If you like to pet fish as your hobby, it will be great when your hobby can make money for you. Normally, to raise fish, we need money to pay for the costs of fish tanks, utilities, and aquarium fish feeds including other equipment. Maybe, we can’t afford all of these, but what we definitely get is happiness and enjoyment. However, is it better if we can make money from our hobby? So, today, I will share my story to you.
I have liked petting fish since I was young, and my dream, back then, was to breed them and to see their children. At that time, I tried keeping many kinds of fish, and always kept my eyes on them to find out when their babies would be born. The fish I raised were goldfish, mollies, bettas, or even guppies, but I didn’t succeed in raising them that much. Even the guppies which were well-known for easily giving a birth, I only got not more than ten of their babies.
When I grew up, I had a chance to pet fish again although I forgot my childhood dream for a long time because of works and other tasks. However, that I petted fish for another time was counted as the turning point of my hobby.
My first turning point
I had chance to buy a dragonfish or an arowana as pet; but when I got home and searched on the Internet, I found that I bought the wrong one. I wanted a Super Red Arowana, but what I bought was a Red-B Arowana. I just saw the word “red” in the name, and then bought it without doing any research. I was wrong from the start.
After the fish grew a little bit, I tried selling it on the Internet, and someone bought it! I also gained some profits from selling the fish although the difference between buying and selling prices didn’t seem worth for all expenses I paid for, such as costs of utilities and feeds which made the fish grew up. However, I realized that what I got from petting fish wasn’t only the happiness but also the profits from a sale which was another step of opportunity.
That incident made me want to raise a large number of arowanas. Perhaps, I might gain profits from raising and feeding them for great sizes like others did. I thought a bit of profit per one fish was okay, but a great number of fish boosted profits better. Unexpectedly, I finally decided to travel to Malaysia and Indonesia, which were the origins of the arowanas, and selected them by myself. Then, I started a small fish shop at my house and sold them through the Internet as I used to do.
Back then, I was so happy because I could raise fish as I wanted and my house was full of fish. Selling them out and gaining some profits were fun and made money for me. When lots of fish were sold and were almost out of stock, it would become more fun because I always eagerly expected how beautiful the fish were when I flied abroad to select them.
My second turning point
It happened when I flied abroad to select the fish, and the farm wanted to increase the price of arowanas. This was due to the fact that China, Japan, and Taiwan, powerful countries in the Asian ornamental fish market, could buy the fish without bargaining. Therefore, the farm took this opportunity to mark up the price because of the high demand. As a consequence, a small fish shop like mine was in trouble because the capital was raised. It was not easy to up the price in Thailand—Thai people liked the low price with the high quality. At that time, I lost much of my profit because I bought them in the higher price, but I needed to sell them in the same price I used to. However, from that crisis, I learned that if I was able to breed them by myself, it would be great!
Then, the power of my childhood dream burst out! I started looking for ornamental fishes which were likely to be easily reproduced and planned to import them to Thailand. However, my main purpose was raising them happily, so the species I would like to import had to be what I was satisfied, importantly. In case they couldn’t be sold, I still enjoyed petting them without any problems. Like my concept, I liked to pet fish as my hobby and never expected for money, but if it made money for me by chance, that was the way to do it!
Most importantly, being able to breed ornamental fishes by ourselves has a good point which is no matter how the price is in the market, the capital don’t change that much. The investment fund is mainly at the costs of breeders, tanks, and other equipment in which we can invest during the first start. For other expenses we need to pay for every month, such as costs of utilities and feeds, they are not that high. If the sales still go on until we get the payback of the breeders’ cost, we will receive full amount of profit. This is definitely heaven!
The reasons why I chose a Black Diamond ray?
The first reason is my friend’s suggestion. I had to say that at first I was passionless; but after trying raising them, my thought has changed. They are very lovely, swim without cease, and eat a lot. I don’t know whether you guys think the same as me; but if I see my fish eat well, I will feel happy for them. Another reason is the unique pattern of Black Diamond rays. White points on the black skins are so classy. Their skin patterns also match with Chinese belief “Yin and Yang”, so it pleases me so much.
A Black Diamond ray is viviparous fish, so I think it seems not hard to raise it according to my experience in raising the guppies. Comparing with the ovoviviparous fish, when the ray gives a birth, the number of its babies is not high. One litter approximately consists of 3-5 baby rays which are regarded as the very small number compared to the ovoviviparous fish. For this reason, I think the number of rays may not suddenly flood the market.
What’s more important is that the rays don’t select a mate. Only male and female rays stay in the same tank, they will definitely mate. This is considered as a good point because we don’t have to wait for them to be satisfied with each other. I faced this problem once when breeding dogs. I wasn’t skilled that much to breed them like a big farm was, so a number of puppies I got were less than expected. Unlike Black Diamond rays, I have nothing to do with them. All I need to do is petting two rays (male and female) in the same tank, and then they will mate for sure!
But the coolest thing is that the male ray will mate with the female almost immediately after she delivers babies. Some of the male rays are gone wilder. They bite the female rays for chasing up them to give a birth and they will be able to breed. From this point, I can estimate how many times the female rays can deliver babies per year and what date they probably give a birth. It’s because the period of the Black Diamond ray’s pregnancy is around 3-4 months, which is rather fixed.
When I knew all the good points, I decided to move forward with Black Diamond rays without doubt, and it has become the hobby which makes money for me until today. The income might not be enormous at first, but try looking back at the past when keeping fish as a hobby and getting money back. It’s worth, isn’t it?
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