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I want to find out where to buy quality juvenile freshwater shrimp and if anyone has tried them?

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got a couple people on the Arizona aquaponics facebook page that ordered some, I'd ask them how it worked out.  here is the link...   https://www.facebook.com/groups/201915719980445/

Thanks for the link but can you give me names of these couple people? Im having trouble finding anything about shrimp.

There is a place in Texas that sells freshwater prawn. These are the ones that get super big like 7/8 inches.  I considered it for a short time, but the shrimp are temperature sensitive and you need to fix netting etc to give them a sense of separation.  I put the idea on hold.

I looked into this when starting up and it seemed to me like there was a ton of prep time (aka work) into setting up the proper tank since they are aggressively territorial. I personally would love to see a successful shrimp setup here in the valley. 

Current source of prawns for Arizona. Aquaculture of Texas.

http://www.aquacultureoftexas.com

Species name: Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Regarding holding and growing them. They are not a difficult species just very territorial and cannibalistic. The best place for them are in DWC beds not in your fish tank. The best most folks get when they learn how to grow them in mass is between 0.02 and 0.04 lbs per square foot. (1,000 to 2,000 lbs per acre). Their water quality requirements are much the same as tilapia. They can be a little pricy with most of the cost in shipping. 

RE: Breeding. Difficult but like most things, once you get it you get it. The mate and produce eggs easily and the larvae hatch readily. However about one week after they hatch, the larvae will all die unless placed in warm 1/2 sea water (some artificial mixes will do and brine shrimp serve for the live food) filled with zooplankton that mimics their natural environment in the river estuaries of the Indo-Pacific. It can be done locally. I've produced over 30,000 (for my dissertation) but it is VERY intensive and time consuming for 20 or 30 days. This is likely why there is only one hatchery anywhere near us. IMHO, at the moment the most cost effective source is to get them from him. He normally does a good job.

Here is a pic of some of the prawns I took from egg to plate back in the day. These were grown on the Gila River Indian Community just south of Phoenix.

Here is a page that will provide you additional information on Prawns. Though it is from Texas, the information is still good.

http://fisheries.tamu.edu/aquaculture/freshwater-prawns/

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