[Menace]

I must say that this forum has a wealth of information and help and I love it. Originally I had planned on purchasing Shrimp from Soothing but found a better deal elsewhere and got impulsive. Needless to say my better deal resulted in not so great shrimp and I was pretty disappointed but dealing with that seller seemed alright. Though I will never make that mistake again and I hope this thread will encourage others to learn from my mistakes as well.

I won't go into details about the transactions but I will note that both shipments of shrimp arrived with all the shrimp alive but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Shrimp are supposed to be Darker Blue Velvets.

Seller A

I didn't use flash in this photo, I apologize for the quality. Note that there are supposed to be [12] shrimp in this order and I only count [10]. Also note the coloration of the shrimp where I am guessing is from stress, although the shipment was well packaged I think they did have to wait the weekend out before being delivered. Also note that one of the included shrimp is so tiny that I don't think he should have been counted as a part of the order at all. These shrimp have been in my tank for 8 days and some have a little color and others are downright colorless. I haven't observed any deaths and I have seen 3 moltings so far which is at the very least a good sign.

Soothing Shrimp's
Blue Velvets

The color alone is amazing in comparison and much more of what I was expecting with Seller A based on their "Stock" photos. These shrimp only had to endure 3 days in Shipment but arrived all alive and in good health. I cannot wait to see these in the tank and hope that they help darken my overall stock. Bryce is a stand-up guy and I would recommend him to anyone looking for shrimp, and I wish I would have went with him first. Honestly I can't say enough about him.


So that's my nod to Soothing Shrimp. Though more importantly don't make the same mistake I did. I know a lot of people already know this but as a newer member I was, again, impulsive and went for the better deal. In this case the better deal would be going with the higher quality shrimp and with someone you can trust.

 

[Menace]

Whoever said ''you get what you paid for'' was not kidding.

Actually I expected more from Seller A. The prices were Equivalent but I basically got free shipping which was the deal and where the savings came into play.

 

[Menace]

Can you post a couple more photos of group A? It's obvious you didn't take photos with the same exact settings. I'm assuming you used the flash or supplemental lighting for group B.

• Did you end up putting all the shrimp together in the same tank already?
• Did you take TDS readings to compare the water from both sources?

Yes as stated in my first posting I didn't use flash on the first batch, but I did on the second. Though even without flash on the second batch these shrimp are amazing in any light.

Yes the shrimp are all in the same tank. The new shrimp are there to darken the strain.

I didn't do any tests on either of the batches of water. I don't have a TDS tester anyway.

Also, as mentioned in my original post the first batch has been in my tank for 8 days and only a few show signs of blue color while the remainder look more or less like ghost shrimp they are so clear and colorless; much how they arrived in the photo.

I acclimated the new batch and have added them to the tank. I can't get any good pictures of them inside my tank with my camera, but here is a rough example. Circled Red = Batch A. Circled Yellow = New shrimp. It's worth noting that of course the new shrimp might change some based on the conditions of my tank. Darker/lighter, we'll see. Though Batch A has looked basically like they have since they've been added.

 

[Menace]

A shrimp from Batch A, taken last night. Browsing through my camera of photos I've taken.

 

[Menace]

Yeah I'd cull those lighter ones...you'll just screw up all the hard work that was put into Soothing's DBVs. You aren't looking at the potential breeding correctly. You'll be going backwards.

Catching these shrimp in my tank will be basically impossible. It offers shrimp a lot of protection and hiding which is why the guppies haven't bothered with them. Between the design of the tank and the way I have the driftwood, I'd have to tear everything out just to catch them all.

 

[Menace]

Uh, your guppies, especially females will take care of the baby culling for you.
I'd yank Soothings' and place in another tank. They should stand out easier

-Stef*

Just one tank. I'll be happy as long as the shrimp remain blue. If I ever start up another tank I know where to get shrimp from now. My female guppy eats just about everything. I saw her eat an entire DHG clipping which I was for sure she was going to choke on or something. She was just nibbling on a fresh shrimp molt but didn't have too much interest in that. She is constantly nibbling all around the tank. Poop, sand, glass, doesn't matter. She tastes it and spits it out if she doesn't like it. Kinda helps break down poop faster. lol.

 

[Menace]

I did have this. Cellphone picture of Batch B, no flash and horrible quality. Nonetheless the shrimp still look amazing because they are.

 

[Menace]

So far my shrimp seem to do their own thing and don't really get too curious. I dropped a wafer in and only 1 investigated. I think it's because I have fish in there too. Though I have noticed now that their numbers are est. 15 they are coming out a lot more (or have less places to hide) we'll see.

 

[Menace]

Soothing Shrimp There is his TPT profile. You can send him a message.