rereceived fire red shrimp in the mail. not much color.

[the-chad]

On Thursday Feb 21 I got 22 fire red shrimp in the mail. They were smaller than I expected, and for the most part , Lacking in color. They range in size from 1/4 inch to3/4 inches. Only one of them is a nice red, and he's about 5/8 of an inch. All of the largest ones are a nice orange color. Even a few of the smallest ones as well.
But roughly half of them have little or no color at all, even a few that are 5/8 inch.
Is this to be expected? The shipper says that due to the stress of shipping, it could take up to a week for them to regain full color. Is this true?

 

[bud29]

I would give them a bit of time to regain color - also, juvenile shrimp will not have the same color as the adults - you'll probably have to give them time to mature before they reach full PFR coloration.

 

[Regz8000]

I doubt they would lose their colour all together just from stress, maybe the orange ones will come back but I never really kept many shrimps so don't take my word as fact

 

[the-chad]

The odd thing is some of the smaller ones have color and some that are more than twice their size are clear.

 

[Regz8000]

Sounds to me like they may not be what they are supposed to be??? Maybe the wrong shrimp but idk

 

[the-chad]

Sounds to me like they may not be what they are supposed to be??? Maybe the wrong shrimp but idk

That's what I'm wondering.

 

[Mogurako]

Sounds to me like they may not be what they are supposed to be??? Maybe the wrong shrimp but idk

I am going to have to agree, unless you ordered from a reputable online breeder/vendor it's hard to tell what you are going to get. who did you order these from?'

 

[Scottyhorse]

Females have the bright red color. Males tend to not have as much color. Give them a week or so, and the older ones will color up. In about a month, give or take, and the younger females will have the color you are looking for.

 

[the-chad]

I am going to have to agree, unless you ordered from a reputable online breeder/vendor it's hard to tell what you are going to get. who did you order these from?'

I got them from a guy named Jordan in the Toronto area. Kinda found him by accident while searching online classifieds for java moss.
It's starting to look a little suspect now cause we exchanged dozens of emails for about a week, always with fast reply up to and including delivery day on Thursday. But I have sent emails yesterday and today with no response. I once asked him if his shrimp were bred from standard cherries and he scoffed saying that's like comparing a BN catfish to an angelfish. It wasnt until the shrimp were in the mail that he mentioned the shipping stress color thing. I'm not ready to condemn him yet though..he was very friendly and helpful throughout the whole process, at least until now. I

 

[Mogurako]

I got them from a guy named Jordan in the Toronto area. Kinda found him by accident while searching online classifieds for java moss.
It's starting to look a little suspect now cause we exchanged dozens of emails for about a week, always with fast reply up to and including delivery day on Thursday. But I have sent emails yesterday and today with no response. I once asked him if his shrimp were bred from standard cherries and he scoffed saying that's like comparing a BN catfish to an angelfish. It wasnt until the shrimp were in the mail that he mentioned the shipping stress color thing. I'm not ready to condemn him yet though..he was very friendly and helpful throughout the whole process, at least until now. I

It sounds like you have been had my friend, fire reds should not lose that much color during shipping . It's most likely he sold you fire red culls or just a very weak line of normal cherries.

If buying from someone other than an online breeder/vendor that you can read reviews on I would ask for video of the actual shrimp being sent. It's people like this guy who make it hard for small time breeders with good strains to sell to other hobbyists.

 

[jcolon]

It sounds like you have been had my friend, fire reds should not lose that much color during shipping . It's most likely he sold you fire red culls or just a very weak line of normal cherries.

If buying from someone other than an online breeder/vendor that you can read reviews on I would ask for video of the actual shrimp being sent. It's people like this guy who make it hard for small time breeders with good strains to sell to other hobbyists.

Have to agree with Mogurako .. the descriptions sounds like lower grade fires and or their RCS's. Posting pics if possible would also help.

 

[the-chad]

Heres one pic.. the color is not as vibrant on the front one on camera as it is to the naked eye but you can see the one shrimp in the background, roughly the same size as the colored one up front ,but with no color at all

 

[the-chad]

Here's the pic

 

[jcolon]

Well they could be Sakura Grade fire red shrimp (lowest grade) ... their red coloration's not any more red than your standard RCS IMO. To me those look like regular RCS, hopefully someone else who's actually kept or has red fire shrimp can comment.

 

[the-chad]

And here's another pic.

 

[bud29]

Hmm, those do look like regular cherries, that last picture looks like a high-end cherry to low-end sakura. Although to be real honest, nobody really grades RCS any more according to the standards, if they seem red they will slap the name "fire red" on them..... Just for reference, here is a picture of one of my painted fire reds: (these are true pfr's)

 

[the-chad]

Hmm, those do look like regular cherries, that last picture looks like a high-end cherry to low-end sakura. Although to be real honest, nobody really grades RCS any more according to the standards, if they seem red they will slap the name "fire red" on them..... Just for reference, here is a picture of one of my painted fire reds: (these are true pfr's)

That looks more like what I was expecting..I guess I'll give it a few more days or so to see if there's any improvement..
Could the baby blue substrate have any affect on their coloration?

 

[bud29]

If anything, I think the blue substrate would contrast with the red and make it pop more....not dull it.

 

[Mogurako]

Like I was saying earlier they shouldn't lose that much color during shipping. I've had shrimp shipped in winter with out heatpacks for 3 days that didn't even loose color.

The fact that they are that large and dull tell me they are a poor strain of normal cherries. While most people will say that the males will not be as colorful if its a solid strain even the males will have a good red coloration. I agree that trying to grade a cherry shrimp is kind of pointless, unless you have received an originator strain from Germany or Taiwan in which case they will tell you the grade.

 

[the-chad]

Bummer. I paid 70 dollars for 22 of these shrimp and some java moss. Including shipping.