Breeding designer clownfish

[Pufferfish3]

Can I breed designer clownfish for extra cash? Could I even crossbreed them and make my own?

[president89]

Ton of work - very hard to be profitable. It's not a good business model - I breed clowns, and I'm not in the positive.

[ThRoewer]

I was breeding clowns when hardly anybody else was doing it in Europe and even then it would not pay the bills, let alone bring in a profit. Stores don't want to pay more than what they pay for wild ones (which is ridiculously little).
As for designer clowns - these days every idiot and his brother is breeding them.
You would need to breed something like A. latezonatus in perfect shape (no underbite) and coloration (no misbar) to make some money. And even with these the number of potential buyers will be low.

All that said, as soon as my percula start spawning I will try to raise a few again, just for the fun of it and to see how it goes these days with better foods available. Though this is more for the challenge then for making money.
Other fish species can make a little more but are less in demand which makes it harder to sell them.

[seadragon1]

I think you should do it just for the fun of it.

[Pufferfish3]

I agree it does sound fun (-:

[Wilrok_1]

It's fun but not very profitable , ocellaris and picassos move easier with local stores .

[D-Nak]

After you do all of your research and learn what it takes and how much it costs, and you still think it's going to be fun, then I say go for it. For me, it felt like the next step for me in reef keeping. It's extremely challenging -- breeding fish that look like their wild counterparts is very hard -- but it's a goal I'm trying to achieve.

In terms of making a profit, as others mentioned, it's probably not going to happen. Everyone is breeding designers these days, so the price has come down significantly. One breeder in the local area can easily flood the market. Two breeders in the area, and you're giving clowns away.

With regards to cross-breeding, virtually every possible cross has been done, and those that aren't common are ones that shouldn't have been done. If you want to breed clowns, I suggest starting with a pure, wild strain and challenge yourself to make the babies look like their parents.

[CoralsAddiction]

I'm about to start breeding for fun, passion and challenge. Like D-Nak said try to focus on conformation. Imagine there were a fish show like the one for dogs and you wanted the main prize. That should be the goal and standard.

[Wilrok_1]

It was fun for me , with a regular pair of ocellaris , them spawning every 11 days quickly I had more fish than I should move , fry , one month , two month , three month old fish . Hatching brine staying on top of rotifer cultures . Water changes feedings . Be warned , but it's fun to achieve things in the hobby , I want to try dotty backs

[blueclam99]

There are a few good clown breeders in the Midwest. They all tell me to stay away for business venture.