[TaxBaby]

So I’ve been working non stop lately due to short staffing and upfront will admit i have not had time to do anything with my tanks. I noticed the other day my orange eye blonde tigers had turned dark blue. So I checked the water and the ph had shot up from 6.6 to 7.6. I added some ph down for a quick fix and yesterday they looked like they were back to normal. Then today I’m seeing blue ones again…. Am I seeing different shrimp in my tank or are they able to fluctuate that quickly?

 

[Zoidburg]

I honestly can't say if they are the same shrimp or not... have not heard of them changing colors like that.


Saying that, pH down is not a good fix, IMO. You are better off figuring out why your pH is rising and correct that rather than using pH altering products.

 

[TaxBaby]

I honestly can't say if they are the same shrimp or not... have not heard of them changing colors like that.


Saying that, pH down is not a good fix, IMO. You are better off figuring out why your pH is rising and correct that rather than using pH altering products.

Agreed. Once my schedule slows down I’ll be able to look into it

 

[Aaronious]

I doubt they are changing colors like a octopus. I have similar shrimp, RCS and blue velvets together. I am not doing it for creating a solid line obviously, but because of how things went down they have bred only blues together and only reds together. This will likely not be the case next month whenever they start up again.

But I have a number that start out looking like those 'wild' colors and about half eventually turned into a solid blue. Another half that seem to be mostly males are still that wild variation of coloring. I have also read that some shrimp won't color up until they get past adolescence.

I am by no means a shrimp expert, but these are my observations with the two type I mentioned. Oh and for some reason, the reds seem to have a redder tinge while young and still with a look of that wildness, they seem to blend into their color more than it just showing up like the blue ones, so maybe it's a blue velvet thing?

 

[TaxBaby]

I doubt they are changing colors like a octopus. I have similar shrimp, RCS and blue velvets together. I am not doing it for creating a solid line obviously, but because of how things went down they have bred only blues together and only reds together. This will likely not be the case next month whenever they start up again.

But I have a number that start out looking like those 'wild' colors and about half eventually turned into a solid blue. Another half that seem to be mostly males are still that wild variation of coloring. I have also read that some shrimp won't color up until they get past adolescence.

I am by no means a shrimp expert, but these are my observations with the two type I mentioned. Oh and for some reason, the reds seem to have a redder tinge while young and still with a look of that wildness, they seem to blend into their color more than it just showing up like the blue ones, so maybe it's a blue velvet thing?

I get what you’re saying…. But I only have one type in this tank 😬

 

[Aaronious]

I get what you’re saying…. But I only have one type in this tank 😬

Yeah, my blue ones have only bred with blue ones, so right now they are still "pure" and there are some blues that start wild. I guess what I am saying is if they were younger shrimp they may have just gained their color.

 

[TaxBaby]

Yeah, my blue ones have only bred with blue ones, so right now they are still "pure" and there are some blues that start wild. I guess what I am saying is if they were younger shrimp they may have just gained their color.

I’ve seen some babies a few weeks ago. There’s no way they grew full size in 3 weeks though. And they’re blonde tigers so there’s no color to be gained.

 

[Aaronious]

well I am curious now. lol. Following, hoping you post a little more as time goes on. Or someone posts that actually knows something.

 

[somewhatshocked]

Sometimes it takes a while for shrimp to color up. Especially Tigers. So it's possible you had juveniles that hadn't yet colored up. That said - the two shrimp in the photos either aren't the same strain or you've got one that's throwing blues when it breeds. Tigers like this don't generally breed as true as Super Tigers or Tangerines.

While water parameters can impact shrimp coloration a bit, that's probably not what's going on here. Those are still okayish parameters for Tigers. You can see a hint of blue in the shrimp that's on light-colored sand, so that trait looks like it is present. The darker the surface or substrate, the better coloration shrimp have and that's also likely impacting some of your shrimp.

Definitely never use pH Down in a shrimp tank. It only takes a few minutes to check parameters and determine what's going on with a tank.

 

[Aaronious]

Sometimes it takes a while for shrimp to color up. Especially Tigers. So it's possible you had juveniles that hadn't yet colored up. That said - the two shrimp in the photos either aren't the same strain or you've got one that's throwing blues when it breeds. Tigers like this don't generally breed as true as Super Tigers or Tangerines.

While water parameters can impact shrimp coloration a bit, that's probably not what's going on here. Those are still okayish parameters for Tigers. You can see a hint of blue in the shrimp that's on light-colored sand, so that trait looks like it is present. The darker the surface or substrate, the better coloration shrimp have and that's also likely impacting some of your shrimp.

Definitely never use pH Down in a shrimp tank. It only takes a few minutes to check parameters and determine what's going on with a tank.

whoa, darker substrate makes deeper colors on shrimp? so if I use dark sand they'll look nicer? it's not just cause it shows up better, they actually get a richer color?

 

[somewhatshocked]

whoa, darker substrate makes deeper colors on shrimp? so if I use dark sand they'll look nicer? it's not just cause it shows up better, they actually get a richer color?

Generally, the more comfortable a shrimp is, the better its coloration. But most, if not all, shrimp exhibit better coloration on darker substrates and it's not just appearance. They actually look better physically. Same thing applies when they're on darker hardscape and plants.

I don't mean they'll go from totally clear to dark blue overnight. Nothing that extreme.

In this particular case, I think it's probably a factor. Along with genes playing the larger role.

 

[Aaronious]

Generally, the more comfortable a shrimp is, the better its coloration. But most, if not all, shrimp exhibit better coloration on darker substrates and it's not just appearance. They actually look better physically. Same thing applies when they're on darker hardscape and plants.

I don't mean they'll go from totally clear to dark blue overnight. Nothing that extreme.

In this particular case, I think it's probably a factor. Along with genes playing the larger role.

That's just a very cool little thing to know. Thank you @somewhatshocked
And sorry/thank you for letting me sidetrack a little on this post, all.

 

[Epitaph]

From the shrimp's eyes in the pictures, I can already tell it is an orange eye blue tiger shrimp cull or sometimes called "blondes" as a better marketing name. There are currently no orange eye "blonde" tiger shrimp or orange eye blue tiger shrimp with the stripe pattern that breeds true. The royal blue tiger shrimp breeds true but it has lost its stripe pattern from breeding with the black tiger shrimp. Although you may have purchased all blondes, they still carry the blue gene. You could have purchased young culls that have some late bloomers or you are experiencing the interesting phenomenon with OEBT: some OEBT become darker and may even develop a rusty color when they reach maturity(mostly occurring for berried females). Back when OEBT were first introduced in the market, OEBT keepers were discussing about this phenomenon but now, there are even a few breeders trying to selectively breed this rusty color strain.

 

[TaxBaby]

From the shrimp's eyes in the pictures, I can already tell it is an orange eye blue tiger shrimp cull or sometimes called "blondes" as a better marketing name. There are currently no orange eye "blonde" tiger shrimp or orange eye blue tiger shrimp with the stripe pattern that breeds true. The royal blue tiger shrimp breeds true but it has lost its stripe pattern from breeding with the black tiger shrimp. Although you may have purchased all blondes, they still carry the blue gene. You could have purchased young culls that have some late bloomers or you are experiencing the interesting phenomenon with OEBT: some OEBT become darker and may even develop a rusty color when they reach maturity(mostly occurring for berried females). Back when OEBT were first introduced in the market, OEBT keepers were discussing about this phenomenon but now, there are even a few breeders trying to selectively breed this rusty color strain.

Thanks so much. This is helpful. I’ve observed a bit more and it seems one is blue and others are still blonde. It’s particularly large so I’m thinking it was one of the females who berried last month. Will they ever go back to blonde? This throws a wrench in my plans to start an orange eye blue shrimp tank 😟 if they just change Colors it’s not much fun

 

[Aaronious]

Thanks so much. This is helpful. I’ve observed a bit more and it seems one is blue and others are still blonde. It’s particularly large so I’m thinking it was one of the females who berried last month. Will they ever go back to blonde? This throws a wrench in my plans to start an orange eye blue shrimp tank 😟 if they just change Colors it’s not much fun

This is where selective breeding comes in my man. Gotta take out the colors you don't want untill only the ones you want are the ones breeding. Rinse and repeat. eventually the color lines will become more and more predictable. at least this will be monthly with shrimp. well maybe every two months or so. Fish is longer, so you're doing the easier type of aquatic creatures.

Good luck.

 

[Epitaph]

If it was a berried female, there's a small chance it may become slightly lighter in color after the eggs have hatched. But regardless of gender, if the shrimp has become blue, I highly doubt it will change/or change completely blonde again. Most likely they are just late bloomers since most culls are sold before they become adults to prevent them from mating with the other shrimp in the tank. It is similar to the blue bolt shrimp nowadays because of all the selective breeding aiming for extreme blue bolts; some young low grade blue bolts(culls) with low % of blue coverage and intensity have higher % of blue coverage and intensity when mature.

If the line you purchased from is good, then the offspring of your culls will produce some good blues as well. Just because you bought all culls does not mean you will be stuck with all cull-grade shrimp with future generations. As Aaronious already mentioned, it is about selective breeding and how good the genes are from your source. If the line from your source is already good, you simply have a head start at achieving a true blue strain(or blonde if that is your preference, then purchase from a "terrible" source) with selective breeding.

 

[TaxBaby]

If it was a berried female, there's a small chance it may become slightly lighter in color after the eggs have hatched. But regardless of gender, if the shrimp has become blue, I highly doubt it will change/or change completely blonde again. Most likely they are just late bloomers since most culls are sold before they become adults to prevent them from mating with the other shrimp in the tank. It is similar to the blue bolt shrimp nowadays because of all the selective breeding aiming for extreme blue bolts; some young low grade blue bolts(culls) with low % of blue coverage and intensity have higher % of blue coverage and intensity when mature.

If the line you purchased from is good, then the offspring of your culls will produce some good blues as well. Just because you bought all culls does not mean you will be stuck with all cull-grade shrimp with future generations. As Aaronious already mentioned, it is about selective breeding and how good the genes are from your source. If the line from your source is already good, you simply have a head start at achieving a true blue strain(or blonde if that is your preference, then purchase from a "terrible" source) with selective breeding.

I should hope they weren’t culls y the price I paid for them. 21$ a piece..,, I’m gonna contact the seller and see what they say
The blue ones I want are 29$ and the royal blues are 39$…..