Jump to content

Thirsty enough for a sunkist shrimp?


Heavyd

Recommended Posts

I thought it was time for an update on my Sunkist cherry breeding program. I have been trying to get some consistency with these shrimp for some time now and achieve a true Sunkist shrimp as per its namesake - The Sunkist Drink.

I started off with a mix of 3 different bloodlines which consisted of several different shades including what many call'the Pumpkin colour. I have been aggressively culling shrimp from this colony for quite some time, including recently removing all shrimp which showed the pumpkin colouration.

I think I am getting pretty close to the colour of the drink. What do you all reckon??????

These photo's are completely untouched, taken with my macro lens and uploaded without alteration. I will try and get some more photos of the rest of the colony if people are interested in seeing them. These are only a few of them.

IMG_6105_zps3930886c.jpg

sunkist_zps176c8a65.jpg

IMG_6116_zpscb338af2.jpg

IMG_6103_zps652c28c3.jpg

IMG_6115_zps1647f78d.jpg

IMG_6111_zps00e349ce.jpg

IMG_6117_zpsa6c07f06.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That bottle of sunkist blent right into the images of the shrimp haha. Great quality

Link to comment
Share on other sites

coming along nice mate, separating the lines is the best thing with them.

as the 2 colors are very different with the higher quality ones..

keep us updated, love to see people working hard for quality :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the great comments. Keep them coming :)

@Dean: You are very right and I was fighting it because they both looked so great. But I wasn't being true to my goal with the sunkists.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quite an achievement heavyd.....They look fantastic :encouragement:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantasea looking good, Sunkist is by far a better name and keep the photos coming and the young so we can buy some.

Bob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantasea looking good' date=' Sunkist is by far a better name and keep the photos coming and the young so we can buy some.

Bob[/quote']

is-this-real-life-or-is-this-just-fanta-sea.jpg

Sorry couldn't resist :P

Shrimpies are looking great HeavyD :encouragement:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stunning pics dude, the colour is so vibrant & strong, keep up the good work & keep the pics coming :victorious:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats and well done on the selective breeding. Really nice to see quality shrimps :encouragement:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice as Heavy!

More pics would be great ..... and the pumpkins for comparison.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gorgeous colours HeavyD, i would also love to see the pumpkin comparison :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beautiful sunkists mate. Great deep colours!

More pics would be great!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well done mate, They are a tribute to your skill and patients

Wayne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Side note: What type of moss is that? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks so much for the great compliments.

Ever since the "Orange" shrimp came onto the scene there wasn't a clear indication of what constituted a 'Sunkist' and what constituted a 'Pumpkin' shrimp. This kind of bugged me for quite a while as I didn't have a clear objective with my selective breeding.

Are people happy with this shade of orange to be called "Sunkist"? Obviously I still have work to improve the colouration and thickness of the colour, but in general would this be the shade people would be happy with?

For those who asked here are some pictures of the pumpkins that I removed from my colony:

DSC00480_zpsb062724f.jpg

DSC00484_zps67d2e185.jpg

In this photo below you can see the difference in colour between the pumpkin shrimp at the front and the sunkist shrimp at the back.

DSC00472_zpsf858b484.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well mate you now sit in the front seat with Dean and BB, nice, yell when you have some for sale

Bob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice Heavyd. Just goes to show time and effort pays off. I'm glad I have your bloodlines as yours are the best around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Amazing shrimp, stunning, and very sunkist! Thirsty now... must get cool refreshing beverage!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the appreciation.

@Bob: I have a long way to go before I'm anywhere near BB or Dean. Appreciate the sentiments though :encouragement:

@Wraithie: The moss is called Mt. Glorious Fissidens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • HOF Member

You breed some really nice shrimp HeavyD well done:encouragement:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • sdlTBfanUK
      I would hazard a guess that perhaps those eggs were unfertilized and thereby unviable? Did the eggs change colour, usually yellow to grey as the yolks used up, or any eyes in the eggs. Is your water ok, using RO remineralised and the parameters in range, as I have heard others say that if the water isn't good it can 'force' a molt? How is it going overall, do you have a good size colony in the tank, you may have reached 'maximum occupancy' as a tank can only support so many occupants.
    • beanbag
      Hello folks,  The current problem I am having is that my Taiwan bee shrimp are molting before all their eggs have hatched.  Often the shrimp keep the eggs for 40+ days.  During that time, they lose about half or so, either due to dropping or duds or whatever.  Shortly before molting they look to have about a dozen left, and then they molt with about half a dozen eggs still on the shell.  Then the other shirmp will come and eat the shell.  These last few times, I have been getting around 0-3 surviving babies per batch.  I figure I can make the eggs hatch faster by raising the water temperature more (currently around 68F, which is already a few degrees higher than I used to keep it) or make the shrimp grow slower by feeding them less (protein).  Currently I feed Shrimp King complete every other day, and also a small dab of Shrimp Fit alternating days.  Maybe I can start alternating with more vegetable food like mulberry?  or just decrease the amount of food?
    • ngoomie
      Yeah, cancer risk was a thing I'd seen mentioned a lot when looking into gentian violet briefly. I kinda just figured it might only be as bad as the cancer risk of malachite green as well, but maybe I should look into it more. I've been doing a pretty good job of not getting it on my skin and also avoiding dunking my unprotected hands into the tank water while treating my fish at least, though. Maybe I'll just not use it once I'm done this course of medication anyways, because I know a store I can sometimes get to that's pretty distant carries both malachite green and methylene blue, and in pretty large quantities.
    • jayc
      Can't help you with Gentian Violet, sorry. It is banned in Australia violet for potential toxicity, and even possible cancer risks. I thought it was banned in Canada as well. At least, you now know why there isn't much info on gentian violet medication and it's use. But keep an eye on the snails after a week. If it affects the snails, it might not kill them immediately. So keep checking for up to a week. Much safer options out there. No point risking your own life over unsafe products.
    • ngoomie
      Hello! I have a tank that currently does not contain shrimp, but does contain neon tetras which I am currently treating for Ich, as well as some bladder snails. Shrimp will be a later addition, likely cherry shrimp but I'm still doing research just to be sure. Initially I'd intended to buy some sort of Ich-fighting product that contains malachite green after doing a decent bit of research on it, most of which indicated that it should be shrimp-safe so I'd be good if I ever needed to use it again once shrimp were actually introduced (though I should note I'm aware shrimp can't get Ich, I'm more wondering in case the tetras could get Ich again, or something else that responds to similar medication). I ended up not being able to find any MG-containing products without either having to travel quite far or wait multiple days for delivery (which I was worried could lead the Ich to be fatal), and ended up picking up 'Top Fin Ick Remedy', a product that contains gentian violet which is a triarylmethane dye like malachite green. The bottle has two slightly differently worded warnings about its use with invertebrates ("not recommended for" and "not safe for" respectively), but when I'd been researching malachite green, I'd also heard of products that contain MG but not any other ingredients that would be harmful to inverts still being branded with warnings that they could be harmful, just as a "just-in-case" since the manufacturer didn't test it on any inverts, and I'm wondering if maybe it could be a similar situation here. I'm having a very very hard time finding information about gentian violet's use in fishkeeping at all though, it seems currently extremely uncommon. What I will say though is that I'm on day 2 of treating my tetras with it, and the bladder snails seem just fine -- in fact today I noticed what looked to be a bladder snail that appeared to be newly hatched (because of its size) that I hadn't seen before that was zipping around the tank without issue. But obviously, shrimp are not snails, and bladder snails are also notoriously hardy little guys, so what I'm seeing right now could easily be totally inapplicable to cherry shrimp. It might even be inapplicable to other species of snails, for all I know. Has anyone else here ever used anything that contains gentian violet in a tank that actually does contain shrimp? Were they okay, or should I make sure to not use it once shrimp are added?
×
×
  • Create New...