Shrimp Color Intensity

[Shrimpapalooza]

So my Blue Dreams have gotten very pale since I got them. Currently my parameters are good - 0/0 with barely visible nitrates. KH 5 and GH around 7 with a TDS of 188

They're on black sand, with black window cling on the rear glass. 

 

When I first got them they were in slightly less hard water, Kh 3-4 Gh 6 and TDS was around 165-170. Could the higher KH/GH/TDS be enough to stress them to a lower color intensity?

 

Comparison pictures below. She was even darker when I first got her though, I just can't find a picture of this one shrimp right now.

 

[CRS Fan]

My impression of this colour shift would be a change in a lighter substrate to a darker substrate. I’ve seen this in different varieties of Neos before.

JMHO

Stuart


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[Shrimpapalooza]

I've read about that with Neos, but always that a darker substrate = darker colored Neos. I keep mine on black sand, and they were kept on a dark substrate before I got them and were darker, not diamond levels but much more intense. 

 

They're eating well and other than putting in a casuina cone and IAL I haven't been messing with the tank. I give them ShrimpFit+ once a week. 

[CRS Fan]

The other possibility could be that these shrimp were colour fed and the pigmentation is fading due to a lack of this colour enhancer.

I also know that if these were raised in natural sunlight the exoskeleton gets thicker and the shrimp appears darker. I have personally seen this with outdoor raised (darker) vs tank raised (lighter) Bloody Mary shrimp of the same bloodline.

Just more food for thought.

Best regards,

Stuart


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[Shrimpapalooza]

That is extremely interesting! They have molted at least once in my tank since I got them (obviously this one did because she berried in my tank) and the molt had color to them. I also have Orange Neos and their molts generally don't have much color to them, but these molts from the Blue Dream Neos had a 'tint' to them. I wonder if that was extra pigmentation and now they're showing more "true" colors...

[Shrimp Life]

Your dark substrate choice would make them look darker blue (not lighter) If they have lightened up since you got them, could be stress. That one isn't a high grade Blue dream, even before it got light (common variability in blue dreams) There is a slight milky discoloration in this shrimp, could be muscular necrosis or bacterial infection. Sick shrimp often get pale. Buy your shrimp from a trusted hobbyist, not a importer (higher chance of sick shrimp and die off), not a random hobbyist (quality varies), to avoid this type of issue.

[Shrimp Life]

On 8/15/2019 at 10:51 PM, CRS Fan said:

The other possibility could be that these shrimp were colour fed and the pigmentation is fading due to a lack of this colour enhancer.

I also know that if these were raised in natural sunlight the exoskeleton gets thicker and the shrimp appears darker. I have personally seen this with outdoor raised (darker) vs tank raised (lighter) Bloody Mary shrimp of the same bloodline.

Just more food for thought.

Best regards,

Stuart


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This shrimp is not light colored because of "color enhancer" its like this because its stressed and or/sick. You can see the cloudy body as an indicator of this. (Especially if all parameters are correct) Black substrate would enhance the blue color, not degrade it.

[Shrimpapalooza]

I don't think that's cloudy because of illness. I have had some of my clearer orange sakura's die of bacterial infections and there's a pronounced difference.

 

This picture of a shrimp has "cloudiness" in the same spot as mine:

 

Or this Blue Velvet

 

 

A newer pic of my shrimp, from today, is attached.

 

 

And THIS is the example of muscular necrosis from the Shrimp Disease examples

 

 

I know in terms of some people on this site I"m a newb, but I've been keeping my orange sakura neos for over three years now, I've had illness strike and I've seen what sick shrimp look like, both from bacterial infections and muscular necrosis. I also know stress is what could cause shrimp to lose color, which is why I asked if the change in parameters might be enough to cause that stress.

 

Yes, I know, buy from a "trusted" hobbyist, don't buy import, Golden Shrimp Buying Rules. What's done is done. I took a chance with the hobbyist I bought from and got burned, It Happened. I'm not asking for tips on how to buy shrimp, I'm asking for advice on whether the change in water parameters could cause this sort of color loss if nothing else has changed within the set up. That's All.