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Spirulina turning shrimp red

NOWIS

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Hi everyone! Just a quick post
I started feeding my red cherry shrimp spirulina algea pellets a few weeks ago and the colour change in some of the shrimp has been amazing.
Has anyone seen this affect? I can't think of any other possibilities other than select breeding with in the aquarium by luck
Could be worth a try if your shrimp aren't the deepest of colours.
 
Haha yes! I'm just a little surprised it's not used more often. My cherries are now better coloured than any local shop :)
 
Depends also a bit on the so called Spirulina.. For example Sera sells green Spirulina tabs, but if you read the small letters very closely about it's contents you'll find out it only contains 20% spirulina, the rest is clamp meat powder or shrimp meat powder, vegtebla powder, color agent (To make 'm green again) etc. etc.

By law a manufacturer can call a product Spirulina if it contains at least a few % of it. Many of these products are completely useless from the Spirulina side if it contains less than 20% Spirulina.

So read the small letters closely about contents before you buy it, if you realy want to have the benefit of feeding Spirulina. If it contains less than 20% than you are not buying what it says it is. As @Edvet says, Flamigo's are pink if they get loads of shrimp for diet, if not they likely will stay white. That's from the Carotene in the pink shrimps. So if the Tab mainly is made out of clamp or shrimp meat you are feeding more Carotene than Spirulina. :)
 
Can you tell us what sprirulina product you’re using?


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I use Spirulina Powder from the Health Food Retailer/Shop. As that way I know I am getting Pure Spirulina. And not the Min 6% that Fish/Shrimp food versions have in them.
 
At 36%, that is a decent amount of spirulina. (Which you knew already from your shrimps colouration.)

Full ingredients list according to
http://taaquaculture.uk/Foods_Tropical.htm

Analytical constituents: crude protein 48.0%, crude oils and fats 6.0%, crude fibres 3.8%, moisture 10.0%.

Ingredients: algae (including Spirulina platensis min. 36%), vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, fish and fish derivatives, cereals, molluscs and crustaceans, yeasts, oils and fats, minerals (including zeolite 1%). Additives (per kg): Vitamins, pro-vitamins and chemically well-defined substances having similar effect: vit. A 38 000 IU, vit. D3 2 000 IU, vit. E 200 mg, vit. C 540 mg. Compounds of trace elements: E1 (Fe) 42.0 mg, E6 (Zn) 11.5 mg, E5 (Mn) 9.0 mg, E4 (Cu) 2.1 mg, E2 (I) 0.26 mg, E8 (Se) 0.26 mg, E7 (Mo) 0.06 mg. Colourants. Antioxidants.
 
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vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, fish and fish derivatives, cereals, molluscs and crustaceans, yeasts, oils and fats, minerals (including zeolite 1%
This actually says nothing of value and neither does
crude protein 48.0%, crude oils and fats 6.0%, crude fibres 3.8%
I don't say it's bad, but it says nothing.
Don't forget they usually take scrap waste from the food industries (cheap) and proces that, in this case together with some spirulina..
Crude protein 48% says nothing about the composition of those proteins, or the biological availability of those protein. It could be the body can only use 1% of that protein and the rest has to be burned. In order to give usefull information , and the same goes for our pets foodstuffs, you need a hell of a lot more info on the ingredients., something the manufacturers don't provide, and something the regular "public" can't merrit on it's worth. So looking on a packaging and seeing"Hey it has 48% protein, it must be good, better then the food with 30% protein" has no value.
 
I agree with you 100% (not just 36% :lol: )

I edited about a minute before you replied, changing it from 'it looks like a good quality food' to 'it has a good amount of spirulina' as I realised my words didn't reflect my thoughts.

Its the same for the food we eat, you never really know what your getting unless you make it yourself. Labelling is a minefield. Eg. Even if it says 100% of an ingredient, it can often be heavily processed and reconstituted.
 
Yeah Spirulina hits hard in coloration, I started making spirulina lollies and give them once per week, the results were stunning in few weeks.
And shrimps love it.
 

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Need to try one of the recipes for the lollies

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Will need to look how to make the lollies up as that's a nice easy way of feeding it
 
That's easy mix spirulina powder with some agar-agar melted in warm water. Sink bamboo skewers into this liquid and let them dry for a few hours. Avoid using gelatin it is not the best option for shrimps. Veg gel is an option though. I usually mix some other natural stuff like dried leafs powder or other dried and grounded veggies. Last time I tried adding some natural sea weed, the shrimps are going mad for it.
You can use just Spirulina powder without any agar-agar or veg gelatin but it will melt in the water pretty fast.
Well you just need to experiment and you will find proportions which suits best for you and your shrimps.
 
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