Farming Small Shrimps - Gung Foy

[ThaiLife]

My in laws have been making a daily living by catching and selling live fresh small shrimps ( Gung Foy ) caught in a near by fresh water lake

now they have to move away from the nearby lake , so there income from shrimp selling will come to an end .

I was wondering if its possible to farm these small fresh water shrimps on a small scale , with the view to providing the in laws with a shrimp income once more .

The in laws are willing to invest in this new venture , so I said I would see what I could come up with , and ask if any one here knows if its a possible to farm these small shrimps.

any advice or comments please .

[grimleybob]

Seeing as the shrimps are free, if you have a pond, why not catch and release a few buckets and see what happens. Chuck in some frog food every now and then and let nature take its course. If they multiply, remember to only harvest a few at a time

[garrfeild]

Google shrimp farming, There is a lot of information about the subject online.

[ThaiLife]

Seeing as the shrimps are free, if you have a pond, why not catch and release a few buckets and see what happens. Chuck in some frog food every now and then and let nature take its course. If they multiply, remember to only harvest a few at a time

Thanks for the comment

I did think about just saying to the in laws just dig a pond and give it a go , but Ive got a funny feeling there's more to it than meets the eye

[ThaiLife]

Google shrimp farming, There is a lot of information about the subject online.

thanks for the comment

I have Googled the subject and there is as you say a lot of information about , it seems most of it relater to the larger variety of shrimp , as this is a forum about things Thailand related , I was hoping that may be a forum member had some personal knowledge on the subject here in Thailand rather than a Google article related to another country or different type of shrimp , I feel its all ways good to get personal experiences and advice , which is what forums do so well .

Edited January 12, 2012 by ThaiLife

[jamescollister]

Really know nothing about shrimps, but most farms seem to be salt water places. Know that you get big fresh water ones in the Mekong, but don't know of any locals growing them or smaller ones around here, or if you can. Interesting to find out as there could be an opening in the market that's worth a try. Jim

[ThaiLife]

Really know nothing about shrimps, but most farms seem to be salt water places. Know that you get big fresh water ones in the Mekong, but don't know of any locals growing them or smaller ones around here, or if you can. Interesting to find out as there could be an opening in the market that's worth a try. Jim

Hi Jim and thanks for the comment

my in laws caught the small shrimps every day at the local lake , and all ways sold out , the key to this was it seems that the shrimp must be still alive at the time its sold , if they appear to be dead its normally sold but at a lower cost , people like to see them still jumping .

The time consuming part from what I saw was the placing of plastic trap water bottles with pre mixed bait in side , into the water at night time , and the early morning collection of the full traps . So being able to some how make that process simpler and trap less , would not only make the work less tiring but possibly more productive.

[garrfeild]

Google shrimp farming, There is a lot of information about the subject online.

thanks for the comment

I have Googled the subject and there is as you say a lot of information about , it seems most of it relater to the larger variety of shrimp , as this is a forum about things Thailand related , I was hoping that may be a forum member had some personal knowledge on the subject here in Thailand rather than a Google article related to another country or different type of shrimp , I feel its all ways good to get personal experiences and advice , which is what forums do so well .

So google Shrimp farming in Thailand or Fresh water Shrimp Farming. There were one or 2 very interesting articles about shrimp farming in Thailand. You need to go visit a Shrimp farm with your wife. She can ask the questions you want answers to.

But I think it depends on how much land you can use to make a tank to grow them. The commercial farms use a very big area. Also I think the water needs to be slightly saline even for fresh water shrimp, which is harder to grow than those in a saline water environment.

with respects there is no better way of finding something out than doing the research. Forums have their limits. If people told you, you were wasting your time would you listen to them or try anyway?

If your answer is "I would listen to them". Then don't waste your time asking or trying! IMHO

[ray23]

Google shrimp farming, There is a lot of information about the subject online.

thanks for the comment

I have Googled the subject and there is as you say a lot of information about , it seems most of it relater to the larger variety of shrimp , as this is a forum about things Thailand related , I was hoping that may be a forum member had some personal knowledge on the subject here in Thailand rather than a Google article related to another country or different type of shrimp , I feel its all ways good to get personal experiences and advice , which is what forums do so well .

So google Shrimp farming in Thailand or Fresh water Shrimp Farming. There were one or 2 very interesting articles about shrimp farming in Thailand. You need to go visit a Shrimp farm with your wife. She can ask the questions you want answers to.

But I think it depends on how much land you can use to make a tank to grow them. The commercial farms use a very big area. Also I think the water needs to be slightly saline even for fresh water shrimp, which is harder to grow than those in a saline water environment.

with respects there is no better way of finding something out than doing the research. Forums have their limits. If people told you, you were wasting your time would you listen to them or try anyway?

If your answer is "I would listen to them". Then don't waste your time asking or trying! IMHO

I have been trying to find the answer myself with litle luck, in Google it calls for brackish water ( Sea). That being said I live in Udon and there are several shrimp farms in the area. I donlt know how far you would gte asking a Thai how to compete with them.

So the answer is yes it can be done, how ? Darned if I know. I sit down today to aske the very same question.

Yes I listen to several on the farming segment

[grimleybob]

Google shrimp farming, There is a lot of information about the subject online.

thanks for the comment

I have Googled the subject and there is as you say a lot of information about , it seems most of it relater to the larger variety of shrimp , as this is a forum about things Thailand related , I was hoping that may be a forum member had some personal knowledge on the subject here in Thailand rather than a Google article related to another country or different type of shrimp , I feel its all ways good to get personal experiences and advice , which is what forums do so well .

So google Shrimp farming in Thailand or Fresh water Shrimp Farming. There were one or 2 very interesting articles about shrimp farming in Thailand. You need to go visit a Shrimp farm with your wife. She can ask the questions you want answers to.

But I think it depends on how much land you can use to make a tank to grow them. The commercial farms use a very big area. Also I think the water needs to be slightly saline even for fresh water shrimp, which is harder to grow than those in a saline water environment.

with respects there is no better way of finding something out than doing the research. Forums have their limits. If people told you, you were wasting your time would you listen to them or try anyway?

If your answer is "I would listen to them". Then don't waste your time asking or trying! IMHO

I have been trying to find the answer myself with litle luck, in Google it calls for brackish water ( Sea). That being said I live in Udon and there are several shrimp farms in the area. I donlt know how far you would gte asking a Thai how to compete with them.

So the answer is yes it can be done, how ? Darned if I know. I sit down today to aske the very same question.

Yes I listen to several on the farming segment

I suspect that the commercial value of these shrimps is so low that the only viable option is to get them for free or very little cost. Hence my first post

If they are present in one lake in Thailand they will be present in most others. The best avenue for them would be to find another lake or river in which they live. Somewhere nearer to their new home.

[ray23]

I found this link looks extensive to me I haven;t has the cahnce to really read it yet. But, based on table of contents looks like it will answer most questions

http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AB919E/AB919E00.htm

[ThaiLife]

Google shrimp farming, There is a lot of information about the subject online.

thanks for the comment

I have Googled the subject and there is as you say a lot of information about , it seems most of it relater to the larger variety of shrimp , as this is a forum about things Thailand related , I was hoping that may be a forum member had some personal knowledge on the subject here in Thailand rather than a Google article related to another country or different type of shrimp , I feel its all ways good to get personal experiences and advice , which is what forums do so well .

So google Shrimp farming in Thailand or Fresh water Shrimp Farming. There were one or 2 very interesting articles about shrimp farming in Thailand. You need to go visit a Shrimp farm with your wife. She can ask the questions you want answers to.

But I think it depends on how much land you can use to make a tank to grow them. The commercial farms use a very big area. Also I think the water needs to be slightly saline even for fresh water shrimp, which is harder to grow than those in a saline water environment.

with respects there is no better way of finding something out than doing the research. Forums have their limits. If people told you, you were wasting your time would you listen to them or try anyway?

If your answer is "I would listen to them". Then don't waste your time asking or trying! IMHO

Hi and thanks for the comments

Like you say may be a combination of internet searching plus extra information taken from forum advice is the way to go , and actually visiting a shrimp farm sounds a very good idea .

[ThaiLife]

I found this link looks extensive to me I haven;t has the cahnce to really read it yet. But, based on table of contents looks like it will answer most questions

http://www.fao.org/d...9E/AB919E00.htm

Hi and thanks for the link, its very interesting reading , it seems to be talking about - the Macrobrachium rosenbergil shrimps

the small shrimps that the in laws catch are - Macrobrachium lanchesteri

but I'm sure a lot of the articles the information can relate to the two varieties of fresh water shrimp .

I'll post back on how things go .

Thanks

[ThaiLife]

Just spotted this link

http://www2.it.mju.a...2010/106-shrimp

its in Thai , but a translator gives an idea .

[c64]

For thos who are interested....

Found the linky to the thai frozen food assosciation.

http://www.thai-frozen.or.th/hotnews_shrimp_mahachai.asp

That's the shrimp price obtained in the Mahachai market.

And this is their main page:

http://www.thai-frozen.or.th/index.asp

[RedBullHorn]

Here's the translated web page for convenient reading

Link

Only the live ones are sold at ฿300/kg (Chiang Rai rural)...the dead ones between ฿150-200/kg

Edited January 15, 2012 by RedBullHorn

[David48]

Dear Thailife ... STOP RIGHT NOW.

Simple advice from a man whose Thai gf's parents are both fish and prawn/shrimp farmers.

Firstly ... that can't be a lake where your in-laws harvested shrimp ... because shrimp need to spawn in the ocean or in specially controlled man made environments. There must be access to the sea you have developed a new species of the common shrimp.

Very few actually just farm shrimp because the food conversion rate is not financially viable. Yes you have to feed the little suckers and the cost of feed input vs the retail price is a close thing, plus you have to buy the little ones in the first place and you haven't begun to deal with the mortality rate through any number of diseases or low oxygen levels in the pond etc.

MOST farmers use a combination of fish and prawn cultivation with the end goal being the sale of the shrimp on an approximately quarterly basis to fund the cost of the feed for the fish.

What do the prawn eat ... the fish poo!

In a pond situation there is stratification of almost everything, even a metre (3 foot deep assuming that you are a yank because you use the word shrimp). The fish, in this case are top feeders and feed on what ever is feed to them or is available to them in the pond.

The shrimp, on the other hand are bottom dwellers and eat what ever filters through to the bottom of the pond ... yes FISH POO.

But the stratification of the pond also is reflected in the dissolved oxygen levels which drops as the two layers rarely mix ... higher oxygen near the pond surface, lower as you near the ponds bottom. That's why you see those aerators flapping away madly, they are oxygenating the water and mixing the stratification of the pond at the same time, especially on those 'still' days.

I could go on for ever about this, but hopefully I have changed your mind and you have stopped right now.

Here are some links which might assist you in your decision making.

OH ... try AQUAPONICS for a different suggestion and get a feeling for what is need in a larger scale production.

ps ... I did all the research below because I did not want to appear dumb assed and ask stupid questions of my gf's parents.

http://tilapiafarming.org/tilapia/what-do-tilapia-eat/

http://www.fishfarming.com/shrimp.html

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_pond.html

http://pdacrsp.oregonstate.edu/pubs/workplns/wp_10/10NSR3.html

(Survey Study of and Stocking Densities for Tilapia-Shrimp Polycultures )

(shrimp and vegetables and human Symbiotic relationship ... really cool clip)

So many more ... but I think you get the idea.

Oh ... when I used to fly into Bangkok (many years ago) and looked down and saw the waters reflection, I naively thought that they were rice paddy fields awaiting or under rice ... nope, they are all developed or natural fish ponds.

...

[ray23]

Excellent post, Im aware of most of what ypu posted I did the research as well. I'm still going a head with a small experiment 2 mete by 2 meter above ground pond less then a mete deep. This is for my consumption. I will fill it with water from the Plan Nin pond. We already have 400 catfish on production. I;m waiting for Lord Budha to fill the big pond. There we will use the green water method along with supplement fish food, That w onbe will have about 1000 Pa Nin and will be have air pumped into it.

To get air in the into the experamental pond we will use a small pump to recirculate the water the falling water will be enough. We found low volatge pumps for all this so the cost is minimal.

Can you ask the Thai realtives where they get the prawns to start with?

I was worried about not having brackish water, until I found that you could have thenm in a Pla Nin pond and the green water method woudl satify their needs.

AQUAPONICS. we mat a guy in Khan Kean who does this. He does OK becausee he sales at good proces to high end hotels. He grows mushrooms as well, We will be doing that.

But I'm still taking a shot at prawn I really like them. But, I'm not really looking at a commercail basis on that.

Excellent post think everyone shlould understand, not as easy as it looks.

[ozzydom]

Everybody seems to have gone off on a tangent from the OP.s original post,as he states ,he is referring to the tiny freshwater crustacean (Macrobranchium Lanchesteri.

They are a naturally occurring shrimp in Thai lakes and rivers,we have them in all our ponds and at certain times they are quite prevalent but I can tell you that farming them is not possible, they are quite slow growing and at 1-2 centimetres it takes a lot to make up a kg.

My MIL sometimes catches a few hundred gram which she sells in the village for 10 baht per 100 gram.

An interesting little article about them can be seen at

www.aseanbiodiversity.info/scripts/count_article.asp?

[David48]

An interesting little article about them can be seen at

www.aseanbiodiversity.info/scripts/count_article.asp?

Ozzy, I tried to open that link you mentioned above but got the :-

The page cannot be found

The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

I'm always keen to learn more from those with skin in the game.

Can you check the link please as the internet here seems to be working AOK

[ozzydom]

An interesting little article about them can be seen at

www.aseanbiodiversity.info/scripts/count_article.asp?

Ozzy, I tried to open that link you mentioned above but got the :-

The page cannot be found

The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

I'm always keen to learn more from those with skin in the game.

Can you check the link please as the internet here seems to be working AOK

Try Googling" Kung Foy shrimp" it will be the first article on the first page.

[rice555]

Hello All, we have them in the lake and in the fish pond, the FIL

also sets traps in the paddies during rice season.

There's a 2 pg article in this issue. Bt.40

rice555

also a good art on coffee!

[ray23]

Hello All, we have them in the lake and in the fish pond, the FIL

also sets traps in the paddies during rice season.

There's a 2 pg article in this issue. Bt.40

rice555

also a good art on coffee!

I'm sorry hit report by accident. Where do you find th magazine?

[ThaiLife]

Everybody seems to have gone off on a tangent from the OP.s original post,as he states ,he is referring to the tiny freshwater crustacean (Macrobranchium Lanchesteri.

They are a naturally occurring shrimp in Thai lakes and rivers,we have them in all our ponds and at certain times they are quite prevalent but I can tell you that farming them is not possible, they are quite slow growing and at 1-2 centimetres it takes a lot to make up a kg.

My MIL sometimes catches a few hundred gram which she sells in the village for 10 baht per 100 gram.

An interesting little article about them can be seen at

www.aseanbiodiversity.info/scripts/count_article.asp?

Thnaks every one for the comments / advice

The small '' fresh water '' shrimps that my in laws catch are called - Macrobranchium Lanchesteri.

they set traps for them made from plastic pop bottles filled with some home made bait , all they catch they can sell no problems .

[rice555]

Hello ray23, I only know about downtown Korat, but you should be

able to find at most places that sell magazines, be they stores or

tables set up on the sidewalk.

The Mall Korat has 3-4 places. Lotus has 3 places, one in the store

it self, a book store and a magazine stand under the store in the

parking garage. Big C has 1 or 2 places. The new Lotus on Hwy. 224

has a book store.

Klang(Crown) Plaza II is where I get most magazines I get each month.

If you like a magazine, you can get a yearly subscription.

I don't read Thai, I just look at the pictures and get a rough english

translation.

rice555

[ray23]

Thanks we have a book shop in our Lotus here I will give that a try.