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How did your Shrimp Journey begin?


OzShrimp

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Just wondering how people got into shrimp breeding and what manner they started off in especially you big estabalished breeders like you Marcus lol.Did you guys buy a group of shrimp and shove em in a tank and pick out the best offspring or did you start of with 1-2 really good pairs to get to where you are?

I started off with a few red cherries like most and took the leap to CRS when i had some store credit at my old LFS and got lucky enough to end up with a couple of females and managed to breed them in a 30 litre tank. Eventually got quiet a few decent cherries and bred a few A grades then bombed for cochroaches one day and lost all my shrimp lol (i can laugh now).

I eventually got out of my peppermint and albino bristlenose and started again in a 4 foot tank, buying 10 CRS and 50 Cherries before investing CBS. Since then bred and lost lots of shrimp and learnt massively.

What i wonder about though is if for high grade specialty shrimp if one should buy 1-2 good pairs and start from there to establish a higher chance of success as i found with my groups its a pain in the ass to even try and work out who the male be that was involved in fertilizing the female. So what have people found to be best for them?

In the end i think its just one of those hobbies where you will always learn something new which is great no matter what you do.

When i move from the country and buy a house i plan on stepping up to having a rack and more intensive selective breeding, for now just enjoying my shrimp and trying my best to deal with the crap conditions where i am.

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I was given 4 Red Cherries when I bought some plants privately. I put them into my fish tank and was absolutely mesmerized by them. A couple of fish tried to eat them so out the fish went and the rest is history. I bought a few more Reds and bred them for a while, eventually sold off my fish and started buying shrimp. Dean sent me a surprise packet of beautiful Chocolates, I bought some Yellows, was given some CRS by Brad, given some Tibees and Mischlings by Ninja and have been hooked ever since. I was given a couple of TB's and bought a heap more Mischlings .

I now have 10 tanks set up for individual shrimp types and a big show tank in the lounge with a Rainbow collection of shrimp. If I can just get them all breeding I will be very happy:bighug:

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ive only had shrimp for 6 months or so. i had a couple of fish tanks and a yabby tank and saw some cherries for sale on a facebook group. i looked online and found out that the shrimp and yabbies would make good tankmates so i got 20 low grade red cherries.

the cherries bred and bred and the tank was totally overun with them. i sold a few online, did a huge cull and sold all the culls to a local guy with turtles.

then i divided a tank and bought some yellows

then divided another tank and got some red rillis

then set up another tank with some shrimp soil and got some cbs/crs off squiggs

then i got some chocolate cherries.

so yesterday i got another 4 foot tank to divide up and put in an order for a lot more shrimp substrate. (mrs only agreed to the new tank on the condition i get rid of one of the fish tanks

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Would love to see some photos of your rainbow tank?

i will try and get some pictures tomorrow , trouble is you can't really pick out the shrimp in pictures of the whole tank but I will have an excuse to try out the new camera.

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I was at my LFS to get more tetras for my 3ft fish tank and spotted some red cherry shrimp , the guy ended up selling me 6 for $36 ( what a bargin haha )

They lasted a few weeks with the fish but I was hooked

After doing some research I found this site and joined

I was given some red rilli culls ( from ozshrimp ) and they went into a little 30cm cube.

Found myself sitting in front of the cube watching these little guys for hours , so it was decided to get rid of all the fish ( a friend of my was over the moon when I turned up at his place with about 50 tetras )

I sent my tank to a shop to have it setup as a divided tank , KiwibigD gave me some awesome sunkist cherries just in time for the new setup.

I have bought , sold and traded many shrimp since I first started

Currently running a 3ft tank divided into 6 sections and a 30cm cube , current stock red rilli , red cherry , orange rilli , CBS , sunkist cherry , yellow cherry , CRS , blue cherry , tibee , chocolate cherry.

Would love to have more tanks and shrimp but I am limited with space.

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I guess I should add that the only reason I can run so many tanks is we have a large solar panel system so my electricity use is not an issue. I still have 7 of my original tanks sitting empty in my old shrimp room so I have room to spread out even more if I need to but then we can't have visitors stay over as both spare rooms would be shrimp rooms - still weighing that one up!

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Awesome thread ozshrimp.

I went to buy some fish around 6 years ago and the seller had a huge tub outside with red cherries. He gave some to my eldest daughter as a bonus, I remember not being happy that I had to go home and raid my other tanks for water and filters to setup a new tank lol.

I then got addicted to watching them and the rest is history as they say.

Cheers mick

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I guess I should add that the only reason I can run so many tanks is we have a large solar panel system so my electricity use is not an issue. I still have 7 of my original tanks sitting empty in my old shrimp room so I have room to spread out even more if I need to but then we can't have visitors stay over as both spare rooms would be shrimp rooms - still weighing that one up!

I have the same issue. A two room flat downstairs for visitors, sometimes it does get tempting lol.

Cheers mick

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I'm a terrible grandmother the room I'm using was setup for the grandchildren so now their bunk beds are in another area waiting to be sold.:worried:

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You will have no visitor rooms in no time Ineke, just give in to the shrimp! :rofl:

I started when I bought some red cherries to be food for my Macrostomas but they were so cute that I just couldn't do it & the rest(& 25 tanks later) is history. :encouragement:

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Whats the aquarium shop scene like down Nowra way i considered moving down there at one stage

theres one at south nowra that is ok and apparantly one in town but ive never been in there. the southy one has very washed out cherries for $5 each and java moss balls for $16 and thats where there shrimp supplies end :slaphead:

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Great thread!

Two years back, I drove two hours to buy some bristle nose and endlers from a member of another forum and she showed me her cherries, I was amazed. Rushed and setup a tank, then bought some from a different forum. Sent in a bottle, only three of the ten survived. Within a week they were all gone to shrimp heaven! :angel:

Last year a local aquarium had some cherries on display and I, once again, was inspired! This time I looked around online and found this wonderful forum, did some research!! I got some cherries and they had survived well, so then I jumped in feet first!

Got lots of cherry strains, CBS, CRS and SW, tibees and TBs. Spent a load, lost too many but have now got things (pretty well) sussed! My tb's are almost about to have their second drop, have lots of beautiful Mischlings growing out and my CRS tank is having a wonderful population explosion! Have tanks drilled and ready to rack it up soon!!

Don't have many fish now, pretty much shrimp addicted methinks!!

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Last year a friend of mine in Germany kept emailing me pictures of her cute little shrimp tank.

So I wanted one too. :D

Then I found the forum and things got worse. :smiley_simmons:

....and that's pretty much the whole story!

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I stumbled across red cherry shrimp online and then bemoaned the fact the they shouldn't be in Australia, so I had set myself to have to admire them from a far. Then one day I was in one of my smaller fish shops (actually the only dedicated fish shop around here rather than being a full on pet shop), and low and behold with all his other treasures he had some not so amazing cherry shrimp. I of course had to get them, even at $6 each, and so I got 13 and the rest is history.

I tried venturing into crystal shrimp keeping a couple of times, lost my entire stock thanks to summer heat, and now just admire CRS and CBS from a far. I have had more luck with keeping native shrimp and my Blackmore River shrimp have never stopped breeding.

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Isnt it funny how majority have started off getting ripped off by a LFS for cherry shrimp lol. Once i found a shrimp forum and learnt more i was all the wiser when i got my next bunch and picked out predominently females lol cause they were the same price as males. About a wee or two later the females went from like $5 to $12 each lol . ;)

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Isnt it funny how majority have started off getting ripped off by a LFS for cherry shrimp lol. Once i found a shrimp forum and learnt more i was all the wiser when i got my next bunch and picked out predominently females lol cause they were the same price as males. About a wee or two later the females went from like $5 to $12 each lol . ;)

Totally agree and add to the ripped off list lol.

Yes bough 5 cherries for $30 at LFS, bred them to 200+, sold the whole tank, started CRS in 1foot tank and ended up 3 foot tank imao.

It's just getting bigger and bigger instead of getting smaller

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If i wasnt renting i would have a big shrimp room :D already been told when we buy a house if its a double garage then i can have half lol

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I started with some culls that a friend gave me,black and yellow cherries(low grade)but free, i got some red cherries from another friend who had heap's breeding in his african system sump(low grade) but free, i will play around with these as a learning thing for awhile, i would like some cbs and crs but unfortunately i think without a chiller or air cond. room that won't happen (to hot here), i'd like to get some rilli's, riffle and d/r/nose next

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You will find that all your cherries will breed together so if you can get a small tank to separate your quality ones you end up with you will get some nice colours eventually :)

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My shrimp journey, started 3-4 years ago, after a 20 year absence from the aquarium hobby (previously an eccentric discuss breeder and marine enthusiast). Dropped by Aquotix for a hello to Oliver, and notice red cherry and CRS .... The rest is history. Was intrigued by them, then on my researched discovered bluebolts, and that was it, got me hook, line & sinker !

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My shrimp journey' date=' started 3-4 years ago, after a 20 year absence from the aquarium hobby (previously an eccentric discuss breeder and marine enthusiast). Dropped by Aquotix for a hello to Oliver, and notice red cherry and CRS .... The rest is history. Was intrigued by them, then on my researched discovered bluebolts, and that was it, got me hook, line & sinker ![/quote']

Hi this is Ozshrimp reporting for the SKF 7 o'clock news, did you start out with your blue bolts breeding by utilising a few selected pairs to get the knack of it or did you start with a group?

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You will find that all your cherries will breed together so if you can get a small tank to separate your quality ones you end up with you will get some nice colours eventually :)

i have the red, yellow and choc/black in seperate tank's...

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