The 4 main elements to good shrimp keeping

I wish someone told me this with conviction before I start shrimp keeping which would have reduced a lot of unnecessary investment and effort to re do some of the things I did. I did quite a bit of research extensively but I didn’t get to some of the information and that is why I would take this time to pen down my thoughts. This is a Long read. Have a coffee or tea ready.

There are many ways in shrimp keeping and more often then not they work pretty well to a certain extend. So what are some of the changes that will make this hobby easier to start with?

• Choose your breeder

• Choose your setup

• Choose what shrimps to keep

• Set your goals

The above four points are areas which I tend to believe is important as they really create structure and process for your shrimp breeding/keeping journey to be less “eventful”.

Choose your breeder

There are no right or wrong in this situation but a recommended approach is to first choose a breeder you would like to work with. This can possibly change over time as you start learning more. However, for example if I’m just beginning to keep shrimps, I will ask hobbyist preferably local and overseas to recommend their breeder. This will help with getting good stock and knowledge.

Out of a list of breeders, select those you think you can work with in terms of purchase etc then start contacting them.

Points to note:

Note 1:

choose breeders. Not consolidators if possible.

Consolidators are those that take shrimp from a range of breeders. This is where you can see shrimp disparity and difference if you order in bulk. For example if you order 100 PRL, the batches look different and you know it is from different batches.

Consolidator are like Traders they take and purchase shrimp from all over and then resell it to an agent and onwards to you. Consolidator generally go through many hands so you can’t really trace back their line and are generally cheaper. They match on price. Some consolidator have their own line as well but generally does consolidating job. Consolidators caters to the mass market.

Breeders on the other hand do not do consolidating from outside their network. This is when things get serious.

Breeders work with people to help breed shrimp and have the same process for all their network. For example if Breeder A breeds PRL at a given parameters, his fellow “helper” breeds them in the same parameters. In Taiwan these helpers are usually called disciples and down line. These disciples follow a very strict rule and never to sell their shrimp and main focus is to help breed the main breeder shrimp. This is so that there will be sufficient shrimp to be retail sold. The penalty of disciples selling is an immediate termination of relationship. It happens quite a lot in the past and as time goes by natural selection helps smoothen the process out. That is why there are a lot of shrimp breeders in Taiwan. They all follow an unseen code of conduct.

Breeders and their helpers usually are very close friends and this network is setup so that each person will have a set of tanks and shrimp to breed. They kind of become working “part time” for the breeder. This network helps alleviate the need for one breeder to have more than 200 tanks. This allow breeder to focus on selection within reasonable number of tanks and upkeep with resetting tanks and water change.

If your country doesn’t have an agent to import the breeder shrimp, ask the breeder how to proceed. Normally he will work with someone with an export license to have to export to you.

Note 2: not all breeder will match your criteria. This is like a marriage. What do you want to look for? There is nothing call cheap and quality shrimp. Like you cannot get a Hermès bag for the price of a paper bag. Every breeder have their own strong portfolio but not every breeder have everything well bred. Look for the shrimp you would love to focus on and get to know the breeder. If you need help to liaise with the breeder, ask someone who knows. Always talk to breeders direct or someone who does. Once you have found someone you think you can work with within the set criteria then the journey will be easier.

Taking myself for example, I hit a few bumps along the way and that is because people are trying to sell their shrimp with little knowledge and “cheat” newbies. In my opinion, knowledge and information should be free and readily available to all. Then it is up to the breeder to decide how he does his positioning. If I have started with a reputable breeder, I Guess I would have a better head start. There is always a range of shrimp that the breeder have that will fit your Budget. Remember it’s a hobby!

Information shouldn’t be the differentiation factor because people purchase based on readily available information. Eventually if things goes south at least the breeder reputation will not be tarnish. There are shops in Singapore where they unscrupulously push sales of shrimp and product by telling half truth or discreetly lie about it. The worst in my opinion is the refusal to educate the truth. There are Traders or agent who are in it for the money, teasing you with their selling technique and falsifying the lineage of the shrimp.

I believe this selling model will eventually back fire, the question is only when it back fires and how many keepers get caught in the bind. There will be a time when an agent or consolidator purchase from another consolidator, this truly becomes a whole mayhem, you get cheaper shrimps but it’s a hit and miss. However, if you are a true blue breeder who wants a good lineage, stay away from agents and consolidators (I’ll talk more about getting and communicating direct)

Hence, my belief of true information and be on the up and up with breeders and keepers continues to reign the support of many. There is a reason why breeders prefer to only work with a point of contact because he gets many “request” and it be chaotic to manage it. So if you are unable to contact directly make sure the agent is able to and relay your message with proof of it.

Note 3: your breeder determines your stock, your setup and success. So this is actually one of the most important steps in shrimp keeping. If you want to set it up first time right, it’s best to get all the measurements so that you don’t have to redo it in future.

Does the breeder readily share his shrimp keeping success with you? If so good! You actually need this.

When you form a good relationship with your breeder over time he trust you with his shrimp and his reputation. Mind you, everytime he sells you a shrimp, his reputation is at stake. It far outweigh the monetary benefit of it as it is their livelihood. Once the breeder know you can be trusted he will certainly let you purchase some of his high quality shrimp. Gaining access to high quality shrimp is not a given. I have known of people with good financial backing being turn down to visit Taiwan shrimp breeder because their direction ain’t align. So it pays to be nice.

Note 4: have a clear line of communication with your breeder. That is the reason you chose and stuck to them right? They are responsible for your breeding success!

Note 5: if until a time you have to bid farewell to the current breeder try to do so in an amicable manner. Move on to a new breeder but be mindful that the shrimp circle is very small and if you are tagged a hopper by moving to this and that, soon you will not get access to many good shrimps.

Do not banish your ex breeder and as goals change, so does the breeder. Sometimes you would like to focus on a particular line of shrimp and only that breeder has it or only the breeder have high quality ones, so you decided to move on. Hence, it is still important to know what your goal really is and set it straight.

Note 6: when in doubt ask for proof. One very common occurrence is someone claiming the shrimp of someone else. If there is nothing to hide the seller/agent can prove that it is the breeders shrimp. If he can’t, then forget about it.

Choose your setup

Now that you have selected your breeder, you can now look at his setup and ask him to share the tank dimension and water parameters.

Note 1: The closer your setup is with the breeder the easier the shrimp will arrive and survive in your tank.

All you need is float the bag to match the temperature and you are set. Basically when I receive the shrimp in the bag I will float it for 10 mins and then net it out, pouring the bag water away. This is a clean and quick way of doing things. No more dripping.

Note 2: Follow a process.

It’s always easier not to have what we call the itchy finger syndrome. There is no requirements to keep touching your tanks and doing this and that. Let the shrimps have their peace and you have yours by watching. Just do your weekly water change, feed sparingly and Selection.

Note 3: cycle your tank well. Don’t be anxious in putting a shrimp in because you can’t wait. Ask your breeder what he does during Cycling. For me it’s easy, I do the old method of 40 days cycle and without having to add this or that. Just plain old method of Cycling.

Note 4: ask hard questions to breeders. Don’t be shy because you are going to spend money on shrimps, might as well ask the really difficult questions. A few examples will be a more paradox ones like if I don’t add bacteria powder or if I don’t do x or y what will happen? I like challenging breeders because we need to know if they understand the fundamentals or simply selling magic powder. I haven’t met a breeder tell me that if I don’t add bacteria powder my shrimps will die. We all know they will survive. On the contrary if the breeder does use some product, it’s better to follow because the shrimp may be used to it. But in general as we can all see there is no proven science behind those claims.

Note 5: have backup tanks. For every breeding tank you will need at least 2 others. In other words. One line would need 3 tanks, so depending on the number of tanks you have, it is important to have that all planned out to Ensure a smooth process. If a breeder tells you that one tank is enough to create selection process, then it’s better you look for another breeder.

Choose your shrimps.

Since you have chosen your breeder there will be something that you are particularly looking for.

Note 1: choose your shrimp based on the availability and Budget. Don’t be worried about adding more shrimps later on because a breeder can’t always have good quality stock that you like. So it’s always possible to add 2-3 females to your colony as time goes by. If the whole setup is the same with the breeder, it is perfectly fine to add the breeder shrimp later on.

Note 2: don’t be tempted to believe that getting top grade shrimp is the ultimate goal. It actually is just the beginning. Reason being is simple, you will need to introduce new shrimp to back cross your shrimplets to enhance genetic stability. This is a Long journey so plan your budgeting carefully and always have back up plans.

Note 3: invest not divest. Always invest in good quality stock it will cut down the number of years and tanks you possibly can imagine to get that line.

Key Note 4: if you are going to spend money on shrimp, allocate a portion of the investment to travel to the breeder to look at the shrimp yourself at least once during the journey of shrimp keeping. Preferably earlier than later. Traveling nowadays is cheaper than you think. Go out, meet some friends!

I have put this as special mention because a lot of keepers or breeders put that at the last stage of it. By saying it’s too expensive, too time consuming and later complain why didn’t I learn all of these earlier. It is important if you are already starting in the journey of getting high end shrimp and being serious about it. The benefit outweigh the cost and if you are worried about language and getting there, do talk to your breeder or someone who does so that everything from logistic, accommodation can be arranged for the trip of a life time!

Set your goals.

What do you want to do with shrimp keeping?

Note 1: if you just want to keep shrimp fuss free etc without any consideration of pure lineage, make it your personal goal and get shrimps you like. More important than not, you are the one looking at your shrimp. Not others.

If you belong to this category, then just go out and breed and keep whatever and however you want. However if you do fall into this category it is best to say you keep a mix tank etc rather than say breeding. You can get from consolidator as it is much cheaper that way but do not mislead others. For example consolidators claim this is shrimp ABC but in actual fact they wouldn’t know since they are not the breeder themselves. Can consolidators be breeders? Yes there are some hybrid models but still you wouldn’t know.

Note 2: if you are into breeding the line, don’t mix. Stick to the process.

Breeders take years and hundreds of tanks to achieve to a certain point. If you just take and mix it with another shrimp, you just reset the timer to redo all his shrimps.

Note 3: if your intention is to mix other breeder shrimp and you have thoughts of using the breeders name, don’t. It is easy to back fire because anybody can contact the shrimp breeder and verify. Once it is mix, the breeder can usually tell it apart and there is nothing then bad reputation.

Note 4: don’t be over ambitious. It’s good you want to have the best shrimp but you don’t want to break your piggy bank for that. Set realistic goals based on your setup, time, family, Budget etc.

Note 5: eventually you will want to create a line of your own, start with breeding the breeders line first and when time for you to venture out, ask the breeder for advise, chances are most of the Shrimp type have been bred before but you can always share your thoughts and ask if it is worth doing.

Summary:

Now with all the pointers discussed I hope you are more convinced in setting things right. If you are in the middle of shrimp cross road, I hope this article will help you envisage a path where you would like to go. The journey begins with a clear direction, and with a more structured approach you will be able to enjoy the shrimp hobby better!

Danke!