them.  No sales = no profit.

[Shrimp Life]

I'd go with CRS as well. Like EKLiu said, not everyone is buying the $15-$20 shrimp. CRS are incredibly popular and easy to breed.

[OblongShrimp]

I concur on the CRS.  They are very popular and lots of people are looking for them.  The $4-6 price range isn't too high so your market is larger.