badflash
02-20-2009, 08:56 PM
I tried a shot at raising these guys a couple of years ago. They were easy to keep, but I think in a recirculating system they need to be harvested when they are the size of a jumbo shrimp and not allowed to get sexually mature. Once they get over about 3" in body length the males become VERY aggressive and start killing each other.
The basic process is to get some post larvals. You need to buy a thousand or so, as no one sell just a few for any reasonable price. You can get a thousand for $85 + shipping. These guys are only about 1/4" when you get them, but they grow fast. Be sure to provide loads of shells or small tubes for hides as they molt often and the others will eat them if they can.
Here are a couple of little guys hiding under a submersible heater:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/Pic0034.jpg
A couple of weeks later they look like this:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/Pic0070.jpg
At a month:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/prawn/runt-s.jpg
At around 2 months they looks something like this:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/prawn/P1010010.jpg
The big males look like this at about 6 months. He's a little over 6" from nose to tail:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/prawn/bigmale.jpg
I was raising mine in a kiddie pool using 2 400 watt water bed heaters to keep the water at 80F. I used a pond pre-filter and a home brew ball filter. It worked great. I wish I knew about aquaponics back then. I used bubble wrap for insulation.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/prawn/pond-s.jpg
I'd recommend doing a 3 month cycle and then harvest. A 6' kiddie pool will support about a 1000 shrimp up to about 2", then you'll have mayhem, so just harvest them.
They eat just about anything, but I used sinking catfish pellets. Keep the water really clean as bad water triggers aggression.
The basic process is to get some post larvals. You need to buy a thousand or so, as no one sell just a few for any reasonable price. You can get a thousand for $85 + shipping. These guys are only about 1/4" when you get them, but they grow fast. Be sure to provide loads of shells or small tubes for hides as they molt often and the others will eat them if they can.
Here are a couple of little guys hiding under a submersible heater:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/Pic0034.jpg
A couple of weeks later they look like this:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/Pic0070.jpg
At a month:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/prawn/runt-s.jpg
At around 2 months they looks something like this:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/prawn/P1010010.jpg
The big males look like this at about 6 months. He's a little over 6" from nose to tail:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/prawn/bigmale.jpg
I was raising mine in a kiddie pool using 2 400 watt water bed heaters to keep the water at 80F. I used a pond pre-filter and a home brew ball filter. It worked great. I wish I knew about aquaponics back then. I used bubble wrap for insulation.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/prawn/pond-s.jpg
I'd recommend doing a 3 month cycle and then harvest. A 6' kiddie pool will support about a 1000 shrimp up to about 2", then you'll have mayhem, so just harvest them.
They eat just about anything, but I used sinking catfish pellets. Keep the water really clean as bad water triggers aggression.