# The Malawa Club



## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Am I able to join even if I don't selectively breed them at the moment? I have a 29g filled with nothing but Malawa. Maybe 1,000 shrimp or so? The Malawa are some of my favorite shrimp as a species.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> Am I able to join even if I don't selectively breed them at the moment? I have a 29g filled with nothing but Malawa. Maybe 1,000 shrimp or so? The Malawa are some of my favorite shrimp as a species.


Anyone can join, the goal is to share our thoughts, ideas, experience on keeping and breeding this wonderful shrimp, I know you have other breeding projects going on.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Thanks, dude. 

I know Auban is trying his hand at selectively breeding them. But so far, I know of only him and you that are trying for selectively breeding them. A real shame, too. I've said for years there is so much potential in these shrimp, and yet because they aren't already true vars of them, the interest isn't there yet.

Another thing that I think can be bred for is the white stripes on the back of some. This could lead eventually to an S, SS and SSS type of breeding.

Their color seems to be more stable, too. You can breed a color to a same color and the offspring will seem to fall into the same color much more quickly than a standard cherry. AND they tend to outbreed cherries AND be just as hardy as them. What's not to like?


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## Aplomado (Feb 20, 2013)

What else to you all like about this species?


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

i've got them in both of my shrimp tanks because i understand they won't interbreed with anyone and have thought of selective breeding them for some time, like you guys said they have a lot of cool color variations that would be awesome to get breeding true, i've a got a few with colors that are spotted. i want in!


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

I got these shrimp few years ago, in my experience they are hardier than any other shrimp I had.
When I spotted the one with the orange stripe, I took everything from the tank to see if I can find another one, since there is no other like that I decided to keep it with a male and female Malawa shrimp that look like Snowball shrimp, they are now in 1 gallon box inside 40 breeder tank.


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## longgonedaddy (Dec 9, 2012)

Can I play, too? I have no interest in selective breeding, but if I get anything interesting, I'll let you all know!


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## auban (Jun 23, 2012)

they are crazy little shrimp. 

so far, i have only managed to get some decent results from a group of dark shrimp i put in a five gallon. there are more babies than i can count.

the other two groups i put together were all a bit on the small side, but are much bigger now. so, hopefully, ill get some babies out of them soon.

odd thing about the dark group, they seem to be producing mostly dark shrimp and blue shrimp. they are still pretty small though, so the blue shrimp may turn out darker. if not, at least its a clue as to what is involved in the dark shrimp. it may just be that they are just red malawas with a strong presentation of blue. 

i havent put them under the microscope yet, but i think i have enough babies now to risk losing a few. ill see if i can get some close up pics this weekend.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

I've had the same results. I culled out the clearish-greenish in the beginning to keep the darker brown. I wound up with a majority of browns and blues.

I stopped culling a long time ago, and now have some clearish-greenish showing up, but still the overwhelming majority is browns.


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## auban (Jun 23, 2012)

shrimpo said:


> I got these shrimp few years ago, in my experience they are hardier than any other shrimp I had.
> When I spotted the one with the orange stripe, I took everything from the tank to see if I can find another one, since there is no other like that I decided to keep it with a male and female Malawa shrimp that look like Snowball shrimp, they are now in 1 gallon box inside 40 breeder tank.


while i have not seen an orange stripe shrimp like what you found, i have noticed that there is a stripe on many of my malawas. the funny part is, it comes in different colors. sometimes its a white stripe, sometimes its a dark stripe. not all shrimp have it, so it maybe a trait in of itself.

this old pic shows a small malawa(the one on the snail shell in the middle) with a white stripe across its back.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

The white is what I'm talking about for S breeding.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> The white is what I'm talking about for S breeding.


 There is too many body colors, which one do you think will be cool with white stripes?
The following is some of the shrimp I have including 1 dark brown like what auban showed in the other thread.
I noticed that all of them show dark stomach/digestive system except the one on the spoon its stomach looks almost white.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

The one on the spoon is what I consider clearish- green. Not uncommon to see from my tank.

This one above the orange has the white stripes that I think could be bred out for wider and wider white.


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## mosspearl (Jan 30, 2013)

I kind of like the clearish-green ones. I wonder what they'd produce if only bred to each other.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> The one on the spoon is what I consider clearish- green. Not uncommon to see from my tank.
> 
> This one above the orange has the white stripes that I think could be bred out for wider and wider white.


I would like to see a picture of the clearish-green ones you have if possible.
Regarding the white stripes I think auban is ahead of us, I only have a few with tiny stripes, what I am trying to achieve is orange carapace over snowball body.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

mosspearl said:


> I kind of like the clearish-green ones. I wonder what they'd produce if only bred to each other.


 If I can find another like that I will keep them together, I couldn't take a good picture but that one actually clearish-blue, the odd thing in my case is the stomach(behind the eyes) is not dark and visible like the rest of the other shrimp.


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

what do you guys think the possibility is of my malawa staying alive in a tank with dwarf blue cray? or should i just scrape that idea and pull out the ones i don't want from the tank and put them in the other tank with malawa?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Aquatic Delight said:


> what do you guys think the possibility is of my malawa staying alive in a tank with dwarf blue cray? or should i just scrape that idea and pull out the ones i don't want from the tank and put them in the other tank with malawa?


I would keep them in their own tank.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

More pictures of the Malawa with the orange spot.


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## larcat (Jul 27, 2011)

We don't selectively breed, but do have a large colony of 3-400 of them in our community tank. Hearty buggers, and some really cool striped patterns. I love 'em.


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## assasin6547 (Feb 6, 2013)

I'd like to join.


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

your malawa are cool shrimpo. since the start of this i have begun spending staring at my tanks with malawa, and sadly i haven't seen anything near as cool as what you are seeing. although i did decimate my population when a guy in our local plant group was looking for shrimp for the tank he has in his middle school classroom.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Aquatic Delight said:


> your malawa are cool shrimpo. since the start of this i have begun spending staring at my tanks with malawa, and sadly i haven't seen anything near as cool as what you are seeing. although i did decimate my population when a guy in our local plant group was looking for shrimp for the tank he has in his middle school classroom.


Thank you,
It may take some time but at the end you will get nice looking shrimp too.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Good news, found the snowball looking female berried tonight.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

That's great! I tried to get some pics of the greenish-clearish I have, but my camera sucks and I have to be like 8" away for it to focus. Can't get the color from that distance.


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## twkoch (Aug 29, 2013)

Looking forward to this thread and joining the journey. I have a good size colony of Malawa's and some that are starting to show some interesting colors. I will get some pictures soon with my micro lens to show you guys. So far my favorite is a red speckled/striped one.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Update:
In fear of loosing the orange malawa for whatever reason, I put him with 5 more females and another one is berried.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

That's great Shrimpo! Congrats! Let's hope the offspring will do well.


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## Gavin288 (May 10, 2013)

currently have 4 berried from Shrimpo's stock out of 6 that are breeding size, the 4 that are berried show light to medium red the other two adults are clear, here is one of the camera friendly Females








the other 10 or so are still juvies


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> That's great Shrimpo! Congrats! Let's hope the offspring will do well.


My brain already started to think about how the offspring will look like. Fingers crossed.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Gavin288 said:


> currently have 4 berried from Shrimpo's stock out of 6 that are breeding size, the 4 that are berried show light to medium red the other two adults are clear, here is one of the camera friendly Females
> the other 10 or so are still juvies


Thanks for sharing the picture, good luck with the breeding.


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## Gavin288 (May 10, 2013)

shrimpo said:


> Thanks for sharing the picture, good luck with the breeding.


Thanks i posted some more pictures in a album on my profile of the others, also i really hope the orange breeding works out for you maybe it will get more people interested in malawa shrimp


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Shrimpo- where did you get your acrylics?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> Shrimpo- where did you get your acrylics?


 From ebay, look for Ultra-pro mini helmet display cases, I bought box of 12 cases a while ago.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

They look great!


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## mosspearl (Jan 30, 2013)

OMG... now I need a malawa set up... :::headdesk:::


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## auban (Jun 23, 2012)

i wish you all the best of luck. 

i am taking a hiatus from from malawa breeding. i still have my malawas in a 50 gallon, but im not selectively breeding them right now. my wife an i are trying to adopt out of the foster system, and we needed my fish room as an extra bedroom...

i hope you guys succeed in producing a color morph. 

that would just be too cool...


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

I know they make you jump through hurdles. Good luck to you Auban.:thumbsup:


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Thank you auban, we hope everything goes well with you too. just chime in once in while with suggestions/ideas.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

I got some shrimplets, I hope the father will stay alive until they are fully grown so I can back breed them.
Is there any tips on how to preserve this mutation beside the above method?


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## aluka (Feb 2, 2013)

Am i too late to join? My malwai are pregnant! =D!


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

aluka said:


> Am i too late to join? My malwai are pregnant! =D!


Glad to hear they are doing great, welcome to the club.


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## aquaticgeek (Oct 29, 2013)

I have various types of shrimp but this post is dictating which one I might try next. Great thread can't wait to follow progress and join in


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Video of the Malawa shrimp with his babies, he looks much better in person:


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Does it look like they inherited the orange stripe trait?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

At this point I don't see any stripe on them, they look like their mother.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Sounds like you may have to back cross to improve odds to get it.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> Sounds like you may have to back cross to improve odds to get it.


 I wish it will stay alive until they grow.
Do you have any link to the natural habitat of these shrimp? I found some videos of Bumblebee and other shrimps but not the Malawa.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Hmmmm....don't know of any videos. I know they were found in Southern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Specifically the Malawa spring close by Bowonglangi if that helps.


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## Gavin288 (May 10, 2013)

Going to post this first here in the Malawa Club if no one knows what it is then i will post it in the main sub forum, Does anyone know what the heck this thing is thats on the side of the shrimp?








I've checked the parameters everything is fine(that i tested for), im thinking it might be a leach of some sort? the only thing i couldn't test is GH but im waiting for the test kit to come from amazon

Thanks


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Failed molt comes to mind as another possible cause. Does it move on it's own?


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## Gavin288 (May 10, 2013)

It's moving and eating like normal


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Gavin288 said:


> It's moving and eating like normal


He is asking if whatever on the side of the shrimp is moving, not the shrimp itself.
What is your water parameters?


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## Gavin288 (May 10, 2013)

my parameters are
Ph 8.0
Temp 76
KH & GH test kit in the mail 
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0 
Nitrate 5.0 ppm 

Pretty sure that's about right? beside not knowing the kh and gh but i might take my water to get tested tomorrow by a lfs


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

If it is a failed molt, it may be your gh. However, consider if that's the only one that has it- it may just be the odd occurrence.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Gavin288 said:


> my parameters are
> Ph 8.0
> Temp 76
> KH & GH test kit in the mail
> ...


Any update on the shrimp?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

I separated 4 females with their offsprings and kept the male with other offspings, I will see if he can live until the F1 reach breeding stage.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Updated pictures of the handsome shrimp.


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

very cool looking guy!

Sadly i had to sell off my Malawa shrimp to make my move easier....once i get situated i would definately like to buy some culls from y'all and see what i can get going again.


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## Gavin288 (May 10, 2013)

shrimpo said:


> Any update on the shrimp?


Never noticed your post sorry it took so long to reply, The shrimp with the problem ended up dying a week later but everyone else is doing great, Breeding like crazy even with the addition of co2 and excel

Hows the handsome shrimp breeding going?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Sorry for the loss.
No updates at this moment, we will see what the next generation will throw.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

How is everyone's Malawa shrimp doing? any unusual pattern, color?


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## Kimfishepet (Jan 2, 2013)

I love these shrimp and I would like to join the club but I haven't had any of these shrimps before. Does anyone know someone who would sell me some?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

If you can wait few weeks I can send you some, just pay shipping.


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## Kimfishepet (Jan 2, 2013)

Certainly, when should I bug you again?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

I will send you PM when I am ready to ship around the end of this month.


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## Kimfishepet (Jan 2, 2013)

Sounds great, thanks! Add me to the club, if I may


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Kimfishepet said:


> Sounds great, thanks! Add me to the club, if I may


You are welcome. I added you to the members list.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

My Malawa don't even stop breeding in the winter. These are some hardy shrimp.

What temp does everyone keep theirs at?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Around 75F but I think they will appreciate higher than that. they are very hardy indeed, a while ago I used to feed few of them to saltwater anemone that I had, the ones that didn't get eaten will stay alive in the saltwater for few days. I think I read somewhere that they are originally from part of the ocean that got isolated and turned into freshwater lake overtime.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Very interesting indeed. 

I keep mine around 79-80F, but I know people who keep them at room temp and they have done well too.


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## Chase.b (Sep 5, 2009)

I recently got some from soothing, so add me to the list!


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## 0live (Jun 8, 2013)

Can I get details on this setup?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

0live said:


> Can I get details on this setup?


 40 gallon breeder tank and 8 acrylic display boxes that hold about 1 gallon each, the heater is located in the middle of the tank.
Each box contains half coconut shell drilled on the top, Subwassertang, some crushed corals. there is 1 air pump attached to the upper right side of the tank that feeds air to all the adjustable valves (connected inline). the berried shrimp spend most of the time inside the coconut shell.


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## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

shrimpo said:


> 40 gallon breeder tank and 8 acrylic display boxes that hold about 1 gallon each, the heater is located in the middle of the tank.
> Each box contains half coconut shell drilled on the top, Subwassertang, some crushed corals. there is 1 air pump attached to the upper right side of the tank that feeds air to all the adjustable valves (connected inline). the berried shrimp spend most of the time inside the coconut shell.



Interesting setup. Gives me an idea for my 20l. Wonder if this would be a good setup to do some selective,breedinf?

-Chris


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

ctaylor3737 said:


> Interesting setup. Gives me an idea for my 20l. Wonder if this would be a good setup to do some selective,breedinf?
> 
> -Chris


Depends on what is your plan, I started the set-up above initially for Blue Body Red Rili (BBRR) breeding project, I put one pair of shrimp on each box.
Are you trying to breed Malawa shrimp?


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## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

shrimpo said:


> Depends on what is your plan, I started the set-up above initially for Blue Body Red Rili (BBRR) breeding project, I put one pair of shrimp on each box.
> Are you trying to breed Malawa shrimp?


Been watching this thread and reading up on them. This,has me interested never seen these shrimp before.

-Chris


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Some shots from the top of the F1, F2 and the father.


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## sewoeno (Apr 12, 2014)

wow i love these shrimp! i didn't realize there were so many different kinds out there. i want some!


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

hey guys! my tanks are stable again, and i am settled in florida. now i just need to find me some malawa to stock my tank with again  anyone selling any culls or just plain selling malawa?


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

Many thanks to soothing shrimp the malawa! the arrived in great condition this morning, and have been sitting in a bowl in my super slow drip acclimation, waiting for lights out to go in the tank.

i do that when i get smaller shrimp, to protect them from fish mouths. 



i can't wait to see them start throwing colors, and mixing in with he RCS and TT's already thriving in the tank.


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## Teruterubozu (Mar 13, 2014)

I'd like to join too! I'm currently cycling a tank for these kids. 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk


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## Lucubration (Jun 20, 2013)

I've got a small handful of these guys in my riparium tank. Even though they're dwarfed by a pair of cherry shrimp, several pygmy corys, and a school of guppies, they're super resilient, bold and even pretty aggressive at times.

I really love them. I don't have enough to do any selective breeding, but I'm hoping that when I get my new tank rack set up I'll be able to dedicate a shelf for them.

Shrimpo: you have an amazing setup there! Color me jealous. What's the deal with the flooded outer enclosure you have? It doesn't look like there's any water exchange, so is it for heating?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Lucubration said:


> Shrimpo: you have an amazing setup there! Color me jealous. What's the deal with the flooded outer enclosure you have? It doesn't look like there's any water exchange, so is it for heating?


 No water exchange, each box is isolated. the purpose for the mid section is heating plus housing the culls.


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

Teruterubozu said:


> I'd like to join too! I'm currently cycling a tank for these kids.
> 
> Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk


Thanks for joining.


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## thebuddha (Jul 16, 2012)

Would love to get add some Malawa shrimp to my tank
Malawa dont breed with any other shrimp correct? 
Would they do good at 250tds gh8 75degrees?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

thebuddha said:


> Would love to get add some Malawa shrimp to my tank
> Malawa dont breed with any other shrimp correct?
> Would they do good at 250tds gh8 75degrees?


 According to Mustafa at petshrimo.com, he said there is possibility of breeding with Caridina Sulawesi, the ones that look like wild bee shrimp. your water parameters should be fine, they are hardy.
Sorry for the late reply, I just checked this thread.


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## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

I got 5 from Soothing Shrimp. They are doing wonderfully, they were small but are growing and happy in the tank with the Pumpkin shrimp. Can't wait until they start to breed. 

Have been wanting these shrimp almost since I first learned you could have a shrimp tank. Thanks so much Soothing!


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

You are very welcome, my friend.


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

I thought i had shared this, but yeah 


Thanks soothing for the shrimp again. i pulled apart my canister for its regular cleaning and found most of them and had made their way into it.

i'm curious, those that are doing selective breeding, how many tanks do you use for your breeding, or what is your process?


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## shrimpo (Aug 2, 2009)

I used to have them in separated 1 gallon containers, now I am working on making half orange half clear shrimp. I put all the parents and F1, F2 and probably F3 in 3 gallon critter Keeper, once I see offspring showing orange spots I will isolate it and back breed it with one of the parents.


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## Lucubration (Jun 20, 2013)

I got home today to check on my berried Malawa shrimp, but one of them wasn't berried anymore. Shrimplets!

I've never had shrimp in a bare tank before to see the size of the shrimplets. Man, they're _tiny_!

In a fit of paranoia, I just swapped my HOB's sponge prefilter to an actual Fluval sponge filter (smaller pores) and adjusted my water-change-with-an-airline routine to take water out of the HOB filter instead of the main tank. I have no idea how I'll ever suck up plant debris again without being terrified of taking shrimplets along for the ride.

I caught this little guy playing King of the Leca on a loose pebble that's sitting on the bottom of the tank. So cute.



I have to mention that there is little so frustrating as a camera phone with auto-focus that does not work. I keep seeing glimpses of a crisp image, then it auto-focuses some more and gives me grainy blurs. That was the best shot I could get of him.


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

Aquatic, I'm glad you are enjoying them. I think they are pretty neat myself. 

Lucu: Congrats!


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## 00camaro16 (Mar 7, 2014)

Conteplating joining in on this, I like the idea of introducing new colors... but I do love tigers too, and it's a buy one or the other thing for me sadly.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk


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## Rockadoodle (May 24, 2013)

Officially a member thanks to shrimpo! Now have 11 nice little Malawa for my tank!


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## r45t4m4n (Feb 12, 2014)

Ordered some from Shrimpo as well, very excited to receive them.


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## Brolly33 (Apr 25, 2014)

Lucubration said:


> I have no idea how I'll ever suck up plant debris again without being terrified of taking shrimplets along for the ride.


I have found that I can suck up the debris into a big glass jar, then I use a clear turkey baster to suck the shrimpletts back out and dump them back in the tank. 

Or you can feed just before water change so they are all busy eating.


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