A very good day to our readers today. Ever wonder why your shrimps die when you just purchase them from your local fish shop? Here is 3 reasons why. This post is not meant to hate but to give fellow hobbyist better understanding about these little critters.

Time
Most LFS have way too many tanks to handle, and the entire purpose of the business? To sell the livestock ASAP. See the problem about livestock trading especially for shrimps is that every second they are in their tanks, it is a risk to them. Once the livestock is dead, they lose money.

With that many livestock to handle, they hardly have time to maintain each and every tank. With that being said, given that shrimps require A LOT of extra care, most LFS are not able to fulfill this requirement, therefore the shrimps that you purchase from them are usually weak or stressed out and tend to die easily.

Knowledge
Knowledge is also another key factor, LFS have many tanks which hold different species of aquatic animals. They are probably specialize in a few species but not every other, and have probably only minimal knowledge about shrimps. Therefore they could not provide proper care for these shrimps as well.

Shrimps are very delicate and require extensive observation to be able to diagnose the problem in the tanks. The tanks also require a lot of preparation which is pretty much a hassle to the business owners.

Cycling
A well cycled shrimp tank is the most crucial part of shrimp keeping. It determines whether the shrimps will have a perfect environment to live in. Cycling requires A LOT of time, and to most business owner, time equals money. With the high risk and low profits, most LFS would prefer to cut off this particular section of their business. This also contributes to the dying hobby as there is little exposure of these critters to the market.

Fortunately in Singapore, there are a couple of shops that are specialise in shrimps. Purchasing shrimps from them would usually yield better results in your tank. Your shrimps are less stress and would be able to adapt to your tank parameters better.

Feel free to ask about the current water parameters that the shrimps are in so you can better plan on what setup your tanks would be, or you could get your tank parameters prepared before purchasing shrimps from them.

Pick shrimps that are about 1.5cm as getting shrimps that are too big, one problem is that we cannot determine how old the shrimp is and they might probably be too old and die in a couple of weeks. A size of 1.5cm is when the shrimps are entering maturity and are possibly ready to breed.

Some of the shops that you can visit in Singapore that are specialise in shrimps are Aquarist Chamber, Shrimps Affair and also definitely us! You can find their address below in this post.

Aquarist Chamber
8 Lim Tua Tow Rd, Singapore 547725

Shrimps Affair
Blk, 803 King George’s Ave, #02-160, 200803

MADSHRIMP
50 Gambas Crescent #10-20 S757022

Drop us a PM if you would like to enquire about any purchase of shrimps! hello@madshrimp.com