Hello!  Welcome to Shrimp Daddy Aquatics!

We are sincerely happy that you're here. And by we, I mean I!

My name is Mike, and I am the sole owner and employee of Shrimp Daddy Aquatics.  I started this company in 2024 with ambition to become the #1 site for happy healthy neocaridina shrimp in the United States, and have a long term goal to open a brick-and-mortar location in Virginia where I can not only have a larger location for Shrimp Daddy other than in my house, but where I can also sell aquatic plants, aquascaping supplies, and a larger variety of shrimp.

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My passion for all things aqua, like many of you, started as a young child.     I grew up in San Diego, California where I lived 15 minutes from the beach. No matter the time of year, you could find me knee deep, sometimes neck deep, in the tide pools at the beach exploring and learning about all sorts of aquatic life.  My Granddad would take me fishing on his boat with our family dog where he'd reel in honkers so big that I couldn't even hold them. I remember catching bait fish at the lakes near where we lived there and after fishing I didn't necessarily want to return toe fish to the lake, I'd miss watching them so much... so I'd bring them home. I'd put them in one of those green turtle pools in the backyard where I could add rocks and sands to make a habitat while I tried to find bugs to feed them, at least until they were eventually taken by Granddad to use as his bait early the next morning. Growing up knee deep in nature sparked a huge fire in me to be curious, to learn, and to appreciate it.

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To add fuel to my burning fire of aquatic frenzy, in 5th grade my teacher spoiled us with a class pet to take care of, a mudskipper! It was pretty much the coolest thing ever and definitely wasn't your average pet store find. I was inspired to buy my first aquarium when I was 10 and then it just snowballed from there... I started keeping fish, changing tank designs over and over, adding anubias and swords, learning about different types of aquatic pets...​ Once I was done with grade school and not sure how to make a living as a stay at home shrimp daddy yet, I studied in many other areas of interests in college and have had several careers in my 31 years: before Shrimp Daddy I was a graphic designer + marketing specialist (hence this sweet website), and I was also a 7th grade math teacher for five years where I even kept a 125 gallon planted shrimp tank at the school.  But although I'm okay at doing some things, I'm happier with doing others.

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Do you know those videos...  that you see on social media... where someone's mind is full of loud noises and commotion, but when they look into their tank, their mind quiets to a silence and all is calm and good? That's what I get out of my tanks and what I do and quite simply- that's my mission to provide to you, peace of mind while watching your happy healthy shrimp.  At this point in my life, I'm married, I have over 40 tanks in my house and am thoroughly enjoying every bit of it.  Although I dabble in many different hobbies still, shrimp keeping and aquascaping will always remain a large pillar of my life.

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Shrimp Daddy Aquatics is ran from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, USA. Our mission is to become the #1 site for happy healthy shrimp in the USA with a 100% live arrival guarantee. The safety of our shrimp and happiness of our customers is our top priority. With almost every color to choose from, how will you colonize the rainbow?

 

I can't wait for you to get your shrimp!