Shrimp down under - Hex vs Bow

[wazza_77]

Hi all

I'm slowly starting to get some equipment together for a sub 5G plant and shrimp nano. It'll be DIY CO2, spiral lighting etc.

Was thinking AGA, but the plastic all-in-ones look really tidy. Not sure on Bow front vs Hex. Has anyone found one to be easier to modify than the other?

Is there anyone on the forums who lives in Australia. I'm trying to find out where i can get shrimp from[apart from the local creeks ]. Cherry shrimp look awesome and would satisfy my urges for fish to boot.

Cheers

[grungefreek]

Im From Australia, But i dont think we are allowed to Import shrimp. I definately havent seen any in any LFS and havent heard of anyone keeping them other than locally caught ones.

[locus]

I'm afraid this is true, you can't get exotic shrimp in Australia. The best you will see in an LFS are ghost shrimp.

There are some species of Caridina that are native to Australia such as Caridina longirostrus however you will have a lot of trouble finding these. I know of one person who sells them, they are larger than C. japonica but seem to share their appetite for algae.

I'm unsure if he is able to ship them interstate, I was going to check on this and maybe get some for myself - I'll pass on his details if anything can be done.

In the meantime, here is a link about Australian Freshwater Shrimp

http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/21803/...mon/Shrimp.htm

[wazza_77]

Many thanks guys. Looks like i'll be sourcing my livestock the old fashioned way..... Trudging around in swamps and mud .

Once something is established I'll post some pics and hopefully identify the shrimp I've got. Cheers for the link Locus.

[Himbo]

And I thought we were famous for our shrimps!

Anyone know where to get (buy or catch) suitable shrimp in SA? All I can find are yabbies, and they grow big.

[wazza_77]

Himbo

Hunt down some forestry or parks that have decent and hopefully "clean" creeks or waterholes in which you can drag a small hand net or possibly "snorkel" with a net. The lil buggers are everywhere on the bottom or amongst plants. you could try some small bits of bacon in the water to see what it attracts[oil spreads quick - brings all sorts of critters in towards it].

I'm yet to go to my local stream and get some - waiting till after our next big lot of rain.

[Steven_Chong]

Darn, you guys are lucky! I would so love to go trudging around looking for new shrimp to cultivate! That'd be awesome . . . In Hawaii, our shrimp are either brackish, or they have a larval stage at sea-- thus it is really difficult to breed them . . . and honestly it's wrong to take from the wild that which you cannot breed in captivity. Breeding all those freshwater shrimp you guys have ought to be pretty easy . . . Oh well, at least there's a viable alternative . . . the streams and pet stores are full of neocardina denticulata (wild form) which invaded . . .

[grungefreek]

Shrimps love soap, its great bait for them, If ya dont believe me, go have a bath ion the river and they will be biting u everywhere. To make a shrimp trap, get a 2 litre coke bottle, cut off the top a little way down, Tie some soap into the bottomn of the bottle, Then put the cut off top part, upside down into the bottom section, then tie some string or fishin line onto it. Also put some holes in the bottle so it sinks. Throw the trap into a creek somewhere, leave it for a few hours, pull it in and presto, lots of shrimp. If ya dotn understand, ill do soem quick diagrams to show ya.

As for breeders, well I know round Newcastle they grow them on a massive scale, and they cost like $20 for 200+, maybe even cheaper. So surely they will be bred soemwhere round SA.

[Himbo]

$20 for 200!

Are those for the barbie or the aquarium? Are they from the local pet store or fish market?

[grungefreek]

They are feeder shrimp. Lied about the price tho, just did some checking and they about $27 per hundred, well at least they were last time i heard.
They come from aquaculture places. One place is called Crayhaven aquaculture (cant find thier website anymore), they also have natives like murray cod, bass etc and other feeders like gambusia. Think they are at Karua.
http://users.netconnect.com.au/~wnfc/index.html <-- another place that sells natives, dunno if they have shrimp tho.

[locus]

I asked the guy who has some Caradina sp. up in the Northern Territory about this subject, he suggested to me to ask at the Perth Museum if they had a shrimp expert and if so, the localities of any freshwater shrimp in the Atyiid family around Perth.

Perhaps you guys in different states could do the same with your local museums?

Unfortunately in my case, I got a quick reply but the museum staff are in temporary offices at the moment with many of their records unavailable.