# Hawaiian Red Shrimp - Domestic breeders?



## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Is there anyone currently breeding and selling Hawaiian Red Shrimp in the 48 US states? There is a place in Hawaii selling them as feeders but I'm trying to cut down on shipping costs ($35) plus I don't need 50 of them for a 1-3g tank.

One person did have them about a year ago, Franks I believe, but they do not currently carry them.

Thanks.


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## YuccaPatrol (Mar 26, 2006)

They are awfully tiny. . . . you might want 50 of them in a 3 gallon tank.


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## ianiwane (May 6, 2005)

normally the feeders in hawaii are neocardinia species, like wild cherries. Are you sure that they are selling those as feeders?


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Red Volcanic Shrimp (Halocaridina rubra) - $50.00 : Ocean Rider, Inc., Giant Truly Tropical Farm Raised Sea Horses - Home of the Famous Ocean Rider Mustang and Ocean Rider Sunburst Sea Horses

Was directed to that webpage from Frank himself after asking if he still carried them.


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## YuccaPatrol (Mar 26, 2006)

FYI: these sellers are not actually breeding them when they say that they "aquafarm" these shrimp. They simply own the land that has an anchialine pond in which they harvest *wild *shrimp.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

^ are you serious? those pools are protected.... or so i thought! ill be thinking twice before ordering now! thanks for pointing that out.


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## YuccaPatrol (Mar 26, 2006)

I'm afraid I am serious. One of the problems with consistently harvesting from a pond is the fact that the shrimp population lives mostly underground in channels/cracks in the lava. Many of these ponds are connected, so collecting from one site affects the population elsewhere.

Some of the ponds are protected, but most are not. Hawaiian conservation officials are moving toward protecting all of them, so it is crucial that true captive breeding populations be established if we want these shrimp to be a part of our hobby for much longer.

I went to a lecture this spring by Dr. Santos from Auburn University. He has done extensive research to compare the genetic relationships between these shrimp in most of the anchialine ponds. One of the benefits of his research is that it will now be possible to use genetic markers to identify the location where a suspect shrimp was collected. This will be a great benefit for conservation enforcement, especially when some of the ponds are protected and others are not.

But yes, the seller does nothing to actively "aquafarm" these shrimp other than collect wild shrimp from a pond on private property.


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## gforster (Jul 30, 2006)

how difficult is it to actually breed these shrimp? It seems there needs to be a balance between "overharvesting" and captive breeding. For captive breeding to take place, some wild ones have to be harvested and information needs to be shared on how to breed them. Does anyone have any experience breeding them?

Random thought, could it be an APC project to breed them, not only for hobby, but for conservation?


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

YuccaPatrol said:


> But yes, the seller does nothing to actively "aquafarm" these shrimp other than collect wild shrimp from a pond on private property.


Figured as much. That's why I was trying to find a domestic breeder as they would "probably" not be wild caught. The parent generations may have been.


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## frugalfish (Apr 20, 2005)

There are some of us out there that are keeping and breeding these shrimp. I originally purchased mine from a vendor selling them as "feeders". They are easy to care for and seem to breed easily enough once they are mature. They however take about six weeks to go from egg to miniature shrimp. Another thing to remember about these shrimp is that they are estimated to be able to live for possibly 20 years. For that reason and others I have yet to be able to part with any of mine.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

frugalfish said:


> There are some of us out there that are keeping and breeding these shrimp. I originally purchased mine from a vendor selling them as "feeders". They are easy to care for and seem to breed easily enough once they are mature. They however take about six weeks to go from egg to miniature shrimp. Another thing to remember about these shrimp is that they are estimated to be able to live for possibly 20 years. For that reason and others I have yet to be able to part with any of mine.


That's what I've been reading! Also learned about those little glass jars they put them in (seen them at the local mall). Never knew what kind of shrimp those were. The jars are supposed to never need opened or food added. Basically an environment within itself. Kind of sad.

It's neat those little critters can live to be so old. I can see myself with a 3g tank full of them for 20 years.  "Well sonny I've had these since cars had wheels!"

Still kind of reading up on how to properly keep and breed them. Seems more difficult than Cherry Shrimp but easier than Crystal Reds. Well, to me at least.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I have a friend who was successful with a few batches. Seems the windows getting natural sunlight make the best breeding areas. His speculation was that sun acts like a nutrient, Vitamine D or something. He has breed several species of shrimp and he swears that sunlight is the best thing for them.

Hey, maybe you could liberate a few from those stupid little spheres. Course, that may send the people doing that the wrong impression.....

There is a shrimp forum, guy named Mustafa owns it I believe. He or someone on his list may be able to help you. There is also ShrimpNow !!! - Welcome, or there used to be.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

dennis said:


> Hey, maybe you could liberate a few from those stupid little spheres. Course, that may send the people doing that the wrong impression......


I would but they are insanely expensive. The smallest being about $40 or so and contains two or three shrimp.

I'll check out ShrimNow!!! and see what they have to say.


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## frugalfish (Apr 20, 2005)

For some good information go to Petshrimp.com and do a search using "hawaiian" or "harocaridina rubra" and you'll find threads on these shrimp. I would link my thread from that site here, but if you do a search there you'll find even more info. Also look in the Shrimp Varieties section for a description on them. Here's a picture of one of my females with a full load...


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Beautiful picture and shrimp. 

I'll get right on searching PetShrimp.com Completely forgot about that site.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Inland Aquatics Homepage

Located in Indiana. They have them for $1 each or 12 for $9 plus $26 shipping. A bit better if you don't want to order a huge lot from Hawaii. I feel more comortable ordering from one state away compared to a few thousand miles away.

Found another page: Freshwater Aquarium Shrimp

Shipping is $16 and the shrimp are 15 for $18. A little more expensive but $10 cheaper in shipping. *shrugs*. They do have a decent variety of other hard to find shrimp too that may be worth ordering. Stuff like Tigers, Bumble Bees, Amanos, etc. Not many people regularly sell those on these boards.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

This is not an algae eating shrimp, or a true freshwater shrimp.

From the WEB site



> Ocean Rider aquafarms these shrimp in our own anchialine pond. At home you can house up to 600 shrimp in 5 gallon tank with a sponge filter, very little light, gravel substrate, and sea lettuce for habitat. You can feed them small amounts of Shrimpgro, being careful not to overfeed. Or you can cultivate your own fungus and bacteria on the tank walls and floor for them to graze on. *Be sure you use a hydrometer to check the specific gravity which should be 1.0114*. Water temperature can range from 60F - 75F, Ammonia and Nitrites must be kept at 0, Nitrates should be less then 10ppm PH 8.2 - 8.4


Breeding:



> Adults are 1/2 to 1 cm long, mate 4 to 5 times a year spawning about 6-8 offspring


I have a friend in Hawaii who tells me these are difficult shrimp to keep long term in freshwater,, and impossible to keep with fish because they are so tiny. They are primarily used as feeders for salt water fish. He tells me they do not like any light at all, they live underground, and they need Rock hard water.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Doesn't bother me they won't eat algae. I have Cherry Shrimp to do that.

From the people I've chatted with they have had mixed results with keeping adults in freshwater. They do ok in partial saltwater as well. If I were to get them they would be in their own tank forever. I'd have no intentions of mixing them.

Looks like I'll be attempting a saltwater tank with my existing 2g I have sitting around. Seeing as these guys don't like much light.....it might be possible. OFF TO RESEARCH *flies away*


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

Once i get the fish room up i'd love to do some species maintenaince with these shrimp. 
also, i believe they can be acclimated to salt water? (1.025 Specific gravity) which could also have potential for selling them to nano-reefers. that could help bring some money into the conservation effort as well.
i really thought they were captive raised... that's such BS. :faint2: 
i figured that high of a price they HAD to be! lol.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

I have been keeping them for a little over 6 months and while they are one of the easier shrimp to keep, they breed slowly. and since they have a larval stage that lasts weeks they dont have a high survival rate either. with an average of 6-8 per breeding cycle i have found only 4 will make it to adulthood on average. 

Six, they can and do live in full seawater or even saltier (a LFS here sells them from a pond that is full strength sea water). but they dont like currents that much. their natural habitat is a standing pool that rises and ebbs with the tide but no waves. they can also be acclimated to full fresh water but they dont live as long or breed.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

Burks - try calling inland aquatics if youre interested. their site never is updated and they dont check emails regularly. i emailed months ago about the shrimp with no response. 
it is a great place to visit if you like saltwater stuff! awesome prop tanks


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

What do you personally feed them dhavoc?

The slow breeding may not be for everyone but with their long lifespan that could be a blessing to some.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

_What do you personally feed them dhavoc?_

not much really, they have a choice of stringy algae or a green one that looks like BBA but a bright green (looks rather nice, like little green velvet bushes growing on the rocks). once a week or so i feed a couple of hikari crab cuisine pellets or a pelletized fish food (dont overfeed). i dont do water changes, but just top off evaporation with distilled/ro water.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Has anyone else got these and had success breeding them??


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## bencozzy (Jun 2, 2006)

well from what ive heard on these little shrimp is that they will only breed in brackish water.

fact sheets that ive seen on them and from what i was told by inland aquatics was that they only breed twice a year and have fairly small broods.

larvea need to be given phytoplankton too if i remember correctly.


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## styderman (Jul 1, 2007)

i just seen them at my LFS today. hahahaha. guy said they get sucked in the filter easy. super tiny they were $1 each.


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## frugalfish (Apr 20, 2005)

As far as I can tell these shrimp only breed in brackish conditions and do not do well in full freshwater environments.

My females have large clutches of eggs when carrying, usually averaging 15+ free floating larvae. 

The young (including the free floating larvae) need no special foods. 

My original colony of fifty has grown to over 300 in the past year in a ten gallon tank.

An interesting thing I discovered during my recent move was that a few of these shrimp got left in a 5 gallon jug of water that I saved in order to set up there tank again. Okay so that's not so interesting, what was is that this jug of water was out in the garage for a week in 45 degree temps. Not sure how long these guys can stand that low of a temp, but they did for a week.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

I've heard they are some of the hardiest shrimp out there, fresh or salt. Spending that long in such cold weather is pretty astounding. 

Glad to see some people actually keeping these! Maybe one day they'll be as available as things like CRS (RCS, dream on).

What SG do you keep yours at?


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## styderman (Jul 1, 2007)

i have one in my planted tank. hes been there for about 4 months and got sucked by my filter twice. he somehow survived. i just us tap water.


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## frugalfish (Apr 20, 2005)

I keep my colony as follows...

Temperature varies from mid 60 F to mid 70 F

Salinity varies from 1.004 to 1.012 

Sponge filter

12 hours of fluorescent lighting

Small lava rock and sand substrate

Feed 1-2x a week with various standard aquarium foods


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## styderman (Jul 1, 2007)

BAD LUCK to take lava rock from Hawaii. If its from Hawaii


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## phreeflow (Aug 4, 2007)

In the long term, these guys don't do well in freshwater and really do need brackish or saltwater conditions for the planktonic larvae to do well. The addition of coral sand or a bit of coral decoration would be helpful to keep the water alkaline. 

Also, unlike many of the shrimp we are used to seeing in the hobby, these guys actually appreciate warmer waters since they are from a tropical habitat. 

Is there any reason you are so enamored by these little guys?? They are not that different looking than RCS and not nearly as showy as CRS. However, I must admit that I am highly intrigued to hear reports that they can live up to 20 years!!!  

That being said, if you get some, keep us updated and maybe you can start providing the forum with some of these shrimplets from future spawns. 

good luck!


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