Saltwater Shore Shrimp Supplier?

[ErikH]

Say that five times fast. I need to find a company or individual that can supply me with shore shrimp on a steady basis. Anyone know of anybody? I have called a bunch of seafood distributors, but the only deal with food that has already been processed. I imagine it would be a miracle if there was a saltwater shrimp hatchery this far inland!

[Richard]

I might know somebody. Are you wanting live shrimps? And how much are you talking about?

[ErikH]

Well, Ace and I are venturing into cuttlefish. It would be to feed them so it wouldn't be a huge amount or anything, just wanted to know if there was somewhere close to pick up a few hundred at a time. Yes, live! :) I had a funny feeling you would know....

[JimD]

You guys might be interested in this...

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4

[ErikH]

You guys might be interested in this...

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4

Oh yeah, we're all over tonmo. :) That's where I get about 98% of my information from! :) It's a really small group, yet they all seem really nice and very helpful. Kinda reminds me of a site I know.... :wub:

[alton]

Too bad they closed the one in Buda. They where growing them up to 15" long!

[ErikH]

Too bad they closed the one in Buda. They where growing them up to 15" long!

Aww mannnnnnnn,, day late dollar short... :) Thanks for the grandiose tease Alton.

[SoLiD]

You need Shrimp? How much are you looking for? It takes more time to pick out the grass than it does to catch them. I have 2 hot spots in Corpus Christi. The iodine in them really brings out my fish's color. LMK What sizes you are wanting. May be we can figure something out. :wink_smile:

-David

[ErikH]

I figure Ace and I would need around 250 per month total. The ones online are an average of 1" but I know I would be happy if there were some larger ones once the cuttles grow out a little, so size is not of the extreme greatest importance. How much would you charge us? Let me know! :) Thanks David!

[RayAllen]

SoLiD- you may have a money pit in your backyard, lol.

[Richard]

Well let me check with the guy and see if it's something he is interested in. If it's ok with him I'll pm you his number and ya'll can work it out.

Just as an fyi, there are three types of gulf shrimp. The brown shrimp is easy to keep. I have some in my tanks, great sand stirrers. Then there is the white shrimp which is very hard to keep alive for long. I've never had them last more than a few days. The third is the pink shrimp. I've never tried keeping them but have read they don't do well for long either.

[ErikH]

Awesome Richard, thanks. I promise we won't call him at 4 am looking for a hookup or anything. LOL

[SoLiD]

I find all kinds of sizes ranging from 1\2inch to 5inches. I mostly leave the tiny ones alone cause they are like someone trying to fill up on sesame seeds. LMK know guys. Trading would be higher on my list than getting cash, but whatever.

-David

[SoLiD]

Plus I've been culturing Mysids (Not Bahia) for months. They aren't from the gulf, I got them from a guy in Colorado. They start off teeny tiny and grow to about 3/8inch. They will reproduce if you give them enough hiding places. I have hundreds in 3 differnt tanks, but they are kinda hard to catch. I can get about 20 per hour using my methods (rediculous fast) and they are easy to over look so you have to have eagle eyes. Just thought I'd share that.

-David

[ErikH]

Mysids are staple for baby bandesis. I think you need a cuttle tank David. I can just picture you with the smallest net available moving at matrix speeds trying to catch mysids. :)

[SoLiD]

I haven't needed to go in over a month, so let me chech whats out there with the warmer weather. I will see if I can go tonight.

[ErikH]

Cool, get them feelers ready, Ace will be getting his soon. He may have to adopt me for a short period of time.

[SoLiD]

PM me your info and how much you will need; who ever is interested.
.... I might have a new hobby... as a Cuttle Fish Owner. :bigsmile:

[ErikH]

.... I might have a new hobby... as a Cuttle Fish Owner. :bigsmile:


Addiction is a disease, remember that.:angel:

[SoLiD]

Addiction is a disease, remember that.:angel:
And I couldn't be happier. :heart::thumbs_up::heart:

[SoLiD]

Cool, get them feelers ready, Ace will be getting his soon. He may have to adopt me for a short period of time.

What are feelers? Did you mean feeders?

[ErikH]

I meant to get your feelers out for where and how many you can find!

[SoLiD]

Oh, OK.

[Richard]

Plus I've been culturing Mysids (Not Bahia) for months. They aren't from the gulf, I got them from a guy in Colorado. They start off teeny tiny and grow to about 3/8inch. They will reproduce if you give them enough hiding places. I have hundreds in 3 differnt tanks, but they are kinda hard to catch. I can get about 20 per hour using my methods (rediculous fast) and they are easy to over look so you have to have eagle eyes. Just thought I'd share that.

-David

Not to change the subject but how big are the adults of those mysis? Big enough not to fit thru window screen?

I've been trying the Bahia. I mainly want the newborns for seahorse fry. Problems is the bahia are freakin vicious. If I miss a feeding I'll lose 20% becuase they start eating each other.

[SoLiD]

The bigger adults might sqeeze through but they will probably injure themselves doing it. So I don't think they will. They don't really attcak each other but they do kinda jocky around for space. LMK what your thinking about doing.

-David

[MissT]

Y'all checked this (http://www.reed-mariculture.com/mysidshrimp/) out yet?

[Bill S]

Not sure this would work out, but... As you know, we go to the coast 2 out of 3 weekends. Are we talking bait shrimp? If so, I could probably arrange to bring some back, and drop them at Ace's on the way home on Sunday night. LMK if you want to try this out.

[ErikH]

That is possible as well Bill and TY for the offer. Shore shrimp are small, around 1"... I too thought they meant bait shrimp which are entirely too large, lol. I have no idea if the baits shops carry them, do you happen to have a location of a bait shop on your way? :)

[Bill S]

There are LOTS of bait shops in Kemah (Clear Lake), and when we move the boat to Corpus Christi this summer, there as well. David will love this, as he'll have a regular runner going back and forth from SA to CC ;-)

Anyway, I can check a couple of shops and see what the smallest size they have, is. Also, has anyone tried crawfish? They are easy to keep in FW, cheap (in season), and will live in SW for quite a while - long enough to be eaten. The claws could be removed.

[aggie4231]

I hate to be the negative person here. But it is illegal to sell anything that you collect from Texas waters unless you have a commercial license from TPWD. Also, you can not recoup money for transportation or supplies involved with the collected wildlife. Now you may trade for corals and such, but there is to be no monetary transactions involving the wildlife.

There are commercial shrimp farms in Texas that may help you out.

[ErikH]

David is a friend, no one is trying to make money here. :)
Bill, any help would be great, again, thanks!

[aggie4231]

I understand that. I'm just saying you can recoupe any money from it.

[SoLiD]

Thanks Justin. I don't want to go to prison.:rofl:

[SoLiD]

Bill, you're the best. You're always willing to help a Fellow Maastard. But these little guys take a little time to collect. Not much time, but enough to have a need for them because you have to know where to get them, and time to pick them out from all the other crap thats in the mix. Also I've never seen ones this small for sale because as you will see soon, they are quite small. :thumbs_up:

-David

[Richard]

Technically you cannot trade anything you collect at the coast for corals or anything else, according to TPWD regulations.

Also technically, if you buy ANYTHING, ANYWHERE (including all online purchases) and are not charged Texas sales tax then you are required to pay the sales tax yourself. You just send the check to your local state comptroller office.

I am a law abiding citizen, that's why I always follow these regulations to the letter :angel::innocent2:.

[aggie4231]

Also when transporting for sale, you would need all kinds of paper work.

[aggie4231]

I thought there used to be a start-up shrimp business around the San Antonio area.

[SoLiD]

OK. It only took about 1hr and 15 minutes round trip to Go, Collect, & Come back. Here's what I got. LMK what you all think. Yes or No.

Small Shore Shrimp
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/SoLiDST33L/SmallShoreShrimp.jpg

Tiny Shore Shrimp
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/SoLiDST33L/TinyShoreShrimp.jpg

[SoLiD]

Also when transporting for sale, you would need all kinds of paper work.

I thought your Texas A&M professor sells grass shrimp to our LFS (TFH) all the time. They told me he's there only supplier & that they're always waiting on him to bring'em in. Oh well....:angel:

-David

[aggie4231]

Which prof?

Here at work we don't deal with sealing anything, plus we only work with L. vannamei(pacific White shrimp). We are really uptight about potential escapes into the wild because of the exotic species. Now the facility in Flour Bluff, does sell shrimp, but that is when they are full grown, ready to eat as humans.

[aggie4231]

Oh, and dont try to get a new commerical license, because the state isn't giving out new ones, they are actually buying buck.

[Richard]

I guess I misunderstood what shrimp you were talking about. I thought you meant the big bait shrimp.

I get about 2000 of the ghost shrimp (shore shrimp I guess they're really called) a month for my seahorses. So whether from Solid or the guy i get them from, you shouldn't have any trouble getting a regular supply.

As far as keeping them goes. I use a 29 gallon with a filstar canister setup as a Hiatt filter. The spraybar is above the water to give good aeration. They are very tolerant of most things except low O2. Then I have a few pieces of liverock and caulerpa just to give them surface area to hang out on. This seems to keep them from eating other like they tended to do in just a bare tank. Then I just toss a big pinch of flake food in the tank once a day. This setup holds 2000 of them easily and I haven't done any maintenance on the tank for probably 8 months except for topping off. I actually have no idea what the salinity is anymore.

Solid - I got some of those little green ones in the second pic in with the ghost/shore shrimp one time. The guy I get them from called them mysids (which I don't think they are). The shore shrimp killed them all off though. I would like to get some again though. I thought they were cool.

[SoLiD]

Which prof?

Here at work we don't deal with sealing anything, plus we only work with L. vannamei(pacific White shrimp). We are really uptight about potential escapes into the wild because of the exotic species. Now the facility in Flour Bluff, does sell shrimp, but that is when they are full grown, ready to eat as humans.

Not your exotic shrimp, grass shrimp. Nevermind, I didn't say a thing. Shhhhh:ph34r:

[bigmoe21]

Which prof?

Here at work we don't deal with sealing anything, plus we only work with L. vannamei(pacific White shrimp). We are really uptight about potential escapes into the wild because of the exotic species. Now the facility in Flour Bluff, does sell shrimp, but that is when they are full grown, ready to eat as humans.
they become humans??? :hypnotyized:

[ErikH]

WE ARE THE SHRIMPS
...PREPARE FOR ASSIMILATION...

lol thanks Richard. Aggie, this is why I said commercial was preferred. :) I just want to feed cuttles :D

[SoLiD]

I guess I misunderstood what shrimp you were talking about. I thought you meant the big bait shrimp.

That's Cool. No Worries.


I get about 2000 of the ghost shrimp (shore shrimp I guess they're really called) a month for my seahorses.

I've known them for years as Grass Shrimp, but technically they are caught at the shore. BTW: you can't catch more than 20 Ghost Shrimp per day in Texas. This is a Ghost Shrimp. Ugly Things IMO

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002608/ghost_shrimp2.jpg


Solid - I got some of those little green ones in the second pic in with the ghost/shore shrimp one time. The guy I get them from called them mysids (which I don't think they are).

I'm about 99% sure they are Not either. Mysids can be identified easily. They don't stay put. Something how their legs are formed that keeps them from walking around like most shrimp can. They are always swimming.... constantly... like they drank a Keg of Mountain Dew.

[ErikH]

HEY LOOK IT'S SOPHIA! :)

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x315/erikharrison/Pictures%20-%20Friends%20and%20Family/butterflyexibit019.jpg

[SoLiD]

What a Cutie Pie. I remember when my Robynn was that little. :cry_smile:

[ErikH]

She's not mine, but she is. :) Funny little kiddo.

[JLiu]

She's not mine, but she is. :) Funny little kiddo.

Yeah he only borrowed her for the photo.

[SoLiD]

I think there is about 200-300 small shrimp total; 3 hours of work later. It does take some time to get most of the weeds and dead fish out of the mix. There was a bunch of minnows out there today. That doesn't happen often. It was not my intension to catch them and I try not to keep them as they die too easily. It was dark and I kind of scooped blindly and used another net with small holes to filter out the bigger stuff. I caught about 500 medium shrimp since they're more plentiful this time of year. I threw back all but about 4 (for size comparison) because Ace said his Cuttles are only going to be about 2inches big. When catching these shrimp I've learned if you get too greedy they will all die before you get home because you’re not going to have enough Oxygen in the water in this warm weather for 600+ of them in one bucket. Enough Typing, here’s just a couple more pictures.

Shrimp Size Comparison
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/SoLiDST33L/Shore-GrassShrimpLabels.jpg

Dead Minnows & Grass - Anemone Food - I had thrown most of the grass away already.
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/SoLiDST33L/Minnows-AnemoneFood.jpg

[SoLiD]

Ace & Erik, let me know what size you think I should bring more of. If anyone else wants some just let me know.

-David

[SoLiD]

I catch about 30-100 amphipods everytime I swap out my coarse filter pads (about once a month). My wrasses love'em.

http://www.tonmo.com/cephcare/rightyimages/cuttlefish_image14.JPG
picture belongs to www.tonmo.com (http://www.tonmo.com)

-David

[SoLiD]

These are the type of Mysids Shrimp that I have been culturing.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/rs/AVI.htm

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/rs/index.php

[Richard]

These are the type of Mysids Shrimp that I have been culturing.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/rs/AVI.htm

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/rs/index.php

I have some of those in the overflows and sump on my reef tank. Guess I'll give it a go at culturing them and see if they'll do better than the bahia. If I can catch some, they're fast little boogers.

I wouldn't mind getting some of those little green shrimp from you. I just need to cleanup a 10 gallon I have to put them in. I'd also like to get some seagrass (with roots) from you sometime. As long as your not collecting from the protected area. You can get a big fine for taking grass from there. Here's a map of the boundaries....
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/water/habitats/seagrass/images/updated_rfbssa.jpg

[Richard]

Erik, what temps do you have to keep the cuttlefish at?

[SoLiD]

I wouldn't mind getting some of those little green shrimp from you.

They are the least plentiful shrimp I catch. Out of 100 shrimp, about 5 will be the green ones. I guess cause they're so tiny. How much do you want?


I'd also like to get some seagrass (with roots) from you sometime. As long as your not collecting from the protected area.

I never go that far east. Where I go the sea grass isn't pretty at all. But I will keep an eye out.

[SoLiD]

Erik, what temps do you have to keep the cuttlefish at?

Between 59F and 79F is optimal. The higher temperature decreases their lifespan. They only live about 18 months or so according to some of the info I've read.

[ErikH]

Yeah he only borrowed her for the photo.I stole her off someone else's photobucket and claimed her for my own, lol. :ph34r:

[ErikH]

Erik, what temps do you have to keep the cuttlefish at?


Around 75-78 for Sepia Bandesis. The proposed idea here is to slow their metabolic rate to get them to live past the 1 year mark.

[aggie4231]

Solid, you still hitting up the area in front of A&M-CC? Anytime you want to try out some of the other bay areas let know. Also, if/when you want to do a peppermint collection, let me know.

[SoLiD]

These were from under the COS Way. Sure thing, the hunt is on. Will let you know soon about the Pep's.

-David

[SoLiD]

OK, second times a Charm. It only took 2 easy hours beginning to end this time because I didn't have to pick out much of the shrimp. I think I have way over a Thousand now. Look at the pictures & keep in mind that the beige blobs near the bottom are all shrimp. Most of the grass has been picked out. What do you Think Ace, Erik, & Richard?

Close Up of the Bucket-O-Shrimp
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/SoLiDST33L/Shore-GrassShrimp-BucketClose.jpg

Bucket-O-Shrimp
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/SoLiDST33L/Shore-GrassShrimp-Bucket.jpg

[hobogato]

WOW!!! my cuttles will thank you for this!

[ErikH]

That's ALOT o skrimps!

[SoLiD]

Thanks for holding my Naso, Ace. He's already eating like a pig. Post those Cuttle pics as soon as you can......

[johnmaloney @ Reef Cleaners]

Shore shrimp catching is great! I keep them as pets and really like them. The ones we got in Florida look a little different than the ones you got in Texas, they are bigger here and got stripes, I kind of want one of the ones you get, but the shipping is such a pain, do you think the mariculture lab will send 1 shrimp all the way to Florida? :) Cool thread, I love aquarium fishing stories. Sorry to break in but I had a good time reading about this. (By the way, I read somewhere back there about commercial fishing regs and what not, you may find that a commercial license is cheaper than you think. Not that I am saying you need one or anything, or that what you are doing is commercial, it was mentioned, so I just thought that I would throw that out there.)