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i know little about the grading systems of these shrimps but i must say.. NICE PICS! anyway sidetrack a little, i do not think the owners of the pictures will mind much
Grading system of Cherry to Fire Red Shrimps?
Had been culling shrimps from the fire red colony and realized that I sometimes have trouble deciding which is what, especially when I had to first determine the sex of the shrimp before I can grade it.
Searched online and found that the grading is too clear cut and there's no system for those "in-betweens".
Went to the LFSs and its even more confusing at times, although the overall trend is moving towards cheaper fire reds so the lower grades are not really featured as much.
Did some googling and put together some rough photos of what I "think" should be the grading IMHO. Some of the photos are mine and some from google image search. I take no credits for those that are not mine.
Please give your views and opinions
Cherry Grade
Mostly transparent with spots of light red. Legs are colorless. Males are almost totally colorless.
Sakura Grade
Mostly red except the lower body and legs, which are very spotted or striped. Males can range from colorless to cherry grade.
High Grade Sakura / Low Grade Fire Red
Almost entirely red, with only small cracks and holes in the carapace, lower body and legs. Intensity of the red may be poorer, giving a translucent or orange tint to the shell. Males can range from cherry to almost the same as the females.
Fire Red Grade
Entirely red, with no obvious cracks in the carapace and body. Legs should be entirely red as well. However, saddles and eggs are still visible through the shell under normal lighting conditions. Males can be Sakura to almost the same as females.
Came across some strange discussions during my search that there were 2 kinds of Fire Reds; Sakura Fire Reds and Taiwan Fire Reds.
The claim was that Sakura FR were darker red, had a pale stripe running down the back and the offsprings had very poor percentage of coming out Fire Red.
Taiwan FR on the other hand, were more bright red, is completely homogenous in color (no stripe) and only about 10% of the offsprings needed to be culled.
Anyone can enlighten on this? What kinds do we have? I see a mix of the striped and non-striped being sold together and I have a mix of the darker maroon colored as well as the brighter "ang pow" red FR in my tank.
Painted Fire Red Grade
Entirely red, with no obvious cracks in the carapace and body. Legs should be entirely red as well. Very solid and opaque shells, saddles and eggs only visible through the shell under back-lit conditions. Males can be Sakura to almost the same as females.
It is said that Painted FR are not really a separate stable line, but rather, just a cherry picking (pardon the pun) of the best Fire Reds from the colony. However, I do notice a difference in the quality of the offsprings.
Any improvements, views, comments and insights, please post! Thanks!
If I had used your photo and you want it taken down, please let me know!
i know little about the grading systems of these shrimps but i must say.. NICE PICS! anyway sidetrack a little, i do not think the owners of the pictures will mind much
I think that your grading system is very clear to me, as I do see the differences from one level to the next. I guess that many LFS are not too bother with the "grade" of cherry that they sell. In fact I do notice tyhat several LFS don't even sell it nowadays as more people are keen on CRS (Crytsal Red Shrimp) - those with white and red.
In Bangkok weekend market(pet corner are open everyday), majority cherry are Sakura category.
Price is 10baht per shrimp.
RCS are nice as they are more hardy and you do not need a chiller.
You can put them in any aquarium as long as they are not food for fish.
Most babies will be cull but there is a chance that they will still boom with small fish as long as you have mosses, plants and driftwood for them to hide.
They smaller fish like Neon Tetra, Galaxy do not eat the shrimplets once they passed one week old.
I have a tank(20cmX40cmX25cm) with 4 Neon Tetra, 3 Galaxy and 3 Otos.
The population of RCS are rising all the time and I have to cull them by throwing them into the garden water plant pots(They survive in there!!!).
Very nice documentation and pictures.
I got totally lost in JJ mall the last time I went thailand. hahaOriginally Posted by hyun007
Thats about 50 cents for 1, which I feel is currently a fair price to pay for a sakura grade.
Galaxy will go for tiny shrimplets...that I'm pretty sure. I only trust a few algae eaters and maybe boraras brigittae. I have boraras brigittae in the tank and they are not interested in shrimplets. If a shrimplet swims by, the fish will dash forward abit thinking that its a piece of fish food, but will stop and lose interest about an inch away once they can see that its just a shrimplet swimming by.
Even seed shrimps does not interest the boraras brigittae.
Thanks, I think you're right that LFS are not interested in getting any gradings correct for RCS and given the current greater availability of higher grade fire reds and the better profits from CRS, this would be a waste of time to businesses.
is this boraras brigittae?
i have 6 in my tank, surprisingly, they can chew BIG chunks of shrimp food
Indeed. And that's a fine specimen too.is this boraras brigittae?
i have 6 in my tank, surprisingly, they can chew BIG chunks of shrimp food
I guess they can probably take a shrimplet if they wanted to...but given their preferred swimming depth and how well fed they are in my tank...
If you want Cherry or Fire Red, go to the aquarium market just beside JJ Market.
JJ market is only good for high grade CRS(like the beni ebi line) or rare shrimps.
For the aquarium market, I personally like the "All Fish Aquarium" as it seem to have everything I want at a reasonable price.
It is not easy to find but it has the best variaties of fish and invertebrates.
There are a couple of other shop that I visited frequently but I forgot their name.
There are quite a few type of boraras and boraras brigittae is getting rare.
If you guys manage to get hold of borars brigittae, please take good care of them.
Due to over demand, the wild stock in Myammar has been greatly depleted.
Similiar case with the galaxy but they have been successfully breed by breeders.
My galaxy did the same thing as your boraras brigittae, it stop an inch away from the shrimplet which swim by.
I guess different tanks will have different behavior on the fish.
It also depend the feeding habit of the owner.
Some galaxy will eat shrimplets and some will not.
Great post Navanod! Just what i've been looking for. Very I terested in FR cos they look so pretty and CRS are getting too common. I noticed the painted FR are taken frm your own photos,
you can't get any from the net??? That must mean painted ones
are super rare
If cherry are very hardy and can stand warm temperature, does that mean FR also can?
Oh 2 more quick question:
1. Will Sakura cross breed with CRS or other shrimps like Malayan or yamato?
2. How much is a FR retailing at LFS?
Thank you. There're pictures of painted reds (mainly from a few masters) but I prefer not to pinch from others if I could, esp when my own pictures can show the difference well enough. Painted reds cannot be found in local LFS anymore due to cost although if you're lucky, you might find some in a colony of normal fire reds.Great post Navanod! Just what i've been looking for. Very I terested in FR cos they look so pretty and CRS are getting too common
you can't get any from the net??? That must mean painted ones
are super rare
If cherry are very hardy and can stand warm temperature, does that mean FR also can?
Sakura cannot breed with CRS, malayan or yamato. In fact, all these 4 species are not able to breed with each other at all. However, note that malayans are normally very very cheap and hence, the QC is normally not there so you might get some wild cherries that could cross and spoil the sakura line.
Real malayans and yamato prefer/require brackish water to breed, although there were reports that malayans can breed in fresh water.
A FR can cost anywhere from 1+ gold coins onwards depending on quality and whether its in a prepacked bag or self catch
PFR was retailing for 4 purple notes previously
Mine is a fire red grade right?
I have this one which has a strong obvious white bands on her legs, it think looks nicer than pure red legs
I barely can see the difference between fire red and painted fire red except for the legs joint
P1060622_1.jpg
This thread should be sticky.
I think it is well overdue for the industry to come up with a universal grading for the humble cherry and all its manifestations. Here in the UK there does not seem to be such a grading and yours clearly shows the possibilities from this single species.
I have bred the humble Cherry for several years, I have a head of around 3000 specimens. I can say without doubt that most cherries have the POTENTIAL to colour up to a fantastic level and be classed as FIRE RED. For example, I had a tank that was becoming overrun with standard coloured cherries, I transferred to another tank that had some small fish and cories in and within a month the females had developed the most stunning Red colouration - the tank setup was a bit different but had I not relocated the shrimp then they would have remained a nothing out of the ordinary colouration....! I have sent shrimp to all locations around the UK, all from the same stock, some dont do as well as others but most of the time I receive glowing reports of vivid Reds throughout. I find that a BLACK substrate is very important to bringing out the Red - the addition of small dither fish also helps - possibly stress, I dont know but it works. I keep my fems in a specific breeding tank with my best males, This tank has white substrate and lots of plants, when berried I transfer to another tank with Black substrate and within days they are a changed species......lovely deep Red. I transfer back to the breeding tank when she has shed the eggs and her colour fades until the next cycle. If I leave the shrimp in the breeding tank throughout, then she does not attain the same colouration as she would have if been moved to the other birthing tank. So I have proved that the humble cherry can attain fabulous colours if kept in preferable conditions....! The debate continues...
Bungy
Nav....
All I could say is...."THIS IS A GOOD ONE!!!"
Clear and easily understand....
Really admire your love and understanding of shrimps.
Great job....2 thumbs up...
Wa very nice fr but very funny because the body so sexy red the leg like borrow from a cherry a few of my fr also like that. Only two piece in my tank got full red ones btw what is your fr standing on? Mamiro carpet?
It's sticky now! Haha!
Apologies, I missed your question till now. That looks pretty fire red to me, legs are colored enough.
Hi Bungy, thanks for dropping in and sharing your experiences.
I had probably bred around 2 thousands of these red shrimps over the last 2 years and it's a very satisfying specie to keep.
Your observations are consistent with mine but the degree of improvement is beyond what I had experienced.
Lighting, background and food can affect their colors but I'm not sure how much one can defy genetics and "upgrade" from cherry to fire red by manipulating the environment.
With that being said, I was in Hong Kong this week and their cherry/fore red tanks are all rigged to make them look too good to be true. Black background and substrates, reddish purple lights and always on the lower tier so it's nice and dark.
Impossible to grade!
The aim is to breed a line that can be displayed in the bright light of a planted display tank, against a green background, and still looks a mean solid red.
I was in UK last september but could not find a shop that specialize in shrimps. I'm not surprised no one bothered to grade them since they are cheap and easy to breed.
hi, may i know what plant is that in the picture of 'Painted Fire Red Grade'?
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