Dan,
I think they are as rare as I *know* they are, not just think. 10 sources and 20 owners is rare in my book. Many, if not most, of the "10 sources", especially the commercial ones, get their shrimp from farms in singapore, hong kong or elsewhere in southeast asia. In other words, they are imported shrimp and have the same problems (mortality, quality..etc.) as imported wild-caught shrimp. I have the same access to those sources, I just choose not to utilize them for obvious reasons. As for the 20 owners, that's still rare, considering there are now thousands of people keeping shrimp in the US. Plus, most people who actually post all over the net that they have crystal reds, don't actually get to breed them on a regular basis, if at all, and hence do not have breeding populations. Some get lucky here and there and have a few offspring, but until you can duplicate that success you do not have a breeding population and you are not a breeder. Of those "20+ owners" you will be hard pressed to even find a handful who breed their shrimp regularly. If there were that many people breeding these shrimp, then you would be seeing them offered all over the auction websites by private breeders.
Rest assured that running a website like this I am very well aware of what's going on in the hobby. It's my job to be aware. Crystal red shrimp are so obviously rare that I can't believe I even have to elaborate on why they are rare.
As for the "sadly" issue, someone asking for the grade of his/her shrimp does not necessarily look at the grading as an "inferior-superior" type of classification. I for sure don't. I like all of my crystal reds regardless of grade. "Sadly" implies that you think that the C grade shrimp are somehow inferior. As you yourself stated, you like the A and S better than the even "higher" grade shrimp. Hence, what's inferior or superior is a matter of taste and in the eye of the beholder. There is absolutely nothing sad about a normal crystal red shrimp. I actually like the all-red crystal reds, that have no white at all on them. Those were the highest "grade" and most desired crystal reds in Germany before the japanese grading craze arrived in Germany also (although with limited success).
And lastly, and this is off-topic, one of the forum members sent me a link to another forum where you talked about me as the "shrimp nazi" along with some other sad individuals who got banned from here for good reason and can't get over it. Yet, you still come here and happily post ahead and utilize this forum/website and the information herein for your own benefit/profit (since you try to sell shrimp on your own website...there you go, free advertising!!). Not to mention that you took one of my articles before, slighly changed the wording, put it up on your website without even mentioning the source of the article, making it appear as if you actually came up with that information. Again, it was a forum member who alerted me to the article and it was only after I wrote you an email that you actually mentioned my website as the source. I also remember that you got your start in shrimp keeping by purchasing shrimp from me a few years ago (several times at that). And now, to top it all off and as a reverse "thank you" gesture I guess, you go around other forums and start calling me names like an immature teenager....
Just a tip, where I come from this kind of behavior is called "two-faced." Everyone that joins this forum has a choice to stay or to go. Either you like this forum and stay, or you don't like this forum, me, or something else about this website, and you go. Or you just mooch off information and utilize it, never contribute a thing, but lurk around in the background, and badmouth this forum on other websites, like some others do. It's your choice. I know that everyone, even the badmouthers come here regularly to get the latest information...after all, I get all of their IP addresses every time they visit my website.
On the other hand it's *my* choice to not want people here who actively go around badmouthing me or my website like immature kids. I actually don't ban the IP addresses of most people who do the badmouthing, but when someone comes here and posts like nothing happened and happily continues the badmouthing and name calling elsewhere, then that's just over the top. I just don't want people like that on my website or in my forum.
Many people don't like my directness, but that's fine. I can't please everyone out there, nor do I want to. This is not a popularity contest. I have achieved what I wanted to achieve, namely establish the shrimp hobby in north america, and now I am working on growing it by delivering the right information and squashing myths and hearsay. I just don't think two-faced people are a good thing for the hobby.
Maybe holding a mirror in your face like this will make you aware of what kind of despicable behavior it is to go around calling people names behind their backs, but then go to their "home" (my website) and pretend everything is fine and take advantage of their hospitality.
You don't have to reply to this off-topic part of the post and I actually don't want you to. I just wanted to tell you that I am aware of these things and not oblivious.
If, on the other hand, you reply the way I think you will, then I, of course, reserve the right to just throw you out of my "home" (=IP ban) since I don't tolerate such behavior.
To everyone else, sorry for the *way* off topic part of this post, but some things just have to be said sooner or later.
