Ocean Blue

A blue shrimp whose tail darkens to a deep ocean blue as it grows.

Arrives small — and at that size it looks like an ordinary blue shrimp, because the tail colour has not arrived yet. It starts building once they pass about 1.2cm.

One price, no grades. The tail colour is a growth stage away rather than a gamble, so judging them on the day they arrive would be unfair.

Caridina — needs soft, slightly acidic water, so a step up from a first shrimp. Numbers in the FAQ.

Ocean Blue — also known in the hobby as Crazy Blue — shares its genetic base with Blue Steels. This line has been refined for a specific developmental trait: deep blue pigment that concentrates and intensifies toward the tail as the shrimp matures.

About the photo. We ship unsexed juveniles under 1.2cm. At that size they can look almost identical to a standard Blue Steel — the tail saturation this line is known for hasn’t shown up yet, so treat the photo as the target for a grown-out adult, not the arrival.

This is a trait that shows up with growth, not on day one.

• Starts subtle: Juveniles under 1.2cm carry the genetics but not yet the look — early on they read as a standard Blue Steel.
• Builds with each moult: Past about 1.2cm, the tail pigment progressively darkens and thickens, moult by moult, into the deep-ocean contrast the line is named for.

We grade by the traits that genuinely vary within a batch — pattern density, colour saturation, how far colour wraps around the shell. Where those differences are visible in the tank from day one, we sort them and price each tier for what it actually is.

The signature tail colour is tied to size and moult stage, not just genetics — a small juvenile hasn’t had the chance to show it yet regardless of how good its lineage is, so shipping-day appearance isn’t a fair way to sort this line.

So Ocean Blues are one grade, one price — the tail colour is a growth stage away, not a gamble.