# enhancing white in Crystal Red Shrimp



## II Knucklez II (Oct 31, 2011)

Hello, I wanted to know if anyone has tried different products that are on the market claiming to enhance the CRS color. I know with a good diet and different foods should be good for them but I would like to know if anyone has tried these different products or any others.

Genchem White Pellet
http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/genchem-white-pellet-50g-p-5603.html

Borneo Wild Color 
http://www.alphaprobreeders.com/borneo-wild-color-20-gram/

Borneo Wild White
http://www.alphaprobreeders.com/borneowild-white-15-gram/

Mosura CRS Specialty
http://www.alphaprobreeders.com/mosura-crs-specialty-food-25-gram/

I have a few CRS that are not as white as the others and i know that may be because of genetics. Also some of the white on the CRS are turning pinkish? what could that be?


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

I use BW White, Crimson, stout, and Mosura CRS specialty as well.
Shell are red blood, the white is the harder part to show up. Shiny shells like its waxed. I wish I have my camera right now...

Is your shrimp berried? The white stripe on my saddled CRS is pinkish too. Only the shell that covers the eggs from the side turn pink.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

The shells do get glossier and I find the reds perks up slightly but the whites don't get much more brilliant than how they are. As these are food additives, the results are often temporary and do not supersede the fact of having poor genes. No amount of additives will make a b or c grade crs look more like an s. At best, you'll see thicker glossier shells which promote successful molting, only to reboot after a skin shed.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

acitydweller said:


> The shells do get glossier and I find the reds perks up slightly but the whites don't get much more brilliant than how they are. As these are food additives, the results are often temporary and do not supersede the fact of having poor genes. No amount of additives will make a b or c grade crs look more like an s. At best, you'll see thicker glossier shells which promote successful molting, only to reboot after a skin shed.


Ya, I'm not a big fan of additives to enhance the color, because if it fades as soon as they stop eating the food and you sell them, people are going to be disappointed. I rather sell shrimp that look the way they look, take it or leave it.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Products that improve the white on crs only work if theyre used from the time the shrimp are babies. You can't improve the white coverage of an adult shrimp. If they were once white, and now theyre getting clear, you need to figure out what is making them stressed. Is the pH crashing? Are nitrates too high? Phosphorus? Is the temperature getting too high during the day? All of these things can make a few of your shrimp lose color but leave others unchanged.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

+1 mordalphus, exactly that!


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## cantsay39 (Jun 10, 2011)

you will see it better with bw products on s grades and higher but not with A grades and below.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

As already covered, genetics and water quality go hand in hand when you're looking for best color (ie solidness, brightness, thickness of shell)

You can easily make a genetically beautiful shrimp ugly by tossing it in bad water but you cant make a genetically lacking shrimp look good by putting it in good water. It'll still be lacking regardless of what you feed or add to the water when compared to a higher grade.

I've never added any color additives to my tanks and I keep both lower grades and higher grades. Higher grades don't lose color as long as you keep good water quality and feed them a varied diet. Can't say the same for the lower grades... genetically they're just lacking. Not their fault, nor the keeper.


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## Shrimpaholic (Jul 7, 2012)

I only have lower grade CRS at the moment. Before learning the proper water params for CRS, I would notice that my CRS would lose some coloration over time, specifically the white coloring. Now that I keep them in ideal water params, proper diet, they seem to maintain and slightly improve in coloring from when I bought them. (the lfs where I get them keeps his CRS in pH of 7 and very high tds) I have noticed that keeping my water temps, 71-74F seems to help bring out their natural color. 

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## II Knucklez II (Oct 31, 2011)

Ya i have a few berried but they are not the ones with pinkish on them. Theres like 2 SSS that have the pinkish color over the white but very lil, I mostly have S+ and SSS. I have like 4 S's that lost some of there color over time so it might but the ph.

My ph is at 7.2 right now, it use to be at 6.4 because of my substrate (mr. aqua) but i guess my substrate is wearing out as far as bringing down the ph. My temp in the tank is between 74 to 78 but i'm going to put a fan over the top that i have laying around. I do water changes weekly and the shrimp are kept alone so my nitrates are at 0 every time i check it.

Maybe if i get a filter bag with some peat moss in my filter (AquaClear50) might help bring down the ph but thats hard to control form past experiences. 

Does any one here use peat moss in your filter to bring down the ph. (my water out of the faucet is 7.6)


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## Shrimpaholic (Jul 7, 2012)

That's a good question, about the peat moss. I have inert black sand and would like to be able to lower my pH a little more so I was thinking about trying it. 

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## II Knucklez II (Oct 31, 2011)

Shrimpaholic said:


> That's a good question, about the peat moss. I have inert black sand and would like to be able to lower my pH a little more so I was thinking about trying it.
> 
> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy using Tapatalk 2


i know it works, what i use to do was get peat moss in an upside down bottle that is cut in half and cover the opening(where you would drink from) with some fine mesh. Let the water run through the peat moss and the mesh into a bucket. but like i said its hard to control it and to measure every bucket when you do this process is a pain in the a$$. 

so i believe a filter bag with a lil bit of peat moss might work if i switch it out every month or so i guess.


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