Why are Supershrimp not more widely produced?

[Varanus]

Shrimp keeping has become more and more popular over the years, with a number of suppliers of selectively bred species available. So I'm curious why (according to the website) most sources of opae ula are essentially wild caught? If anything their hardiness makes it seem like more should be breeding them than things like the crystal red shrimp.

The only thing I can think is that a lot of such suppliers may think the supershrimp are simply too restrictive to be profitable, due to how there are very few creatures that can be kept with them. Yet I don't see how that idea holds water, given the shrimp more than make up for being the main focus of the tank thanks to their very active behaviors and scant needs once set up.

[NYCShrimp]

What immediately comes to my mind is that they have 20 year lifespans, and will breed easily in a decent setup. It's unlikely that I will purchase more than the 10 I just bought (unless I move somwhere that allows for more tanks!).

They're kind of one of those things you only need to buy once.

[Varanus]

What immediately comes to my mind is that they have 20 year lifespans, and will breed easily in a decent setup. It's unlikely that I will purchase more than the 10 I just bought (unless I move somwhere that allows for more tanks!).

They're kind of one of those things you only need to buy once.

But once set up properly the same could be said of most shrimp that easily reproduce in captivity (i.e. cherry shrimp) couldn't it? Yes the individuals don't have twenty year life spans, but the end result is the same in that you have a self-sustaining population.

[mcdaney]

I think Opaulas are waayyy tougher as compared to other shrimps, even cherry shrimps. There's no need for a filter for example, and they can survive/breed for years.. So I agree with NYCShrimp that it's those things you only need to buy once (if you take care of them properly without any mass deaths haha).

Opaeulas:
Lifespan = 20+ years
If they breed 1 time year, that'll be around 20 times or more during their lifetime.
They're tough. Unlikely you'll have to buy more to replace dead ones.

Cherry Shrimps:
Lifespan = 2 years or less?
I don't think they'll breed 20 times during their lifetime. (Do they?)
They can be weak if water parameters are not correct. Higher chance of them dying, and you purchasing more of it.

Another factor I think is the way they look?
Cherries are bigger and their deep red color are more attractive as compared to supershimps which are smaller and have varying colors.

[Mech]

Over here in Europe they are not known at all, especially in the UK where I am located. Nobody has heard of them or seen them before, you get a few hobby breeders that sell on eBay now and again for example. I noticed Germany has a few more breeders but they don't ship to other countries.

I've been posting on other forums about them and people see salt in the equation and get turned off right away. If only they knew how easy they were to keep!

[mcdaney]

Over here in Europe they are not known at all, especially in the UK where I am located. Nobody has heard of them or seen them before, you get a few hobby breeders that sell on eBay now and again for example. I noticed Germany has a few more breeders but they don't ship to other countries.

I've been posting on other forums about them and people see salt in the equation and get turned off right away. If only they knew how easy they were to keep!

Yeah and the ability to have beautiful green plants in their tanks. Not much choice for brackish water setups haha!

[NYCShrimp]

I also think shrimp hobbyists are more likely to enjoy all of the color varieties and species of FW shrimp, and the work involved in keeping up a planted tank. Even though I'm aware it will most likely end up being a total disaster, I LOVE monitoring and fussing over my accidental 1-gal planted aquarium. I'm kind of glad I have it, since most of my work with the opae ula tank is done.

[Mech]

I have a freshwater tank with cherrys in which breed like rats and it's all planted, but I really prefer the simple/rough environment in my opae ula tank. I have pretty bad ocd so I like everything to be plain looking and simple :p

[Mustafa]

One main reason is that these shrimp reproduce *slowly* compared to other shrimp...much more slowly given that they carry 5-20 eggs on average a few times a year. Plus, it can take a while for them to reproduce so profit-minded enterprises that want quick results will just give up. Also, people simply don't believe me when I say that the best results are achieved *without* a filter and no water changes and very little feeding. As if I'm trying to mislead them or something...LOL And the last reason, and unfortunately one of the main ones, is that there are currently still enough people *Illegally* catching and exporting these shrimp all over the place from Hawaii for very little money...and it seems like the local authorities don't care (i've contacted them about it multiple times and gotten no replies, nor was any action taken). If you make rules and don't enforce them, then you shouldn't be surprised that people keep breaking the rules, destroying your wildlife and pissing off people that try to play by the rules.

[Varanus]

One main reason is that these shrimp reproduce *slowly* compared to other shrimp...much more slowly given that they carry 5-20 eggs on average a few times a year. Plus, it can take a while for them to reproduce so profit-minded enterprises that want quick results will just give up. Also, people simply don't believe me when I say that the best results are achieved *without* a filter and no water changes and very little feeding. As if I'm trying to mislead them or something...LOL

Well I can see where the disbelief may come from. The hardiness of these guys compared to other shrimp in the hobby is just astounding, and the less-is-more care they flourish under counterintuitive for animal keeping in general.

For instance, every one of the supershrimp I got from you is doing great over a month in as far as I know, whereas whenever I get freshwater shrimp I can count on a few of the group dying a few days after they arrive (most likely from the stress of shipping and being put in a new environment as the survivors are fairly hardy). The freshwater shrimp have a twenty gallon tank, weekly water changes, a sponge filter, heaters and water conditioner. The supershrimp? They have a six and half gallon tank, and none of the extras mentioned for the freshwater shrimp (unless one counts the macroalgae as a water conditioner). Yet the supershrimps do as well, if not better, than the established freshwater shrimps (albeit neither of my shrimp groups have bred yet).

And the last reason, and unfortunately one of the main ones, is that there are currently still enough people *Illegally* catching and exporting these shrimp all over the place from Hawaii for very little money...and it seems like the local authorities don't care (i've contacted them about it multiple times and gotten no replies, nor was any action taken). If you make rules and don't enforce them, then you shouldn't be surprised that people keep breaking the rules, destroying your wildlife and pissing off people that try to play by the rules.

I see. I wonder though, one thing that could potentially help is to develop alternate color strains like has been done with many other captive bred animals. For a number of species the special strains are in such high demand over the originals that people don't even take them from the wild much at all anymore.

I suppose the relatively low reproductive rate could be a hindrance to that. Still, it would be interesting to see if some of the color variations (striped, all white, and so on) that are seen in them could be bred to be produced reliably or produce all new colors. I prefer natural colors myself but it could in theory help the wild populations. But perhaps breeding for color variations has long ago been considered and failed.

[Mustafa]

Yeah, it is counterintuitive. And in the beginning I didn't fault anyone for not immediately believing it. LOL But now we have lots of people in this very forum that have followed my instructions, with tooth going to the extreme and not feeding for what 2 years now?) and were very successful with lots of people reporting breeding. Either I paid all of these people to lie, or possibly use multiple accounts to post nonsense, or they are real people reporting real success with this method, over many years. That would kinda convince me after a while.

As for color strains...I've seen multiple in my tanks but still haven't gone through the effort to selectively breed them. But you're right, that would probably change things and I should finally get around to doing it. Nobody else really tried it as far as I know because, like I said, nobody else breeds these guys in commercial quantities. It's easier to have various mutations if you have tons of shrimp reproducing all the time. I still think the red wild type would be popular though. The best thing is a combination of the laws being enforced and captive-bred shrimp outcompeting the illegal catches.

[Mech]

I'd love to selective breed the ones that have bands of clear colour in between the red colour.

[Mustafa]

I'd love to selective breed the ones that have bands of clear colour in between the red colour.

Those are quite common but I'm not sure if it's a genetic thing. Would be interesting to find out. The rarest ones are the white shrimp with green eggs and the orange/yellow shrimp. I have some threads about them here with pictures. A short search should yield some results.

[Aennedry]

I agree with the ease of care. I have done aquariums since I was nine, fish, and now shrimp, and then my first step into the salty world, opae'ula. And if I knew how easy they were going to be, I would have gotten them years ago. I love the simplicity of care and setup, and of course watching them. Purchased my first ones back in April, and I have three berried and over a dozen saddled. They are a dream to keep. I keep trying to get other people to try them, but you mention brackish water and they think of salt water setups and how much work they are, and don't believe how easy they are to keep. And people think goldfish are easy to keep? They have no clue. Opae'ula hands down.
=^._.^=

[Mech]

I too am trying to get people in the UK to keep these shrimps, Nobody i have spoken to about shrimp have heard of these little red guys let alone people who are not interested in Aquariums.

Im going to do my part and try and get people to keep them