# Hawaiian Red Shrimp - Domestic Breeder?



## Burks (May 21, 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, but they no longer carry them as he pointed me toward the feeder seller in Hawaii.

Thanks.


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## seastar0328 (Apr 3, 2004)

wow, I looked them up after reading this post and they look really cool. I did a quick google search to see if I could help to find any and I didn't find any where you are looking for them. I'll ask around though to see if anyone I know keeps/breeds them.


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## Burks (May 21, 2006)

I know a few people who have them but due to their breeding habits, 8-10 eggs with a 50% survival rate, the populations grow very slowly. That kind of appeals to me. Plus their looooong lived life-span.


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

your not going to find very many people that keep these shrimp with extras to sell. they simply breed too slowly (shrimplets take 4-6 weeks after hatching to even resemble a miniture of the adults) and the survival rate of the larvae is low. I have had a tank of 20 or so for 6 months, and even with them breeding every 2 months, only have added 5-8 as far as i can tell. very interesting shrimp and fun to watch. if you see someone advertising that they are "breeding" them in Hawaii they are not. what they are doing is harvesting wild shrimp from a natural pool on property they own. the same as catching from the wild....


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

dhavoc, you are in Hawaii, so I imagine you would know.

Aren't those shrimp a protected species?


Mike


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

no they are not, the state is looking into protecting the pools they live in which in turn would protect the shrimp. these guys travel thru the cracks in the lava that makes up the islands and can turn up in the most unexpected places like brackish wells miles inland. but its the pools that are threatend more by owners putting koi and such in them (they make ready made water gardens) or just filling them in.

Darrin


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## h20 plant (Dec 21, 2005)

sounds like they could be well on there way to getting their name the threatened species list.  Especially with Hawaii being such a fragile Eco. system since it is an island and all. When I was in Hawaii last year I saw a chameleon in one of the trees knowing they are invasive I tried to get it but could not so I had to walk out and notify a ranger. It is always sad to see species die from human involvement but hey that could just be the natural process. 

Any ways I would try to get the shrimp from a breeder that is for sure breeding them. They sound like fun shrimp to have in a small tank though.


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## aesthetics808 (Dec 29, 2002)

theres one store in town that has a couple thousand in a holding tank but i think they sell them for feeders. the store mainly deals with salt water fish.i think the store is called "modern pets" for the peeps in hawaii that are interested.they sell for a dollar a piece.there is also a website with alot of info on opae ula as they are called in hawaii. fukubonsai ships breeder tanks and small display tanks.


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

yep they always seem to have them. watch it though, the owner says they come from a pond that is full strength sea water, so anyone buying them would need to provide a salt water tank and slowly acclimate them to brackish water. was going to buy a few to add to my existing population but the full sea water stopped me. i dont think they are feeders though, 1.00 is pretty expensive for fish food that small, when you can get wild form cherries for 10-15/buck.


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## Rangemaster (Jul 14, 2011)

I'm brand new here. Was there an answer to the original question of where Hawiians can be purchased in the continental 48? I bought 5 about 6 months ago from an online source (that I stumbled on and immediately forgot). I paid $5.00 apiece. There way cool, and I'd like to get some more.


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

Are these the shrimps they use for the Ecospheres?

http://www.eco-sphere.com/


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## tnt808 (May 6, 2011)

The shrimp are Opae Ula. They need brackish water to survive. I have heard of people converting them to straight fresh water though (not a 100% sure on this).


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## Burks (May 21, 2006)

shrimpnmoss said:


> Are these the shrimps they use for the Ecospheres?
> 
> http://www.eco-sphere.com/


Correct.


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

they can be converted to fw like nerites. they just wont breed as far as i can tell. .


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## SBPyro (Dec 15, 2009)

Group buy? 
http://www.hawaii-opaeula.com/opae-aquahomes.html
Or find someone or a group to split the cost with you for the 50 that you had found earlier


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## seiji64 (Jan 6, 2005)

There's someone from LA selling 25 for $30 + $10 shipping on Ebay


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## Master Se7eN (Aug 23, 2010)

I'm all for a group buy. I want 10 to 15 of them to try breeding. If you get enough members interested send me a pm.


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## Rangemaster (Jul 14, 2011)

*Newbe*

Thanks SBPyro! I really appreciate it. Like I said... I'm new to this. Do you know where I can buy moss? Or is that something you just have to grow yourself?


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## captmicha (Jul 12, 2009)

> It is always sad to see species die from human involvement but hey that could just be the natural process.


Second to humans, cats are the main killers of the wildlife... Yet so many people KEEP letting their cats outside! You're right, it is sad.

Do these shrimp have a planktonic stage?


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## Vinny409 (Aug 17, 2010)

I'm in for a group buy just let me know pricing!


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

_Do these shrimp have a planktonic stage? _

yes they do. fry look like tiny red mosquito larvae while the float around during that stage with lasts a week or two.


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## Koi Kameon (Apr 25, 2010)

There is a guy in WA state who sells them. I got mine from him over a year ago. I bought a dozen and I think you can buy even less than that from him. The site is www.stonecraftsite.com. They were four dollars apiece plus shipping.


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

http://www.hawaii-opaeula.com/opae-aquahomes.html sells them as well, $1 each. They have very reasonable shipping rates if that is your main concern in getting the animals shipped from Hawaii, and their site claims that they are interested in conservation so I hope that they are raising the animals responsibly. I ordered 50 shrimp from them, received approximately 60 in good health, though they were juveniles by and large. 

They'll also send you some 'live rock' which is handy, because getting shrimp friendly algae started in a brackish tank can be a challenge. I had a container with lava rocks in fertilized brackish water sitting outside in direct sunlight for the better part of a month with no algae at all. In the same time period some cladophora and diatoms got going in the tank while it was cycling.

As far as filtration goes, you want very very little current or they'll tend to hide in the rocks. An air powered sponge filter is perfect for it.


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## Burks (May 21, 2006)

Thank you for the update Jason. Nice to know if they can reach you just fine, they can reach my location just fine as well.

Have you had them long?


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## Yamaz (May 13, 2011)

I can do..$25 for 12 shrimp shipped. email me [email protected]


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

What salinity would these be good at? Good tank mates for bumblebee gobies?


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

Jeffww said:


> What salinity would these be good at? Good tank mates for bumblebee gobies?


They can live in virtually any salinity, but they will apparently only breed in brackish or salt (1.011 or higher.) They are really small animals, adults max out at about 1/2"-3/4", and of course the larvae are tiny. I don't know anything about bumblebee gobies, but I have to think that these would make a tasty snack for them.

I've had the shrimp from the link I provided for about a month now, with a second smaller group that I bought off of ebay for perhaps 2.5 months. No breeding yet, but I'm not surprised. The shrimp from the link I provided are all bright red. There is also a white morph that is attractive, if you like a bit of variety. I got a mixture of white and red from ebay, and seeing the white shrimp flitter around makes a nice contrast with the reds. I'm thinking of buying some macroalgae and adapting it to brackish water as well to add some variety to the tank and help keep the nitrates low. If I get it algae-ed up enough I'm also going to try tossing in zillions of amano zoea and keeping my fingers crossed.

They are incredibly bulletproof animals, to be honest. I managed to kill one of them off for certain, but out of a total of 75 ordered and 90 delivered, I believe I've got 88 left (one DOA and one shrimpicidal accident on my part.) If you get them, you'll probably want to order some spirulina as well, they like it.


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## Koi Kameon (Apr 25, 2010)

Yamaz--
How many days to ship to IL?


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## Koi Kameon (Apr 25, 2010)

*Minimum group size for sustainable breeding?*

Does anyone know how many of them you need to start a sustainable breeding colony? Fukubonsai says 15-20. I have 9 left of my original dozen from over a year ago. They seem happy and healthy and all the parameters are fine, but when it comes to breeding--nada, zilch. I occasionally see a single deep red dot between the back legs of one from time to time but it goes away. I don't think the size of the container seems to matter much as long as they are not crowded as my seller had over thirty in his colony in less than 60 oz. of water. Any thoughts? I'm looking for the minimum needed as I'm not interested in hundreds. I like being able to pick out individual shrimp to watch and adore


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

They have a hepatopancreas that looks almost exactly like a saddle unfortunately (even colored appropriately based on the morph,) so it's really really hard to tell if they are saddled or not. I've read several people's accounts of trying to get them to breed for years with little or no luck, then poof, out of the blue they start having babies after 6 years.

Things people suggest are raising the specific gravity and feeding more. If I look closely at mine, I can see that some individuals have what appear to be completely empty digestive tracts, for instance. I've tried feeding them additional food (spinach, fish food, spirulina) but there are some who just don't want to pig out. Others are packed full of food, so it could be that the individuals I'm looking at have colorations that aren't lending themselves to viewing. 

Another suggestion is that they almost require some crevices to hide in to breed. I'm using lava rocks, like you'd use in a grill, about 3" deep. With the number of shrimp I have it means that I can see a couple dozen at any time, with 9 I doubt you'd see more than 1 or 2 usually. Still, you might try giving them a couple of stones in a pile.

No idea how many you need though.


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## Koi Kameon (Apr 25, 2010)

*Trying more frequent water changes*

I had been wishful thinking it was an unfertilized egg I was seeing. Thanks for the heads up. I have small (about one inch) black lava rock piled on the bottom of the tank up to a couple of inches or so. I tried that this spring hoping it would help. Before it was quartz substrate with a few big rocks. They go in and out of the natural crags and caverns but enjoy spending most of their time (6 or even 7 out of 9 shrimp at once) up on top feeding off the algae there, esp. the glass. I, too, have some that just aren't into pigging out. In fact, I have gone to bi-weekly supplemental feeding of spirulina or hikari betta food, bc they just aren't into that now that their container is so covered in algae. I'm trying a 20% water change once a month or so for a while. See how that goes. Their specific gravity is about 1.012 to 1.014. I have them in an unheated container in a room whose temp fluctuates slowly within their temp range with the seasons. Around 80 in the summer and 65 in winter.


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## Burks (May 21, 2006)

I wonder how long it takes them to mature into breeding age/condition?


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

It's on the order of 4 months, if I recall correctly. I did a bunch of research before starting them, then I promptly forgot everything I read...


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## Koi Kameon (Apr 25, 2010)

I thought they needed to be about a year old from my reading, but I may be remembering incorrectly.


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## Bjielsl (Sep 13, 2011)

I'm on Oahu... Where can I get them?


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

Supposedly most local fish stores in Hawaii sell them as feeders for saltwater fish (seahorses specifically.)


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

Bjielsl, go to Kalihi pets or Aquascapes. they both carry them. be aware though, most lfs get theirs from Kona, and the water is prety much full strength sea water. its easy to aclimate them to lower sg though. i keep mine around 1.012, mixing my own via instant ocean or similar.


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## SBPyro (Dec 15, 2009)

Some additional information I've found since
http://gpasi.org/forums/index.php?topic=187.0
http://www.aquabotanic.com/?p=723
http://www.marinebreeder.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=225&t=6575
and another vendor (haven't bought from them)
http://www.ohmyopae.com/


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## mikebuys (Nov 10, 2011)

*Hawaiian red shrimps*

I have 10 H. red shrimps for sale. I am asking $2 per shrimp and actual shipping and handling charges.












Burks said:


> 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, but they no longer carry them as he pointed me toward the feeder seller in Hawaii.
> 
> Thanks.


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## mikebuys (Nov 10, 2011)

Hi, I have the H. red shrimps for sale. I can sell 10 to you for $25 plus shipping and handling. You can choose USPS priority or express mail. Priority mail takes about 3 days and express mail takes about 2 days. Of coures the prices are different too. Let me know if you are interested.


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