This section will discuss on grading Particularly the black fancy tiger but can generally use it as a methodology for grading. One of the reasons for sharing this article really is about how grading is done from a judge and seller perspective. I am honoured to have a judge and seller share with me on this.
Let us start with having the very best. Black fancy tiger grade 1.
Let’s look at where it has been circle.
Green circle denote a coloured rostrum indicating that Color is present. This is sometimes missed out by hobbyist and can easily be downgraded to grade 2
Blue circle denote spider leg or legs with Color. A black fancy with spider leg is highly sought after.
Orange circle denotes the three white spots against the black shell gives a 50:50 balance between white and black.
Grey circle denotes the black backbone area where it continue to provide a 50:50 black and white to the overall shrimp appearance.
Now that all the circles has been discussed, let’s look at the overall shrimp, it doesn’t have any transparent in the shell which makes it either a grade 1-2. However, what make this a grade 1 shrimp is due to the fact that it has all the above qualities with strong stripe marking and no transparency.
2nd grade : female
There are two kinds of 2nd grade for BFT, one of it have very nice stripes and the other have no transparency in the shell. This is the main difference between grade 1 and 2. Grade 1 have all the strong characteristic whereas grade 2 is short of one of those characteristic.
As you can see here that the stripes on this shrimp is considered full but it is lacking in fullness of colors. The black area isn’t black enough on the front part of the head and belly area make the shrimp appear a little patchy. This however is already considered a high grade shrimp where you can use this kind of female to breed out grade 1-2 shrimplets.
3rd grade: female
Reason why this is a 3rd grade female is due to lesser stripes on the last two line. It didn’t connect towards the top. However the face pattern and front portion is at least a grade 2 type. The black to white ratio is 40:60 hence it has dropped its grade from 2-3. This however is very subjective as the shrimp May become a 2nd grade in future after molting as this is still consider a young shrimp. I’m using ADA powder soil so shrimp may appear to look bigger. On the same shrimp the other side of the pattern does consist of transparent areas under the belly which is one of the most difficult areas to work on. On one side it’s grade 2 on the other side is grade 3 but to err on a safer side I will grade this as 3 instead of 2.
Gene shrimp:
These are shrimp that is use for breeding masses to increase female quantity for selective breeding. As you can see that the stripe pattern and transparency is obvious.
now that the brief understanding of grading is being laid out here is a picture of the grade 1-3 and the last one gene shrimp.
You can now clearly tell the differences between the grades.
The master has spoken
