In 2016, in Australia, I first saw Caridina at a local fish store — and fell in love staring at them. There are no photos of that moment. The first love in my tanks was Crystal Red and Blue Bolt.
By early 2017, that obsession had a new address: my bedroom in Vietnam. These photos are the first of my very first few racks — black metal frames, sponge filters, airline, LED bars, air conditioning — and a planted show tank in the middle.
This is where the first image of TB Shrimp started to take form. I am TB Shrimp.
What the hobby felt like then
Shrimp were very expensive. Everything still felt new. Taiwanese breeders ran the show — the lines, the grades, the standard everyone chased.
In my bedroom in Vietnam, with a few racks and high-cost livestock, the work was simple and hard at the same time: keep them alive, learn the water, and see what was possible.
How I learned
No one taught me this. There was no classroom for shrimp breeding — only observation, and hours of staring at shrimp and their behavior. Watching how they moved, fed, molted, and settled into a tank taught me more than any shortcut.
A lot of what became TB Shrimp was built that way: patience, eyes on the animals, and experience I earned slowly.
Farm note: Brands don’t start on a tour video. Mine started in a room that used to be for sleeping — and in the hours I spent watching shrimp when nobody else was looking.
Timeline so far
- 2016 — Australia: I first saw Caridina at an LFS; fell in love watching them (no photos); kept Crystal Red & Blue Bolt
- Early 2017 — Vietnam bedroom: my first few racks; TB Shrimp takes shape
- 2018 — 40ft container: 4 small racks → 15 racks (9 tanks each)
- Today — Vietnam: my two farms (Vũng Tàu + nearby), 116 racks