Basic Knowledge and Practical Techniques for Freshwater Shrimp Farming

Freshwater shrimp is a type of shrimp we often eat in our daily lives. In recent years, freshwater shrimp have become increasingly popular, often resulting in demand exceeding supply. Nowadays, many people farm freshwater shrimp, but some may encounter problems during the farming process due to technical or other reasons, so its farming techniques are surely something everyone is quite concerned about.

Basic Knowledge of Freshwater Shrimp Farming

1. Identify whether water quality is good or bad. This directly affects the healthy growth and development of shrimp. During the farming process, the pH value of the pond water should be kept between 7.5 and 8.5, and the transparency should be 30cm to 40cm. New water should be added frequently, and quicklime solution should be splashed regularly to regulate water quality and prevent disease outbreaks and incomplete molting.

2. Feed must be provided reasonably. When shrimp are hungry or food is insufficient, they will cannibalize each other, so the feeding amount must be sufficient. The feed for crayfish is animal and plant feed. Plant-based feed includes wheat, aquatic plants, rapeseed cake, etc., while animal-based feed includes miscellaneous fish, miscellaneous meat, and livestock offal, etc. Usually, based on the crayfish's habit of hiding by day and coming out at night and the density of shrimp in the pond, determine the feeding time, feeding amount, and feeding method. Otherwise, feed costs will increase and farming efficiency will decrease.

3. Advocate scientific harvesting. During the shrimp farming process, under suitable temperatures and sufficient feed, juvenile shrimp can generally reach market size in 60 to 90 days. Stock fry in March, begin partial harvesting around June, catching the large and leaving the small. Because of catching the large and leaving the small and harvesting and restocking in rotation, the recapture rate can be increased, a good price can be obtained, and the goals of high yield and high efficiency can be achieved.

Practical Techniques for Shrimp Farming

1. Farming facilities: The pond area for freshwater shrimp should preferably be 4 to 10 mu, with a depth of 1 to 1.5 m, a flat pond bottom, and loam soil as the preferred bottom material. It should have good water retention, easily regulated water levels, sufficient water sources, and unpolluted water quality. Build inlet and drainage channels well, and at the same time do a good job of constructing anti-escape facilities.

2. Pond clearing and disinfection: 20 to 30 days before stocking freshwater shrimp fry, drain the pond water, remove excess silt, repair the pond embankments, and use 75 kg of quicklime per mu, or bleaching powder, bleaching powder concentrate, and other drugs, to thoroughly clear and disinfect the pond.

3. Apply sufficient base fertilizer: Apply 500 to 600 kg of decomposed livestock and poultry manure per mu to the freshwater shrimp pond to cultivate rotifers and cladoceran and copepod plankton, providing suitable food for shrimp fry.

4. Plant aquatic plants well: Plant aquatic plants such as Hydrilla verticillata, Potamogeton malaianus, and Elodea in the freshwater shrimp pond, covering 2/3 of the pond area. At the same time, set up netting or place bamboo tubes, plastic tubes, etc. to provide places for perching, molting, and hiding.

5. Feed selection: Freshwater shrimp are omnivorous. Animal-based feed includes small fish pieces, dried fish meal, snail and mussel meat, and various animal offal byproducts, etc. Plant-based feed includes rapeseed cake, soybean meal, bran, wheat, corn, pumpkin, and various vegetables and aquatic and terrestrial grasses, etc.

6. Feeding: Freshwater shrimp mostly move about and forage at night. Feed once each at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily, with the afternoon feeding amount accounting for about 70% of the total daily feeding amount. The daily feeding amount can be appropriately increased or decreased according to weather, water quality conditions, and the shrimp's activity and foraging situation.

7. Daily management: In freshwater shrimp farming, patrol the pond every day, paying attention to changes in water color and activity. If shrimp are found on the bank or climbing on aquatic plants and refuse to enter the water when driven, check whether the water body is short of oxygen or the water quality has deteriorated, and take corresponding measures such as aeration and water changes.

What Food Do Freshwater Shrimp Eat

Freshwater shrimp are omnivorous animals. In the juvenile stage, they feed on plankton. Adult shrimp in natural waters mainly feed on various benthic small invertebrates, carcasses of aquatic animals, attached algae, various filamentous algae, organic debris, plant fragments, etc. Artificially farmed river shrimp can consume various commercial feeds, such as distillers' grains, tofu residue, soybean cake, silkworm pupae, mussel meat, wheat flour, fish meal, cooked rice, and river snails, and especially like to eat maggots. When feed is insufficient, they will also cannibalize each other. They have negative phototaxis toward light, mostly hiding in dark places during the day and coming out at night to feed and move about. Therefore, feed is mostly administered after dark.

Common Diseases of Freshwater Shrimp and Their Prevention and Treatment

1. Tail rot disease. Prevention and treatment methods: When transporting and stocking shrimp fry and shrimp seed, do not stack, press, or damage the shrimp bodies. During the rearing period, feed must be provided sufficiently and evenly to prevent shrimp from competing for food or killing each other due to insufficient feed. If this disease occurs, splash a soaking solution of 15 to 20 g of tea seed cake per cubic meter of water over the whole pond; or use 5 to 6 kg of quicklime dissolved in water per 667 sq m of water surface and splash it over the whole pond.

2. Black gill disease. Prevention and treatment methods: Keep the water body clean and dissolved oxygen sufficient, and regularly use quicklime to regulate water quality. Soak affected shrimp in 3% to 5% saline water 2 to 3 times, for 3 to 5 minutes each time; or use 10 g of methylene blue dissolved in water per cubic meter of water and splash it over the whole pond.

After reading the basic introduction about freshwater shrimp above, everyone must have a better understanding of them. When farming freshwater shrimp, attention must be paid to feeding food, and disease prevention and treatment must also be carried out in a timely manner. Only by doing these well can their survival rate be ensured.