My involvement in the aquarium hobby goes back a few years, back to the mid 60's to be exact. I had been keeping fish for almost a decade in the early 70's, when the African Cichlids took the aquarium world by storm. Those were exciting times with new fish showing up at a breath-taking pace. Many of the well-known distributors in the aquarium fish industry today, got their start importing or breeding these new and exotic cichlids.

  We find ourselves in a similar situation today with the ever-increasing number of newly imported species of freshwater crustaceans available. Again, as with the explosion of new cichlid species, it can be very problematic identifying the species that are available for sale. Very often you find, livestock that is miss-named by the dealer, or importers that add to the problem by dying or otherwise misidentifying their livestock.

  Even with all the pit-falls, it is truly a time of unparallel excitement and opportunity for the dedicated hobbyist. Being able to provide a suitable environment for new and exotic species has always provided me a sense of accomplishment. As a veteran aquarist, I find this a big part of the allure to keeping freshwater crustaceans. Rather than simply following the path of previous hobbyists, we have many chances to explore uncharted waters.

  With many new species only being available as "wild caught", there is a great opportunity for producing tank raised specimens, or domestication of the species, if you will. Many of the other species, while being tank raised, they are simply not widely available to the hobbyist. The phenomenal prices paid for some species, attests to how extremely hard they are to come by.

  Another area of great opportunity is in the enhancement and refining of existing hybrids or color morphs. While much time and effort has been spent on the refinement of the Crystal Red Shrimp, many other varieties leave much room for improvement. How about a bluer Blue Pearl Shrimp, or working to develop some of the other color morphs of the Neocaridina cf. zhangjiajiensis shrimp.

  Are you interested in genetics? Be the first to develop a true-breeding Blue Tiger Shrimp. With the number of mutations that show up in some species, there is almost limitless opportunity to be explored here. How about working with the mysterious species of crayfish, Marbled Crayfish or Marmorkrebs that can reproduce without mating.

  How about hybrids? At the present time, most talk of hybrid shrimp is negative. One only needs to look at the great variety in some species of livebearing fish to see the possibilities of hybridization. Most aquarists accept these fish simply on face value, and don't even realize that they are the result of crosses, and the refinement of hybrids carried out over the years. It is hard to imagine that the same will not hold true for many species of crustaceans once things start to settle down in the hobby.

  Weather you just want to watch from the sidelines, or jump into the fray, you have to admit these are exciting times for aquarists looking to keep freshwater dwarf shrimp, crayfish and crabs.