How do you make money with the aquarium?

I'm writing this blog because I started Aquania from a very young age. Every floating plant was worth money, and anyone can do it! Everyone can earn some nice extra money with their aquarium, so I'm sharing this because you can too!

I'm the only one who'll explain how you can make money with your aquarium from a young age and the steps you need to take to turn it into a business. Whether you want to go big or small, you can always earn some nice extra cash with your aquarium to at least cover the expensive costs of this hobby.

But doesn't this create competition for Indy?… "No, I don't believe that! It actually broadens the market, and I stand 100% behind our products, service, plants, and growing methods."

Earn some nice extra cash with your aquarium by growing or letting things grow. You can cut/grow plants, breed fish, build aquariums, offer services, and much more! Use your full creativity.

Start with what you have now!

When I started taking the aquarium business seriously, I first made a list of everything I had. I then started working on this to see how I could earn money, which I then, and still do, "invest" back into improving my plant cultivation for you.

Now, you don't have to make a whole list of everything you need to make money. It's helpful to consider, "What do I have, and what can I grow?" By asking this question, you're already starting to see what's possible. This way, you can take the first step toward growing something and earning your first euros.

Start growing plants or fish

An aquarium consists primarily of aquarium plants and fish. These are also incredibly easy to grow! And, if done correctly, can even be profitable.

Breeding aquarium fish for money

By starting with livebearing aquarium fish, you can quickly earn some extra money with your aquarium. Fish like platies, mollies, guppies, Gambusia species, or livebearing pike are ideal for starters. Guppies, platies, and mollies produce about 10-20 young at a time, and you can keep them in your tropical aquarium (at around 21 degrees Celsius). If you have (too) many, you can resell or trade them on Marktplaats and offer them on forums or aquarium Facebook groups. This way, your aquarium remains self-sufficient, and you can buy new things for it without incurring high costs yourself.

When posting in groups and forums, always check whether this is permitted in the house rules. You don't want to immediately develop a bad reputation in the groups.

Growing Aquarium Plants for Money

Aquarium plants can also be propagated. With the right lighting, water parameters, and plant food, your aquarium plants can grow quickly. If they get too big, simply cut them in half. You can resell these cuttings or replant them once they've developed roots. We've written a comprehensive blog post about this, "How to Propagate Aquarium Plants?"

Floating plants offer even easier ways to achieve this. Because floating plants float at the top of the aquarium water, they get all the light they need, and because their leaves are in contact with the ambient air, they also absorb all the CO2 they need. Pruning a floating plant causes it to produce a stress hormone. This causes it to shoot up shoots in order to survive. This is a way to ensure a large number of floating plants. Just be careful not to do this too often, as this can weaken the floating plant and cause it to become moldy or rot.

You can easily order your first portion of aquarium floating plants in our webshop under the heading Floating Plants.

Earn money with aquarium shrimp

Aquarium shrimp are an ideal way to earn some extra cash. They breed naturally and are extremely popular on the marketplace. Shrimp are easy to breed by maintaining good water quality and providing a varied diet.

Dwarf shrimp, such as the well-known fire shrimp, Blue Dreams, and Crystal Reds, are particularly easy to breed and quite easy to sell or trade. Once you set up a dedicated aquarium for breeding shrimp, things go very quickly.

But how can you quickly start breeding shrimp?

Quickly start breeding Fire shrimp, Blue dream shrimp or other (Neo) Caridina species

You can breed dwarf shrimp quickly by starting with an aquarium of at least 60 liters. The larger the aquarium, the more space there is for the shrimp to breed. You can filter the aquarium with one of the Ziss aqua air filters. Fill the aquarium with moss to increase the surface area. This moss is excellent for water quality and provides hiding places for your baby shrimp. You can order moss for dwarf shrimp from our webshop.

Want to know more about aquarium moss? We have an article with everything you need to know about aquarium moss. Once the aquarium is cycled, you can start adding the shrimp. If you start with more shrimp, you'll have a greater chance of the females getting pregnant, which will help you get young more quickly. Of course, a varied diet is a huge help. Feed every two days and don't overfeed. If you also ensure good water quality, they'll quickly start breeding.

Extra tip: Change the water!

Changing the water with slightly colder water than the aquarium water will encourage the shrimp to breed. However, don't do this too often, as excessive fluctuations can cause stress. We tested the best water changes using a Facebook poll with 600 aquarium hobbyists. We explain this in our blog post: How often to change aquarium water.

Scaling up and deepening your new aquarium “business”!

Now that you've discovered various ways to earn some extra money with your aquarium, it's time to scale it up and start making a profit. What you should focus on is entirely up to you. If you specialize in a specific aspect of aquarium keeping, it's helpful to know what you enjoy doing most. This varies from person to person, of course. For me, it's aquarium plants and the online aquarium shop.

Once you've found your expertise, you just need to scale it up. Immerse yourself in your own area of ​​aquarium hobby and become an expert in the field!