When ornamental shrimps were first imported into USA in 2008, we kept and bred them first as hobbyists only. In the early years of shrimp-keeping, caridina and neo-caridina shrimp were very expensive and difficult to source and keep alive because their colors and genetics were not stable yet.

Only the most dedicated hobbyist-breeders were able to afford and maintain colonies of crystal red caridina and other legacy caridina and neo-caridina lineages. Over the past three decades however, breeders have selectively culled and improved upon the genetics of ornamental shrimps world-wide, which has resulted in the assortment of color varieties and options we have available in the aquarium hobby today.

From the 1990's to 2010's, very little information about shrimp-keeping was available on the internet. In the USA, finding blue dream or cherry red neo-caridina shrimp locally at fish stores would have proved a difficult challenge for most hobbyists. Many keepers instead kept amano shrimp, or ghost shrimp, which were easier to source locally.

It is, in fact, the modern-day "father" of aquascaping, Takashi Amano, of Aquarium Design Amano (ADA), whom is credited for bringing the Amano shrimp into the hobby as an effective algae cleaner. His legacy lives on as one of the forefathers of aquascaping nature designs within aquariums and influencing many generations of aquarists with his works from the 1970's until his passing in 2015.

From the 2010's to 2020's, shrimp-keeping became more accessible and newer varieties of neo-caridina and caridina shrimps continued to enter the aquarium hobby. It was during this decade that OC SHRIMPS grew our hobbyist roots into a small business operating from our garage, where we would import shrimps and nano fish directly from Asia (Taiwan, Indonesia) and farms in Europe to bring into the local aquarium trade in Southern California, while also shipping across the United States on Ebay and other sites.

In 2022, we were fortunate enough to be able to open our first retail store location, OC SHRIMP AQUATIC, in Huntington Beach, Orange County, California. While we've been in the aquarium industry for over a decade behind the scenes as wholesalers and trans shippers, our retail experience now as a small family-owned shop finally allows us to connect and chat with our community of customers face to face and spread the joy and appreciation for shrimp-keeping and aquascaping to hobbyists of all generations.

We take pride in importing high quality livestock from the best farms we can find, especially when sourcing new, exotic, and rarer freshwater shrimps, nano fishes, and oddballs for the dedicated hobbyist. Please give us a try and see why we are the trusted online freshwater aquarium retailer in Southern California for ornamental shrimp, nano fish, and aquarium products!

​If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at ocshrimps@gmail.com, you can also fill out the contact form on our website, or DM us (Instagram or Facebook) @ocshrimpaquatic for livestock or product inquiries! Thanks for visiting our web store!