# Dyed Shrimp



## aquagirl (Aug 15, 2007)

I received this email from Frank Greco tonight and thought that I would pass this information on.......




Well, they've finally done it. Now they are coloring amano shrimp in 
Taiwan! When will this practice stop? Here's what was on the 
availability list this week:

Amano shrimp-red 
Amano shrimp-blue 
Amano shrimp-green 
Amano shrimp-violet 
Amano shrimp-mixcolor 

I hope these never become popular.

Frank


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

so sad...


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## Scipio (Feb 18, 2008)

Dirty dirty deeds for human greed :icon_roll


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

how do they "color" them?


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

mysticalnet said:


> how do they "color" them?


Probably injected? I don't know, can't see the shrimp surviving the normal methods of coloring fish like they do with tetras and such, but I could be wrong.

That is so horrible. Anything to make a friggin buck.


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## honor (Apr 8, 2008)

pics?


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## BooUrns! (Apr 23, 2008)

One molt and the colour is gone?


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

no, more like months. They dont inject dyed shrimp, I dont know for sure how it is dont though


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## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

These shrimp are on a list of a wholesaler...

There is a good chance they are not even Amano shrimp!


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Dwarfpufferfish said:


> These shrimp are on a list of a wholesaler...
> 
> There is a good chance they are not even Amano shrimp!


I agree the chances of them really being amano are low IMO.



mysticalnet said:


> how do they "color" them?


I am guessing via food. Its actually really easy and safe to do.



stlfishlover said:


> Probably injected? I don't know, can't see the shrimp surviving the normal methods of coloring fish like they do with tetras and such, but I could be wrong.
> 
> That is so horrible. Anything to make a friggin buck.


Surprisingly I disagree. Its very easy to dye some shrimp. For example you can "Dye" ghost shrimp just by feeding them normal commercial foods like tetra color bits and whatnot. I had some a while back which I managed to dye blue:icon_eek: All where nice and healthy. Now granted they didn't look like :fish: but they had much more blue than normal. Feeding food like cyclops eze also can "dye" a shrimp.

Now if they're taking needles and injecting shrimp I see a whole different story but can you really imagine someone taking the time to do this? It would be VERY inefficient I would imagine and I can't see much money being made.

-Andrew


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## TJT (Jun 8, 2008)

Wouldnt this be done geneticly like all the other things humans have a tendancy to "tinker" with. Much like those pear apples or other strage food that we have altered, i would have to assume(could be very wrong) they did it geneticly.


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## stlfishlover (Mar 26, 2008)

A Hill said:


> I agree the chances of them really being amano are low IMO.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That makes more sense than injecting or dipping, but what would they have to feed a shrimp to turn it violet? :icon_eek: Scary thought.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

TJT said:


> Wouldnt this be done geneticly like all the other things humans have a tendancy to "tinker" with. Much like those pear apples or other strage food that we have altered, i would have to assume(could be very wrong) they did it geneticly.


These wholesalers to my knowledge just farm or catch and sell. Thats too advanced:icon_roll 



stlfishlover said:


> That makes more sense than injecting or dipping, but what would they have to feed a shrimp to turn it violet? :icon_eek: Scary thought.


Well some people have some cherries that have gone purple. I have in the past... Now not a solid magenta but more purple than red.

Another way they could be doing it is a dye bath, now depending on the method and how its used I'm for/against it. I've thought about trying a food coloring bath (non toxic dye) on some ghosts to see if it was work just as a "scientific experiment" There is a good amount of shrimp that are WC imported and the F1s don't achieve the same color due to being in the tank and missing something.. Now on the being able to ID these shrimp issue its a whole nother story imo.

-Andrew


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## aquagirl (Aug 15, 2007)

Hi Andrew,

You are 100% correct, you can color shrimp using food. You can do this on purpose or by accident, lol. I found this out a few weeks ago when most of my yellow shrimp turned, blue and green. :eek5: 

It turns out that a large percentage of the foods that I was feeding them contains Astaxanthin. When I buy food I check every food container for copper but forgot all about the Astaxanthin.

****smacks self in forehead****:icon_roll 

I spoke to southerndesert about it and he reminded me that we had both read a posting on another forum about Astaxanthin causing color changes in yellow shrimp.

On a side note....It did not effect the snowball shrimp nor did it enhance the color in the blue pearls.:hihi: 


To those who asked......
I have no idea how they are "dying" them and I did not receive pictures. I think that I am safe in saying that they were just listed on the wholesale list as being available.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

TJT said:


> Wouldnt this be done geneticly like all the other things humans have a tendancy to "tinker" with. Much like those pear apples or other strage food that we have altered, i would have to assume(could be very wrong) they did it geneticly.


Glowfish are a prime example of this. In their case they are genetically engineered. I believe they use some coral DNA to give them the Orange and Green color. Kinda stupid if you ask me for a fish that retails for $3


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## aquagirl (Aug 15, 2007)

fshfanatic said:


> Glowfish are a prime example of this. In their case they are genetically engineered. I believe they use some coral DNA to give them the Orange and Green color. Kinda stupid if you ask me for a fish that retails for $3


:eek5: I had no clue. I agree, that is stupid.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

aquagirl said:


> Hi Andrew,
> 
> You are 100% correct, you can color shrimp using food. You can do this on purpose or by accident, lol. I found this out a few weeks ago when most of my yellow shrimp turned, blue and green. :eek5:
> 
> ...


Yup thats what I was refferring to mainly. Astaxanthin effects the red pigments in animals generally. It can make CRS got to Crystal red and orange shrimp (very nice if done right) (when used in low low low controlled doses it REALLY can help the red but its hard to keep the white pure)

The reason I bet it didn't effect at least snowballs is that snowballs are lacking pigment opposed to having certain pigments in excess (RCS) 

I'm not sure if thats explained correctly scientifically, and I need to do more reading and research about this and that but its how I understand it. 

Naturose and Cyclops eze are very high in Astaxanthin , paprika is also a red color enhancer used here and there by people. 



fshfanatic said:


> Glowfish are a prime example of this. In their case they are genetically engineered. I believe they use some coral DNA to give them the Orange and Green color. Kinda stupid if you ask me for a fish that retails for $3


I know the orange ones are coral DNA, not sure if they used a different DNA strand for the other colors (obviously different strand not sure if it was from some other creature) just like how they made glowing pigs and other animals with jellyfish DNA. 

But the wholesalers didn't do this... it was scientists and these fish are a true breeding fish so the wholesalers who do have them breed them like an other dario or white cloud (what species are they again?) Scientists have also taken out the color of them for tests and using them to study diseases. 

-Andrew


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

Regarding the glofish, I suggest you read up on them if you don't know their history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GloFish is a good start. Altering the DNA of the fish was not done for commercial purposes in relationship to the tropical fish hobby, but rather for environmental study. The fish was designed to be a "canary in a coal mine", so to speak. Fish turns green/orange/yellow, water is polluted. Selling the rights to the fish to the tropical fish industry was probably a smart move for the scientists who created them, enabling to fund further research.

But back on topic... I'd also like to know how the shrimp were dyed. As far as individually injecting them--NOTHING surprises me anymore. Ever since I saw heart-tattooed silver balloon mollies, I figure anything can be profitable with cheap labor and an open market.


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## metageologist (Jan 10, 2008)

what branch of are US goverment could we petition to ban such animals in the US. i mean if some one went around geneticly altering dogs and cats so they were bright colors suchas yellow and green they would forbid it.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

metageologist said:


> what branch of are US goverment could we petition to ban such animals in the US. i mean if some one went around geneticly altering dogs and cats so they were bright colors suchas yellow and green they would forbid it.


Right now I would never try to get the govt to start banning genetically altered stuff.

Have you seen that many are trying to get all exotics banned?:eek5: 

http://www.dendroboard.com/the-lounge/topic36683.html
http://www.dendroboard.com/the-lounge/topic36641.html

You see? Its much easier to just get everything banned. Much harder to get good specifics banned.

GloFish are illegal in the UK as with any altered fish to my knowledge (but line bred fish are ok...?) 

-Andrew


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

A Hill said:


> GloFish are illegal in the UK as with any altered fish to my knowledge (but line bred fish are ok...?)
> -Andrew


I am fairly sure that only dyed and injected fish are illegal, and that glofish were initially illegal, but are now legal in england

they are banned in canada because of lack of scientific reaserch on them

and in the EU


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## aquagirl (Aug 15, 2007)

Andrew.......Thanks for the information, I get the basics of what you are saying about the snowballs. 

FrostyNYC......Thanks for the link, I'll be sure to read it.

Fishsandwitch.......Interesting, I'll check that out as well.


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## southerndesert (Sep 9, 2007)

Wow I must say I have learned from this thread! Thanks all for your input....

The fish injection info was all new to me.

Cheers, Bill


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

fishsandwitch said:


> I am fairly sure that only dyed and injected fish are illegal, and that glofish were initially illegal, but are now legal in england
> 
> they are banned in canada because of lack of scientific reaserch on them
> 
> and in the EU


Hmm I'll have to double check on the UK legalities, last I heard they where illegal. 

They're illegal is California along with everything else! lol

-Andrew


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## metageologist (Jan 10, 2008)

i see what your saying about banning every thing to bad we cant educate these 80 year old government officials. i wonder how many know what genetic engineering is


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

TTiWWoP!


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

MedRed said:


> TTiWWoP!


Meaning? 

I really have always been a proponent for intelligent posting and this just boggles my mind because it means something but I've never seen it before!

-Andrew


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)




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## thief (Jan 12, 2008)

hehehe. That's a good one MR. 

Anyways I don't know a lot about this issue but I think we should make sure the popularity is kept to a minimum. I doubt that we will beable to get rid of them but I hope they don't start coming up in other shrimp stores.:icon_roll


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

MedRed said:


>


Gotcha.

Its tough to say for sure without pictures you're right. 

I honestly don't really have a problem with it, until there are 1032423`5314531984573145345^66 posts asking what my shimp is:icon_roll 

Thats my problem with this type of thing.

-Andrew


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