Where does LFS livestock come from?

[Deuter]

Yeah so these guys make a living selling coral reef supplies and livestock and of course giving the advise. So I was curious if any of you guys know where they usually get there corals, fish and other livestock from? Like I know these guys don't go diving for them so where else would they get them.. I'm just curious. Thanks all!


-Deuter

[seasalt dreams]

From wholesalers. .. who get them from divers or coral farmers.

[hng]

A combination of sources. More and more corals are from farms where they are propogated. Corals traded among hobbyist are also usually from propogation. The rest are collected in the wild. Hopefully, as time goes on, almost all corals we see will be harvested from coral farms. That also helps to ensure healtheir specimens and, hopefully, reduce the risk of diseases.

[Loverotties]

And tank raised fish too!

[Deuter]

I always wanted to tank raise exspensive fish like the Jap Eel or Annularis Angel (Blue King) or Golden Moray Eel - just to help support the thousands of dollars I spend on my tank. Do you guys know people that tank raise fish and sell them to LFS?

[DarthOcellaris]

just some fyi for you...if you're thinking of buying things wholesale, you'd need a tax ID, and have to buy lots of it at a time The system is set up to prevent hobbyist from undercutting the retailer. Capitalism baby! lol

[seasalt dreams]

Thats probably a good thing though

[DarthOcellaris]

Originally Posted by seasalt dreams

Thats probably a good thing though

heh heh..yup! I'd have me a whole living room full of crap!

[crvz]

Originally Posted by Deuter

I always wanted to tank raise exspensive fish like the Jap Eel or Annularis Angel (Blue King) or Golden Moray Eel - just to help support the thousands of dollars I spend on my tank. Do you guys know people that tank raise fish and sell them to LFS?

Most of the exotic/expensive fish have no history of being tank raised in the hobby. Mostly this is due to lack of knowledge/information of how to do it, which is part of the reason they're expensive to begin with (they're not normally seen in the wild and are hard to collect). Other reasons include that many large fish will not spawn in captivity, and require thousands of gallons to get them to do so. There are reports of various surgeonfish spawing in public aquariums. But even then, I've never heard of a these events producing any fish, as their spawn are usually filtered out quite quickly.

If you are looking for fish to breed that can bring in some cash, your best bet is to look into some of the more exotic color morphs of clownfish. Some, such as the "picasso" clown, can bring in $80-$100 a fish, but you may have to shell out $300+ for a breeding pair, and then youve got to really work at raising fry (which is no small chore), and then finding buyers. It's a pretty taxing reality, and there's a reason why more people don't do it!

[DarthOcellaris]

shoot, if you want to make some cash quickly..;.raise damsels..I know they are bought by the LFS's for about .03 a fish and sold for about 7 bucks here.

[VWD]

I don't think you will raise any marine fish Quick and easy,

[Doug1]

Originally Posted by DarthOcellaris

shoot, if you want to make some cash quickly..;.raise damsels..I know they are bought by the LFS's for about .03 a fish and sold for about 7 bucks here.

At $.03 each you'd have to raise a boatload to make any money

I am not sure about coral fragging but if you raise fish in large enough quantity to sell to a wholesaler or even several local vendors you would need proper documentation from the Dept of Agriculture, hopefully the requirements for "ornamental" fish are not as stringent as they are for Farmed Food Fish

[skey44]

never seen a price for damsels approaching 3 cents each except the free ones you get from people endlessly returning them bc they are mean or undesirable after their taste changes-(to more exotic and expensive) you can also puchase from people in la called jobbers who are allowed by wholesalers to go into their facilities and handpick fish for stores (gotta have a connection for this) and some just "tranship" which means they just reox the bags from the collectors and send them on their way to you... which means your fish are about 72 hours from collection when you recieve them, and amazingly these fish seem to thrive without having to be handled and tank changed many times. I think most wholesalers pretty much tranship though bc they have to sell volume to make $ and this means moving many fish fast. when you order on sundays from wholesalers you get the best selection which surprise surprise is always the day that transhipments reach Los Angeles, coincidence i think not. tank raised fish and frags are great, but for now the selection is limited, but these fish are usually 99% viable after culling which is not true for any other method except the best trans shipments and wholesale shipments. if you have ever tried to raise any fish are seriously looked into it you know why more people do not do it... exotic frags on the other hand?

[Doug1]

Hey Skey, Welcome and thanks for the input

[DarthOcellaris]

Originally Posted by Doug1

At $.03 each you'd have to raise a boatload to make any money

the lfs's BUY them wholesale for .03 and SELL them for 7 bucks. That's an enormous profit