# Hawaii'n SHRIMP help!



## jeffboyarrdee (Jun 9, 2007)

i just got back from my trip to Oahu and i brought back 20 red hawaii'n shrimp, Opae ula. and i was wondering if anyone knew what pH they need? I also want to breed them...and im not sure if they breed in full freshwater...does anyone have any knowledge or advice/tips?

i also brought back 30 of these freshwater white shrimp native to Hawaii as well...i think they are Atyoida bisulcata. And i would like to know if anyone has any advice/tips on how to breed or raise these shrimp as well. 

i will post up some pictures soon!


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

http://www.petshrimp.com/hawaiianredshrimp.html

this has some good info on these shrimp. BTW how were you able to get these back from Hawaii?


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## jeffboyarrdee (Jun 9, 2007)

i packed them in my check-in luggage


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I'm pretty sure you need brackish or saltwater to breed those Hawaiin shrimp.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

you need brackish, these guys can live in water from fresh to saltier than ocean water,but will only breed in brackish or salt water. they have floating larvae (looks like mosquito larvae) and like calm water with rocks and such to hide in. you need to find out what the salinity was of the tank you got them from, because it can vary quite a bit. i kept mine at 1.0012-14 and they bred fine. they are slow breeders so be patient. read the care section on petshrimp, it has all you need. 

also, the other one you brought back, opae kala'oe did you buy it or catch yourself? they are not sold by lfs here except as bycatch of feeders. pretty rare now days on Oahu anyway. those you can just keep in your planted tanks, they are both filter and scavengers so will get food the same as say cherries or amanos, plus filter feed when they feel like it. mine are in my planted tank with a ph around 6.8 or so. dont expect to breed them though, they require a saltwater stage in their larval development and basically go from fresh to ocean to back to fresh. no one knows how exactly and so far no one has successfully bred them here. you can get the larvae to hatch but they end up starving even after switching to full salt water. think breeding amanos but harder... and beware, they are exellent climbers (even out of water) and will crawl out of tank and get quite far if they dont like the water conditons (must be clean). i have found them across my house from the tank and when you catch them in a net, they will immediately start to climb out. they climb waterfalls in their native habitat.


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## jeffboyarrdee (Jun 9, 2007)

thanks guys! i surely am excited to atleast take care of these two types of shrimp...
for now i have the opae kala'oe kept in just a full freshwater tank and i will see how they last inside...if they start climbing out i have no idea what ill do yet. But yea i got these as feeders from an lfs in oahu and i thought they were interesting because they werent the typical glass shrimp found here in the mainland, but they werent amanos, so i had to buy them. 15 for 1dollar.

So far i have the red shrimp in salt water that i mixed, and the salinity is around 1.0022 and they are doing fine...they actually came from a tank with hawaii ocean water which is very high in salinity...so i had acclimated them, and i hope they live...

do you know what kinds of foods/flakes that i could supplement these shrimp with?


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

for the opae ula, standard flake food (very small amount finely crushed) once or twice a week is enough if the tank has algae growing for them to forage on. if not, feed a little every few days until the algae grows.

as for the opae kalaoe, can you post a pic? while you can get them from lfs as by catch feeders (thats how i got mine), they are not common and a tank of feeders will have only a few in there. i suspect you got a bunch of wild form cherries. they have been sold as feeders for decades here, and have pretty much become an invasive species. easiest way to tell is coloring, opae kalaoe has a gold diamond on its back with blue/black lines (see pic), it also gets larger than your standard RCS and has a heavier body type AND they have RED eyes. if you have wild form cherries congrats, many on the mainland want them but it just doesnt justify the cost to ship them there. just dont mix them with RCS if you keep them, they will interbreed and you'll have all your reds revert back to wild color in suceesive generations. easiest way to test, catch them in a net and if they just flop around like any other shrimp, you have wild form cherries. if they imediately stand up and start climbing out, you have opae kalaoe. post a pic and i can tell you right away which you got.








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## styderman (Jul 1, 2007)

do these guys eat a lot of algae. I seen them in the fish store. Just started another planted tank and I wanted to address the algae issue early.Where are all the other local guys out there. I was begining to think that I was the only one from the islands on here.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

not that i can tell, they are mostly dietrus feeders like bamboo shrimp and most cherries, mine like to hang out on my magnum hot filter intake and catch food on the way into the filter. 

not too many planted tank guys on the rock, most are fish keepers or salties. really is a niche hobby here right now.


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## styderman (Jul 1, 2007)

Dhavoc. i sent you a pm. I was wondering if you have any hC or riccia or any other types of plants. I am starting a new tank. please pm a number so that we can talk


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## budd (Jul 11, 2007)

that's petty koo l that u got those shrimp how many did u catch??


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## jeffboyarrdee (Jun 9, 2007)

sorry guys i havnt gone into this part of aquatic plants central in a couple weeks...but i got the shrimp from a store in waikiki called modern pet center...i talked to the owner and he used to ship to a fish store in SF called Nippon Goldfish company that closed down a couple years ago...and i used to work there so we just talked a bit. And he showed me the shrimp he had...and i for sure have those red hawaiin shrimp and they are doing great...none are pregnant yet tho...i dont know how often they breed. But those white clear shrimp i have might not be those climbing shrimp, they might be wild cherries. Do you guys know if wild cherries are common on the islands? I know that they have bred already and i see 10-15 little baby shrimps and they are in full freshwater...so im guessing they arent Atyoida bisulcata.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

if they bred and the offspring are minitures of the adults you got wild cherries. they are an invasive species here and are used as feeders. opae kalaoe has a larval stage and requires it being swept out to sea for development. you can now start selling wild form cherries up there as they are not common. just keep them sepparate from any RCS you have as they are the same species. they will change colors depending on the environment and can go from clear, to striped to almost black with a gold stripe (my favorite). the color isnt permanent though and if you move them to a tank with a different scape, they will just change to match the new tank.


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