If your shrimps show low or bad coloration, you maybe must adjust some parameters in keeping them. Understood that no shrimp can show more coloration than it’s original individual genes offers. Mostly CR tend to lose their white when something is not okay in their environment. So if you have pale or yellow CR, here is what to do:
- check water quality and water paramater (especially pH, GH and KH). A too low pH or rapid pH swings can wash out white. I have heard from cases where white even has not come back. Besides, phosphat, nitrate, nirite and high ammonium readings make shrimps suffer. Here are parameter from a a friend of mine who has very nice CR: pH 6.3-6.8; GH 4-8, KH 0, ms 150-220, temp. 22-23C
- give your shrimps enough hiding places and put your hands out of the tank – stress will always let coloration suffer
- shrimps sometimes show pale coloration if they are ready to molt or a short time after molting – in this case, you don’t have to worry
- some shrimp keepers regularly add mineral rocks, color enhancer powder or montmorillonite to their tanks and swear that coloration gets better
- feed vegetable based food with high percentage of calcium and magnesium (stinging nettle, spinach)
- change water in your tank more often but to a smaller amount (higher frequency of water changes with small quantity)
- chose a lightning with 8000K and enough power, say 0,5 W/litre (the formular is lamp power (W) / tank size= x W per litre), light caculator
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Really nice article, thank you.
I also noticed, that females carrying eggs have tendency to go to more transparent. I don’t know why.
gr81
Hi Imke,
Nice artikel, thanks
@gr81
i can see the loss of coloration also at all of my pregnant bees and i know it from a lot of other shrimpkeepers.
but i do’nt really know why they get more transparent whlile they are pregnant. maybe its to get less conspicuous in nature.
greeting markus