Introducing myself ^_^

[PixieShrimp]

Hello everyone!

Normally when I join a forum, there is a place to introduce myself. I apologize if this is not normally done on this forum, and if it is in the wrong place or inappropriate in anyway the admins may promptly delete it.

I first got into the little "super shrimp" when I moved to Japan. As you may or may not know, they are somewhat popular here. You can often find them for sale during summer season when the kids are in the bug hunting mood. That's also when hermit crabs and stag beetles pop up at the local stores. One of my favorite stores, Tokyu Hands, stocks them regularly and it's always a temptation to bring home more every time we visit!

I've had a little school (unless there is a proper term for a group of shrimp! I have yet to find one!) for about...wow maybe 2 years now! I adopted them when I first met my husband and came to Japan to meet him for the first time. I should have waited, but of my goodness I couldn’t resist! I'm sure some of you can understand the feeling, I am originally from the USA where they aren't so common. Of course we're all happily living in Japan together now.

They're fantastic little pets, and a wonderful thing about Japan is they sell everything you need to take care of them. Even bottled water with the salt already mixed in! It would probably be cheaper to mix it myself, but my little guys have thrived in the pre-mixed water so I figure if it's not broke...don't fix it? Or something like that! I stuck with those little group for a very long time, and only one has died and it was a few months ago. It was very strange but everyone else has been bright red and thriving since then so i'm not sure what happened.

Now i'm taking up a new adventure, shrimpie rescue! I learned that during summer break season when the stores order the shrimps, they go on discount as summer break ends. They drop from 2000yen to as cheap as 500yen (roughly $20 to $5), and sometimes the poor little guys are just starving or in dirty conditions because obviously the shop owners aren't caring for them. When I know there should be 3 shrimp i'll only see two or one...sometimes none. I know i'm feeding the problem a little by buying them off their hands, but it's for the shrimps! After all, they can live to be 20 years old! And at least it's only a seasonal thing and not something they will restock right away. For all I know they might skip it next year, we'll see I guess.

I just started this recently, I bought two little aquariums. One had one shrimp, the other had two. I brought them home, and cleaned up their little aquariums. I decided to move the single shrimp in the smaller aquarium to the bigger one. But first I removed the tacky fake yellow sand, and gave them some ocean sand. I didn't have water in stock, it was a last minute discovery so I filtered their water (which wasn't really dirty to my surprise) through a net to remove any poop bits and of course a bit of fresh water too because i'm sure a lot of water evaporated. The aquariums were both only about half full. After they moved into their new homes, a bit of food and they we're just a buzz! Melts my heart to see them happy again. They've been doing great the last few days, checked on them this morning and they're still active and happy.

I'm trying to decide if I should visit more similar stores to rescue more or just give it a rest. I've only done it one other time, the first time. A single shrimp in a VERY dirty little aquarium, kids shaking him around trying to check him out. A huge lava rock in there that probably sat on him more then once. It was 1000yen (about $10) and I contemplated it for days. I finally caved in and decided to rescue him, all the other shrimp aquariums were missing shrimp...obviously they died. When I got him home, I only had one shrimp aquarium so I moved him in with my original school. He made the 6 (since one died a few months ago) 7 again and the whole aquarium was just a buzz! The poor little guy was white as a ghost but he just couldn’t stop moving around checking everything out. And somehow the other shrimp got happier too, much brighter red then I ever saw them and lots of shredded skins. If shrimp could talk, maybe his "horror story" made them realize how lucky they are. haha

Well i've written a life story now! I'm sorry! I wish there was an appropriate section for discussing other fish, because I also raise Medaka which are truly amazing fish in their own right, like a fish version of the "Super Shrimp" but I don't want to get off topic.

It's nice to meet all of you, and I hope you don't mind me sharing my adventures caring for and now occasionally rescuing "Pixie Shrimp" as they are called here in Japan. Take care! ^_^

[Mustafa]

Welcome to the forum! There is no introduction area in this forum, so you did the right thing by just posting ahead. Introduction sections of websites become kinda useless after a while when membership in a forum goes into the thousands and you can't easily find people's introductions from, say, 5 years ago anyway.

In any case, I moved your topic to the "Supershrimp" forum as it's more appropriate for this forum. Thanks for the update on the sale of these shrimp in Japan. I had discovered several years ago already that these shrimp were quite popular in Japan, but I didn't know that they were still commonly available everywhere. Unfortunately, most, if not all, of those shrimp sold in Japan are most likely illegally there as there are restrictions on the export of Supershrimp from the state of Hawaii. There are lots of very unscrupulous individuals that poach these shrimp from protected state-owned pools and send them all over the place for profit...usually illegally.

You have a big heart and try to save the few that you find in stores, but, as you already noted yourself, purchasing shrimp in those tiny containers is just going to perpetuate the problem. By keeping up demand, the shady suppliers in Hawaii are going to continue depleting the numbers of these unique animals in nature. These animals are absolutely unique and deserve better treatment than being sold as living "toys" in Japanese children's hands. The best thing to do, of course, is to not purchase any of these animals from those stores so that demand dries up.

I hope your rescued shrimp do well, though, and start breeding for you. These guys look and act their best when they are in large groups. I have tanks where thousands of them cover the bottom and sides of the tank and literally form balls around food during feeding time. In tanks like that I can sometimes see 100+ larvae floating around, which is another sight to behold.

Anyway, again, welcome to the forum, and I am looking forward to your updates.

[PixieShrimp]

Thank you for the welcome! I'm sorry my reply is so late. I was checking for a reply daily after I wrote my introduction, but I didn't see anything and I got busy with work (as usual). I'm glad I checked in today! Thank you also for moving my topic in the appropriate area and deleting my extra post that likely happened because of an accidental double click. Sorry about that!

I think the main source of these shrimp in Japan comes from one company, who also sells other small aquatics in little containers. While the Pixie Shrimp can be -OK- in these little aquariums, and I personally have had good luck with them with the right care, many of the other fish they sell just can't thrive in such small containers. Such as dwarf pufferfish, for example. And some i've seen are too difficult to take care of even in the best aquarium, for example i've seen little jellyfish and even sea angels! Goodness sea angels need very cold water for one thing! I've noticed another company on the same shelf at Tokyu Hands make an appearance, so it will be interesting to see what possible competition brings around - unless it's the same company with a new logo. Sorry, getting a little off topic!

I have no idea where they source their shrimp, but it's sad to think they could be imported wild-caught from Hawaii. It could be illegal, after all island nations tend to be very strict about imports I think. I know i'm part of the problem buying the little guys, and i'll admit I passed them by several times and it took me almost a week to cave in and buy them. It takes a lot of will power to not feed the problem by buying the shrimp when you want to help the shrimp. I like to think maybe it helps a tiny bit to only buy the discount shrimp though, I think in a way the store sees them as the ones they couldn't make much money off of at that point. They tend to fight putting things on discount until the bitter end at most stores, I noticed. Much better not to buy them at all of course, but hopefully better then nothing. I literally only have 9 shrimp, so that might be the route i'll have to take to ever have a breeding group.

But I have considered breeding, as healthy as my shrimp are I haven't actually had any breed, but I figured that was due to their small aquariums or possibly they are all the same gender. I've been thinking for a long time to start a larger shrimp aquarium and start breeding them, but I guess i'm just not sure where to begin finding them good homes. It can be a little daunting being in a new country as it is! But if they really are importing them wild-caught from Hawaii, I can feel it's a good cause to take up the challenge to offer born-in-Japan Pixie Shimp! I'll have to get on Google next chance I have and research the best conditions on how to breed them again.

I noticed the Super Shrimp website says they can send their captive bred shrimp anywhere in the world - can they be sent to Japan? Goodness I probably couldn't afford that right now, but I was wondering about it. Otherwise i'll probably have to build up a breeding colony from rescuing the discount shrimp every chance I find them. But not only are captive bred shrimp more ethical, i'm sure they are loads healthier too!

[Mustafa]

I did not want to give you the impression that you are doing anything wrong per se. If anything, it's people like you with whom these shrimp should end up, as you are actually a responsible pet owner, and you're even thinking about breeding them! As for the possibility of the shrimp in Japan being wild caught..it's not just a possibility, it's a certainty. There is only one facility in the world that actually breeds this species in captivity...and that facility is run by me (I run the "Supershrimp" website, by the way). So, since I am not delivering to any company in Japan (yet ), all the shrimp there are wild-caught from Hawaii. Unfortunately, the laws on both side of the Pacific are probably not enforced as much as they should be.

As for breeding them..it takes patience and control. Patience, as these guys take some time to mature and fatten up to be ready to reproduce, and control, because you need to control yourself to not overfeed. There are plenty of males and females in any given group usually. All the best information you can find about breeding them will be right here on this (petshrimp.com) website, so you don't have to stray very far at all.

[lovepixie]

Hello There!
I have a few questions about the pixie shrimp commonly sold in Japan in shops like Tokyo Hands.
I hope i can get some help- having no experience with these little creatures whatsoever. Over Christmas a friend of mine was given a little jar with one pixie shrimp and two marimo balls, as well as a sort of brownish looking twig inside.
She left Japan(as will I in one month) and gave the jar to me. As there is no heating in my house the temperature wasn't right for the little pixie and i purchased a pet heater to keep the temperature stable, as well as the kind of water they sell to top up the tanks.
I am a little confused however about the different information that is circling around this topic of the pixie shrimp. First of all- does it really produce food for itself in the little jar?
Or is it slowly starving as someone said? Second of all it has hardly any color- it is very white- the website says it is not sick but i am not so sure.
Also it is so alone- does it need some friends?They seem happier when they are with each other - what i saw in the shops at least.
I would probably never purchase such a thing with the fake sand and all and in such a small container but now i am very worried because i need to take care of it, but am not sure what the best way is.
Food or no food? just the premixed water?does it need friends?etc etc.
Im a little at loss here.
Hope someone can help me.
Thanks a lot in advance.
Lovepixie

[dan d]

Welcome to the forum Mustafa can answer your questions better than I can, but I will try to answer them until he comes along with more in-depth answers.

The shrimp do not make there own food, unless you call their poop which feeds & grows algae making their own food. I guess you could say they make their own food when they eat their shed exo-skeleton. But all in all they do not make their own food. Again Mustafa can clarify my stumbling thru this answer.

They do slowly starve in them little cubes, you need to occasionally feed them, but probably only twice per month, just enough to supplement their diet in a mature tank. I say a mature tank as that has the algae which in turn grows their food, I cannot remember what it is they eat on the Cheato algae, but Mustafa will know.

Sorry for not giving in-depth answers, but I hope that helps until Mustafa gives you better ones. Read thru the super shrimp part of this forum as most of your answers are here, the problem is sometimes the title of the post does not sound like what your looking for, I for one need to create better post titles to help people find their answers.

Click on the super shrimp link on top of the forum http://www.petshrimp.com/hawaiianredshrimp.php
From there click on the links & read thru each link & a lot more info is available, I think what you call pixie shrimp, we call super shrimp. This link from that page is very useful http://www.petshrimp.com/opaesetup.php this link is also very informative & comes from the first page I referenced http://www.petshrimp.com/opaeinfo.php

Dan

[lovepixie]

hello Dan,
Thank you very much for the reply. Ok just to be clear- its a "pixie shrimp" meaning its not the bigger one but a tiny tiny little one. So when i search the forum I am slightly confused which information is applicable for this species. Does the "pixie" come from the same family of shrimp?
I do hope its the same species- because unfortunately they do not write the latin name or some more specific name on the container or the leaflet.
I am very upset to hear that it is slowly starving. So to prevent this where do I buy food and what kind of food in Tokyo?And how much food to i feed it?
And also should i take the fake sand stuff out and put some real sand inside? Like the type of sand which is clean- from a shop that would sell aquariums?
I hope i can get it to be happy in the end
It still doesnt seem well- i think it did really did have a very bad start.
Hope things will turn out to be better.
lovepixie

[Mustafa]

Without a picture there is no way to know what shrimp you have. But judging from the information the starter of this thread gave about "pixieshrimp", it appears likely that your shrimp is a Supershrimp. In any case, I have a feeling that despite Dan's nice way of asking you to read the information here (and giving you lots of answers), you still have not even read the links he provided, nevermind done any searches on the forum. All the answers to your questions are right there since your questions are extremely basic and have been asked and answered many times over the years. People are more willing to help on forums if have done your own *thorough* research first, and there are still questions left to be answered.

Have you read the "Rules" section of this forum, yet? If not, I would urge you to do so before proceeding.

[lovepixie]

Hello Mustafa,
Thank you for getting back to me. I am sorry, if i came across as somewhat naive about the shrimp. I have read the rules and also the links Dan send me. Despite the information provided I was at loss - because I didn't know if I was even in the right place here.
It is because there was no proper name for the shrimp provided-neither in the leaflet nor in the tag attached to the glass sphere.
People which have purchased this kind of shrimp in Japan have no idea what species it is- even if you translate what is written in Japanese.
I take it i have a "super shrimp". Also i am a little emotional about all of this- because it is cruel to see the shrimp getting shaken about in the glass-spehres in the shops here and to think that they are dying slowly. It just breaks my heart. Its the most depressing place for animals in any way- cats and dogs are caged and shrimp are made to feed on their poop.
I will thoroughly search the forum again- i was just trying to clarify first if it was the right kind of species.
xx

[dan d]

Lovepixie, I do not know for sure if you have super shrimp or not ? I am guessing you do based on the posting above yours. Without knowing that for sure I am reluctant to give out much more advice. Can you post a pic ?
Dan

[Mustafa]

No worries. It's just that the best way to learn about anything is to take advantage of the already available information sources, and then seek clarification if something is not entirely clear to you. I know how difficult it is to find good information about these animals. They don't give you the correct common names or scientific name of the Supershrimp in Japan, because they don't want you to look up the species and possibly find other sources. These shrimp being sold in Japan seem to be a shady business anyway, as they are all *for sure* wild-caught in Hawaii. Hawaii requires a permit for collecting these guys and more permits for every shipment of them outside the country (and even within the united states). Most of the habitats are protected, so a lot of collections are occurring in such habitats (probably overwhelmingly illegally). Maybe if some people knew about this in Japan, they would also start protesting (big maybe), in addition to looking for a captive-bred source (like this website). So, don't expect to gain any good information from the people who sell them as "pixieshrimp."

Hello Mustafa,
Thank you for getting back to me. I am sorry, if i came across as somewhat naive about the shrimp. I have read the rules and also the links Dan send me. Despite the information provided I was at loss - because I didn't know if I was even in the right place here.
It is because there was no proper name for the shrimp provided-neither in the leaflet nor in the tag attached to the glass sphere.
People which have purchased this kind of shrimp in Japan have no idea what species it is- even if you translate what is written in Japanese.
I take it i have a "super shrimp". Also i am a little emotional about all of this- because it is cruel to see the shrimp getting shaken about in the glass-spehres in the shops here and to think that they are dying slowly. It just breaks my heart. Its the most depressing place for animals in any way- cats and dogs are caged and shrimp are made to feed on their poop.
I will thoroughly search the forum again- i was just trying to clarify first if it was the right kind of species.
xx

[lovepixie]

Hello again!
It has been over a year since my last login.I feel kind of silly about the posts I made at the beginning.I know a lot more about this amazing shrimp species now especially because of this great forum! I also realized that there are so many different names for this species in all the different languages and by slowly finding out what they were I learned more and more. Since then i obtained three more friends for my lonely shrimp.They live together in about three litres of brackish water with a rock and white substrate. I have one airstone in there but I only really used it at the beginning to mature the tank because it seems to upset the shrimps when I turn it on.they pretty much turn completely pale if I disturb the water.I feed them some mixture of coral food and shrimp food sticks and they seem to do well.I once had some eggs even and then larvae but unfortunately they didn't make it.I have a few questions about that: when the females develops eggpatches (if i am correct about that) on the back do they need more food?should I separate them from the other shrimp?and also if I notice the larvae should I separate them because of the risk of being eaten by the others? Also what could be the reason of a ton of bubbles on the surface of the water which do not pop.the surface is just covered in bubbles all the time.measuring my water however there is no ammonia nitrate or nitrit levels visible.also I am not sure what the best dkh level should be.mine in 4 and reading about it people suggest it should never be under 5.my chemistry knowlege is not great.I am still at the beginning of this great quest of maintaining this amazing creatures home. I am planning a ten liter aquarium with nicer hiding spots, sponge filter and perfect lighting. Also I am thinking about your macroalgae. I wish I could put something green inside.The picture I attached shows the shrimp with the maybe eggpatch? I thought this might be an idication because they dont look like that all the time - or am i confusing this with the digestive system? Thank you again for all the usefull information over the last year-i am a baby step closer to a better system.

[KenCotigirl]

Hello again lovepixie. Nice to have you back. It seems the answer to most of your questions is no. No need to feed female shrimp more. More food usually just causes problems. Do not remove a female you suspect to have developing eggs. She needs a male. Do not remove larvae. I believe Mustafa said they are more sensitive than adults and moving could cause their death. Adult shrimp will not eat larvae.
Bubbles on surface i do not know why. Use a net to try to remove. I never tested dkh level. Sponge filter not necessary. Is that a female with developing eggs? Not sure.

Ken

[lovepixie]

Hello Ken,
Thank you for your reply.I was worried about the larvae being eaten because I wittnesed a cannibalistic situation before.But it might have been because the shrimp that was eaten alive was dying for some reason and the others kept the system running by getting rid of it.but this was happening in the beginning and perhaps it was even because of food shortage?I now feed once a week and it seems more than enough.maybe I'll have better luck this time around. I topped off the evaporated water a couple of weeks back and it made the shrimp happy. I had the sponge filter idea because I am thinking about the 10 l - I think that's 2.6 gallons - tank and have been wondering if the circle could work because I only have 4 shrimps.I'm not sure if that is too much water. I can't get my hands on macro algae or snails, due to where I am and can't order them from mustafa even though I would really like to.
Do you have any thoughts on this?like water shrimp ration?thanks again!
Julia

[KenCotigirl]

Julia i do not know if there is a proper ratio shrimp/water volume. However these are small shrimp 12mm. I put 25 in a one gallon/4 litres. 4 in 10 litres you may never see them. 10 in 4 litres would be good start. They should breed. Snails you could try mts snails. Algae cannot help you there.
Ken