Fairy shrimp ???

I have an idea, and I thought I would let you guys kick it around. I have a low-lying section of my front yard that holds water for a few weeks when it rains. I was thinking of trying to establish fairy shrimp in it. This is a remnant of a small wetland. It is maybe 50 feet by 20, with some cattails on the low end. My next door neighbor tells me that it used to get to be 2 feet deep, but now it maybe holds 8 inches. If there is no rain, it dries up and is part of the lawn.

So, 1) sound feasible? 2) Does anyone know of anyplace in SE WI (Kenosha county) or N IL to gather some shrimp?

I have an idea, and I thought I would let you guys kick it around. I have a low-lying section of my front yard that holds water for a few weeks when it rains. I was thinking of trying to establish fairy shrimp in it. This is a remnant of a small wetland. It is maybe 50 feet by 20, with some cattails on the low end. My next door neighbor tells me that it used to get to be 2 feet deep, but now it maybe holds 8 inches. If there is no rain, it dries up and is part of the lawn.

So, 1) sound feasible? 2) Does anyone know of anyplace in SE WI (Kenosha county) or N IL to gather some shrimp?

Dustin and I get fairy shrimp from the local fish hatchery. We've got a good working relationship with them and they call us when the FS show up as they're filling the ponds in preparation for a new batch of fish. You should try asking some of your local hatcheries or Fisheries people for some info on where to collect them.

Chip in SC

Dustin and I get fairy shrimp from the local fish hatchery. We've got a good working relationship with them and they call us when the FS show up as they're filling the ponds in preparation for a new batch of fish. You should try asking some of your local hatcheries or Fisheries people for some info on where to collect them.

Chip in SC

Yes, I get some of those all the time in temp. ponds but I don't know about shipping those. I don't think they would make it at all.
Try your local temp pond that completely dries up when there is no ratin and then ck it out after a heavy rain. It usually takes about a 5 day cycle to see the fary shrimp.

In Northern Illinois, I find shrimp in the Kankakee and Illinois rivers. If these are a bit out of you r way I'm sure I could ship as many as you'd like. I think they'd handle a short trip (from N. IL to S. WI).

I catch fairy shrimp soon after ice out. They last until June some years, but usually beetle larvae wipe them out before then. Mudminnows if they get into those areas are good at eating them up too. Oddly, salamander larvae seem to not have as big of an impact on them.

I have tried shipping them before and they never made it. I cannot remember if I tried breathing bags, that might help since no sloshing, which I think is what did them in.

In Northern Illinois, I find shrimp in the Kankakee and Illinois rivers. If these are a bit out of you r way I'm sure I could ship as many as you'd like. I think they'd handle a short trip (from N. IL to S. WI).

You find fairy shrimp in the rivers? This is odd. I assumed they were always found in temporary still pools. Apparently, once they are there, it is very hard to get rid of them since they can withstand quite a long time dry.

When we had them, everything ate them. I doubled the size of some juvenile longnose gar in about a month.

In Northern Illinois, I find shrimp in the Kankakee and Illinois rivers. If these are a bit out of you r way I'm sure I could ship as many as you'd like. I think they'd handle a short trip (from N. IL to S. WI).

Interesting. How would you collect them from a river? I am near both the Fox and the Des Plaines, which are part of the Illinois system.

You find fairy shrimp in the rivers? This is odd. I assumed they were always found in temporary still pools. Apparently, once they are there, it is very hard to get rid of them since they can withstand quite a long time dry.

When we had them, everything ate them. I doubled the size of some juvenile longnose gar in about a month.

We find "Grass shrimp" in the rivers and weird little shrimp (with lots of swimmerets sp?) off to the side occasionally. I'll look more closely and see if I can ID these little buggers.

Going slightly off-topic, I was in viginia once and looked into a freshwater drainage ditch, cement-paved, out of habit. In it was pretty much nothing was garbage and algae, but among this were dozens of cute little shrimp in the deep spot by the culvert. These were only about 1/2 inch long, and snow-white in color. Yes, white. Not albino yellowish-white, but snow white. I would have assumed them to be cave shrimp if they weren't out in the open. Very nifty. Does anyone from that area have any idea what they were? They were most definitely shrimp of the typical shrimpy type.

Going slightly off-topic, I was in viginia once and looked into a freshwater drainage ditch, cement-paved, out of habit. In it was pretty much nothing was garbage and algae, but among this were dozens of cute little shrimp in the deep spot by the culvert. These were only about 1/2 inch long, and snow-white in color. Yes, white. Not albino yellowish-white, but snow white. I would have assumed them to be cave shrimp if they weren't out in the open. Very nifty. Does anyone from that area have any idea what they were? They were most definitely shrimp of the typical shrimpy type.

In most shrimp, opaque/white tissue results from environmental stress and often signifies impending death. As far as I know, no naturally white shrimp are native to any surface waters of Virginia.

You dont need to ship them live. Just ship dirt from the pool when it is dried up. I scoop up dirt < 2 inches deep from dry pools and hatch them at home with distilled water. Or you can just add the dirt to your hole out front and the next time it rains you will have fairy shrimp.
Thamnocephalus platyurus


Streptocephalus sealii

Hello everyone!

I'm new at the forum. Just crusing around the web trying to find some information about rearing Thamnocephalus platyurus, but googling I found very little. The hatching procedure from cysts I have figure out, but I'm having troubles with sustaining the culture and growing the beavertails to adult size. Does anybody know if the food source (algae, yeast, rotifiers, ...) and temperature requirements are similar to the other fairy shrimps?

iturnrocks, did u grow the thamnocephalus on the picture on your own? Did you encounter any troubles?

iturnrocks, did u grow the thamnocephalus on the picture on your own? Did you encounter any troubles?

I have never hatched Beavertails in an aquarium. I have either found them wild or hatched them in a garden pond I dug in my back yard. I feed all my fairy shrimp green water that is grown outside.