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A Sensible Discussion about Grading of Shrimp


Foxpuppet

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I'd like to Start by saying i know this topic is a bit of a minefield to negotiate. But with Australia's unique Circumstance with regards to our Genepool for CRS/CBS, i figured it was about time WE have a standard set of guidelines for grading shrimp here. If members want to contribute there thoughts here, we can try to come up with a ideas for a simple system that we can use as the Hobby grows and gets better in Australia.

I have noticed a tendency by some members (myself included) to use Grading Guides from all different sources and that can lead to issues or confusion when selling/buying etc. The use of good quality pics of shrimp in question can help but even then it can be difficult.

There was a set of pictures and a guide i stumbled on when first getting into the hobby and it's really what i have stuck to even though i have only kept what many would consider lower grades on the scale (I only just got my first SSS CRS) http://www.planetinverts.com/crystal%20red%20shrimp%20grading%20guide.html

This guide has been great, but with advancement in breeding techniques and shrimp products like soils, mineral, additives, etc becoming more available, the quality of shrimp has now leapt ahead. what some once considered a SSS, others would say is only A if the thickness of colour/white is not truly solid. There are also Newer Genetic Lines like PRL that add a new dimension in quality to the shrimp and don't even start on the whole Taiwan Bee thing, that's going to add a whole new dimension as they spread through the ranks of our small community of hobbyists ;)

I think with the likes of Dean, Lionel and others with great shrimp room/rack Setups, it's only going to be a few years and we will be seeing awesome quality in australia just as the breeders in Japan, Taiwan etc are getting now, so we should be discussing how we would like to grade the shrimp we have or will have available to us in the coming years.

Over to you.

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Great idea mate. I personally like the idea that pattern and the solidity of the colour is what's accounted for when grading. In other words, I don't consider an SS or SSS to be such unless the colour is nice and solid.

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this is a topic that is discussed widely all around the world and there is no general consensus as to what makes each grade just that.

personally the only CRS / CBS i grade are SS & SSS. i put all other shrimp into the same single category. (culls)

i grade only by color in the SS & SSS with the related pattern.

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And while we are at it !How about a grading system for the humble RED CHERRY SHRIMP and their morphs,even though these guys are as common as chips, there are a number of dedicated breeders of RCS out there that are working just as hard to improve the breed as there is CBS/CRS breeders maybe harder due to the way cherries are so malined now days.

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I have started get together some notes about grading (SORRY) Red Cherry Shrimp, and their various morphs. I have discovered taht a guy in Germany has made a great attempt at doing this very thing . He has used pictures that he has sourced from the net. however, I would like to use pictures etc from our own home grown shrimp. If anyone has pictures of their Cherry shrimp, Dosn't matter what colour, that you would be happy for me to use in trying to put this guide together please feel free to send them to me.

Is someone working on a guide for CRS/CBS etc yet? give me a heads up and maybe help each other.

Enjoy!

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And while we are at it !How about a grading system for the humble RED CHERRY SHRIMP

There already is a grading for them, just need to track it down again. Had them split like Fire Red, Rilli, Sakura, etc...

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Yeh mate, I think that is the guide i mentioned originally, put together by a guy in Germany, and a great job he has done. My problem with his grading is that he has used peoples pictures that he found on the web, and has used them without the owners permission.All sorts of legal problems can can be had if tested. I would like to compile a grading guide using pictures donated with permission to use of our shrimp in Australia. As with CRS/CBS etc we don't have gene pool in this country as they have overseas so I think that we need something that reflects our efforts here.

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Grading really is difficult to do, and the shrimp community will never be able to agree on grades, IMO (at last that was my experience with the shrimp club project of 2010, maybe some guys remember the initiative).

Europe will have another shrimp contest in fall 2012 in Italy, and a very small group has been working clandestinely on new grades and judgment sheets (without a bigger public discussion). Just search for 'European Shrimp association'.

I am attaching a file with the grades I know for any further free usage Excel to ZIP file).

conv_201.zip

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Yeh mate' date=' I think that is the guide i mentioned originally, put together by a guy in Germany, and a great job he has done. My problem with his grading is that he has used peoples pictures that he found on the web, and has used them without the owners permission.All sorts of legal problems can can be had if tested. I would like to compile a grading guide using pictures donated with permission to use of our shrimp in Australia. As with CRS/CBS etc we don't have gene pool in this country as they have overseas so I think that we need something that reflects our efforts here.[/quote']

I can help supply some photos, just leave my watermark on the bottom RHS so I know if someone outside of this forum tries to use it. It's a small watermark like thus:

7674725128_1accc59949_b.jpg

IMG_3243 by AussieNoGi, on Flickr

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Hi NoGi,

That is exactly what I want, i was going to ask everyone to put their watermarks on each picture and also ask permission for the owners name to be listed in the credits? GEEEE I love those Rillie's Get some one day.

I am not picky what var of Neocaridina heteropoda you send me as long as their quality is plain to see, a male and female picture would be great. Thank again much appreciated.

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Hey I got a great idea, people can send me some offspring samples of cherry coloured variations and I'll send back some macro shots. :p:p

But seriously, can we do wiki's here? If we can, we should start now and just build on it. My photo's are available free of use as long as the watermark is retained and no one sells them off as their own.

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Hey I got a great idea' date=' people can send me some offspring samples of cherry coloured variations and I'll send back some macro shots. :p:p

But seriously, can we do wiki's here? If we can, we should start now and just build on it. My photo's are available free of use as long as the watermark is retained and no one sells them off as their own.[/quote']

wikis? As in where words become linked to a wiki page? Such as 'yellow shrimp' going to a page on it?

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Instead of wiki pages, we can use threads in a grading section? Managed/Edit by mods to be concise and succinct? We also have blog facilities here.

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Now you are getting well past my humble computer skills, but is sounds great!!! please educate me more. love this stuff Go guys Go!!!

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Actually, one of my suggestions in another thread was to have a library section. When/if this gets implemented, the grading information should be in there.

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I like! would be nice if this grading system became open to all in the country so we need to be able to advertise it some how.

But we are putting the horse in front of the cart! lets get everything compiled first before we worry about getting it out there.

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I like! would be nice if this grading system became open to all in the country so we need to be able to advertise it some how.

But we are putting the horse in front of the cart! lets get everything compiled first before we worry about getting it out there.

That's why I suggested putting it on the SKF library. :D

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Happy to do that mate, lead the way. my knowledge of this type of thing is very limited

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Ok, I'm going to make a start on this in the library soon. Will start with the Cherries. If anyone has any content for inclusion please drop me a PM. No point reinventing the wheel.

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I've started the Cherry grading stuff. If anyone has pics of cherries that are not yellow please send them to me. I'm using 800px wide photo's.

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  • 2 weeks later...

hhhmmm, I don't know about you guys but in my experience, the thing with cherries is that they can change colour intensity depending on environment and age. For example I've had female cherries that looked plain in one tank and then turn solid red and look stunning in another tank (high light and co2) - one day you may have an average cherry and then another day that cherry is all of a sudden a 'fire red'? I don't think so. Also young females from crap stock can look like a poor quality shrimp but can develope good colour when older and can look like a sakura. Based on these observations I think it'll be hard to grade cherries, since a cherry shrimp's colour does not necessarily reflect the quality of its bloodline/whether it'll breed true.

For example, I use to have a tank that was full of cherries and I would just let them breed like rabbits - no selective breeding whatsoever. Sometimes I would find a nice red female from the lfs for $2 and chuck her into the mix. Often times I would get females that are very solid and red (normally as they aged or when I dumped them into my planted tank). Now these females I could have marketed as sukura grade (with no specialise breeding effort on my part whatsoever) but any buyer of these would have been looking into a lucky dip.

That's just my observations from my past experiences. What do you guys think?

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