Improving shrimp color

[Dodgeylauren]

I’ve made adjustments to my set up based on your recommendations but my shrimp are still translucent. Is there anything I can do to improve their red color?

[Paulzie67]

Shrimp from different islands have different colors and varying degrees of red. Could have to do with the coloration on yours or, because there are so many people keeping them now and so many collecting from different locations, the results of mixing could also have something to do with it.
Here's a pic of the Population chart of the Islands from the book "Hawaiian Anchialine Pools: Windows to a Hidden World" by by Mike N. Yamamoto, Jr. Iwai, Thomas Y. and Annette W. Tagawa




Here's a video of Dr. Santos giving a lecture regarding the different populations and their colors. IT's a bit long so I recommend watching it at 2x speed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QkcL2_aYzo

[jendavis]

I’ve made adjustments to my set up based on your recommendations but my shrimp are still translucent. Is there anything I can do to improve their red color?

Try adding carotenoid-rich foods like shrimp pellets, spirulina, and blanched veggies (carrots help!). Also, ensure stable water parameters and low stress. Some shrimp develop deeper colors with age, so it may take time!

[Vorteil]

Don't add any additional foods like that. These are Opae Ula not like your typical FW shrimp. Adding stuff like this will just pollute your water over time. Your shrimp are the color they are. Just enjoy the.

[Aquarimax]

I found a study done on coloration in long-term captive populations of Halocaridina rubra. The study indicated that while astaxanthin is the carotenoid responsible for the red color in the species, 14 days of supplementation did not appear to make a difference in the coloration. . The study mentioned that this same time period of supplementation did make a difference in coloration of other crustaceans. The study seemed to indicate that the shrimp synthesize their own astaxanthin, so the presence of astaxanthin in the diet didn’t have much of an effect.

On the other hand. locality (where the shrimp were originally collected) seemed to make the biggest difference, but even within locality, there was considerable variation in color.



https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32412843/

[Vorteil]

The goal is to have a self sustaining ecosystem. You start feeding other elements that are not typical you're throwing other variables into the equation. You should have no filtration. Keep it simple and be happy with the colors one has. It will not change.