Commercial breeding

[Argentum]

I am thinking of commercially breeding discus. to supply it to the local market here in KSA, where it's difficult to find discus, not to mention good quality discus.

So I need advice from the experienced breeders over here on what type of setup and number of fish is required to keep a constant production of 100 ready to sell discus each month.

The nature of water here is distillated sea water, that is stored in under ground tank. it is naturally acidic at pH 6.00 and slightly soft at GH 10-15

and the climate is tropical and the water temperature is naturally 80 - 82 F around the year and drops to 78 F when air condition is turned on without a heater in aquarium.

I can have a separate room with no air condition to keep the temperature fixed.

waiting for your valuable input.

Thx

[Wes]

Looks like the conditions in Saudi Arabia are good for breeding discus. What would be the cost for water to change a couple thousand gallons/ liters a day?

[timmy82]

You will need a large R/O unit to get that GH down. I work and have my room set up for hobby / extra cash and to acheive 100 per month I am at that now or more with 4 pairs in cycle atm, and another 5 most confirmed males and females just the waiting game. Need to be able to change large amounts of water daily too.

[Argentum]

6000 Liters would cost around 40$

[Argentum]

to acheive 100 per month I am at that now or more with 4 pairs in cycle atm, .

So with 4 pairs you can end up with having 100 ~2" fish monthly? I imagined I would need more like 9 Pairs

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Is the market for discus in your area strong? If not, I would start out slow. You can always build later. If you build too much and have no customers then you would have to rely on shipping.

[Wes]

6000 Liters would cost around 40$
Thats not bad. Are you thinking Asian or German strains?

[Argentum]

Thats not bad. Are you thinking Asian or German strains?

I currently have a red turquoise pair of unkown origin. I want to get german but couldnt find any. Only two stores here have them and are out of stock at the momment one of them will restock on January from Singapor.

I can request them to buy me some german strains but it will cost more of course. Is it worth it or should I just go with whats available.

I can't buy them personally because they need special permits

[Wes]

I currently have a red turquoise pair of unkown origin. I want to get german but couldnt find any. Only two stores here have them and are out of stock at the momment one of them will restock on January from Singapor.

I can request them to buy me some german strains but it will cost more of course. Is it worth it or should I just go with whats available.

I can't buy them personally because they need special permits

I would get the best breeding stock that you can afford. As you said " it's difficult to find discus, not to mention good quality discus." Make sure people will pay premium price if you provide quality discus.

[nc0gnet0]

So I need advice from the experienced breeders over here on what type of setup and number of fish is required to keep a constant production of 100 ready to sell discus each month.

At what size? This is a question you haven't answered. Personally, I don't think 4 pairs can do it, not even close. At least not for any extended period of time, and you would have to be raising them artificially to even come close.

IMO to sustain a production anywhere close to that your going to need upwards of 12-18 pairs.


-Rick

[nc0gnet0]

You will need a large R/O unit to get that GH down.

I think he would be just fine with a gh of 10. Distilled water is about as pure as you can get, you might need to add some buffers, but I am guessing that is what they are doing at the treatment/distillery/water plant.

[Argentum]

At what size? This is a question you haven't answered. Personally, I don't think 4 pairs can do it, not even close. At least not for any extended period of time, and you would have to be raising them artificially to even come close.

IMO to sustain a production anywhere close to that your going to need upwards of 12-18 pairs.


-Rick

I will sell the majority of them once they start to develop color. I will keep the best to grow out to be sold at higher prices. I will start out slowly and try both natural and artificial rearing and see which works best for me before expanding so I can do the design and planning right the first time

[Argentum]

I would get the best breeding stock that you can afford. As you said " it's difficult to find discus, not to mention good quality discus." Make sure people will pay premium price if you provide quality discus.

So which are better german or asian strains?

[rdiscus]

Is the market for discus in your area strong? If not, I would start out slow.

It doesn't matter the market strong or not, you should start with one or two pair to see if you can handle them, then get more pair later ... If you start with 9 pairs, they will burn you out soon

[Wes]

So which are better german or asian strains?

It all depends on your preference. With Asian you have more variety colors. Stendker you have I think about 21 large quality varieties

[qiyanfeng]

For all the questions you asked and answered, you can easily find the answer with enough reading. I don't think you can be a successful breeder, not "commercial" at all, not now. You are not in the stage yet. I suggest you keep reading everything here and anywhere you can find.
If you can't figure out those questions by yourself, I think you are far away from the point that you can start.

Too honest, it might hurt. But I want to be frank.:D

[William Palumbo]

This forum is full of Discus people wanting to be just "hobbyist" breeders. And you want to be a commercial breeder? Good luck! Better off importing/re-selling...Bill

[Argentum]

When you say large quality. You mean large size and high quality. Or you just meant high qualiy

[nc0gnet0]

The question is whether or not it is economically viable in the OP's home market located in Saudia Arabia. There are many good points to consider that fall outside of that realm, but, if the OP is to even consider it, this is as good a place as any to start.

As it now stands, to do what you want to do would take roughly 18000 liters per week, maybe a little less, maybe a little more. that puts you at $120.00 per week to start with for just water alone, which is a bit high. However, you more than make up for that with the savings you will get in your climate, if your temps you give us are accurate.

You also have very litte competition, so the one biggest question is, how big will your market be and what will be your selling point? What does shipping run in saudi arabia, and wouldn't keeping the fish cool during shippping be an issue?

-Rick

[Wes]

When you say large quality. You mean large size and high quality. Or you just meant high qualiy
Yes ,large in size and very good quality.

[Argentum]

This forum is full of Discus people wanting to be just "hobbyist" breeders. And you want to be a commercial breeder? Good luck! Better off importing/re-selling...Bill

When I said commercial selling I didn't have this scale in mind. I have a full time job and this will be a secondary source to cover the expenses of the hobby and maybe produce some profit.

[Argentum]

The question is whether or not it is economically viable in the OP's home market located in Saudia Arabia. There are many good points to consider that fall outside of that realm, but, if the OP is to even consider it, this is as good a place as any to start.

As it now stands, to do what you want to do would take roughly 18000 liters per week, maybe a little less, maybe a little more. that puts you at $120.00 per week to start with for just water alone, which is a bit high. However, you more than make up for that with the savings you will get in your climate, if your temps you give us are accurate.

You also have very litte competition, so the one biggest question is, how big will your market be and what will be your selling point? What does shipping run in saudi arabia, and wouldn't keeping the fish cool during shippping be an issue?

-Rick

My selling point will be availability & Quality. I don't intend on shipping as a start Jeddah is a big city, I know around 8 LFS that may buy from me ATM. If I need to ship cooling will not be an issue when using air mail, otherwise It would be a big issue.

I will start out slowly and see how things go in reality how much are customers willing to pay. At the Start I will setup a display tank with around 6-8 discuss from these I will isolate breeding pairs to a breeding tank and see how things work out regarding selling, prices ... etc.

Then I can calculate how economic it will be to expand. At a small scale I don't even have to pay for water so the running costs will be only food.

[nc0gnet0]

My selling point will be availability & Quality.

You didn't understand the statement/question. When used in this context, the "selling point" refers to at what price your going to be selling your product at.


I don't intend on shipping as a start Jeddah is a big city

It is about 1/2 the size of greater Chicago. Hard to say what the market of the city alone might support long term.

[Argentum]

You didn't understand the statement/question. When used in this context, the "selling point" refers to at what price your going to be selling your product at.

Selling prices here range from 150 to 450 SR depending on size. but I have seen only few good quality discus till now. my selling price would be 50% of that price when I sell to stores. more when I sell to directly to people. (1 USD = 3.75 SR)



It is about 1/2 the size of greater Chicago. Hard to say what the market of the city alone might support long term.

I will be able to determine that once I begin as I said with a couple of pairs. It will give me a hint on the market, then I can plan to expand or not accordingly.