Hello guys! We are happy to be co hosting this year’s Singapore Golden Shrimp Awards with Shrimps Affair. We had the first Singapore shrimp competition last year hosted by us at our crib, and moving forward this year, we will be expanding to a bigger scale event at Shrimps Affair.

2019 competition comes with more categories which we have more participants joining this year as well. I’m really glad that the shrimp community is growing in Singapore and I would strongly recommend fellow hobbyist to join us in this competition to have fun and yet bring out the competitiveness in you.

The following categories that we have are as follows:
1) Crystal Red Shrimps
2) Crystal Black Shrimps
3) Blue bolt
4) Wine Red Panda
5) Orange eye creativity
6) Red/Black Pinto Galaxy Fishbone
7) Creativity Group

After last year’s competition, we have several questions about the judging criteria for the shrimps and we are here to explain them ALL today.

Shrimps are typically graded in these 4 ways:
1) Size 25points
2) Coloration and pattern 30points
3) Similarity 30points
4) Overall Activity 15points

Size
This is pretty much a no brainer, the bigger the shrimp is, the more points you score. Most participants would enter berried shrimps as they look a lot bigger and the form of the shrimp looks good.

Coloration and pattern
This section usually holds the major score for most competition. Coloration is determine base on what type of shrimps are involved. Let’s go through them one by one.

For crystal shrimps with no taiwanbee bloodline, it boils down to only three colors. Red, black and white.

The red of these shrimps should be a bright red color, the same as the red of the Japanese flag that you see. These shrimps were originated from Japan, and through traditions, people still compare these shrimps with the criteria set by the pioneers. Darker shade of red like maroon is deem as culls and will definitely score you lesser points.

Black color that seems brownish will be deem as culls and eventually lose out. Judges usually prefer the shade of black as that of their souls. Just kidding!

The white part of the shrimp have to be fully covering the shrimp with little or no transparent part. The thickness of the white also plays a strong part in scoring points, thicker and brighter white will probably get you full marks like a Vince Carter 360 eastbay dunk. Yellowish white are a no no in this category, so avoid sending these shrimps to competitions.

Another key factor in this category is the color of the legs. Transparent legs are a BIG NO! Legs with deep red or deep black are what the judges are looking for. Some with mix white legs will lose out to shrimps with full red or black legs. However, some judges do judge differently as they judge base on their own preferences, an example would be that shrimps with full white legs will score more points than full red/black legs as they find breeding shrimps with all 6 legs white extremely difficult.

Moving on to shrimps with Taiwanbee bloodline, in terms of coloration, there is only red and black involved. Black should be dark and constant. Some black in Taiwanbees tend to be greenish or even a little transparent, these would definitely not score points in the competition. Just like the Black Nanacy below, it has a greenish black and it’s not favourable in competitions, so avoid these shrimps.

Shrimps with Taiwanbee bloodline crosses like Nanacy, GFB or Stardust, another unique factor in scoring points for these shrimps is the white part of the shrimp, if they are white like paper or has a blue shade, it will score you extra points as compared to having yellow or gold color.

Red Taiwanbees are a little tricky, some judges prefer bright red while some prefer blood red. So either send in red shrimps of these shade but avoid the ones that are pale looking or looks translucent. Red shrimps do not have blue hue in the white portion, so whiter shade would score more points than gold or yellow.

Lastly, for blue bolts, a clean blue bolt without any black pattern on it’s head and body is important. Afterall, you are entering the blue bolt category and not Mosura category. Down to the colors, some judges prefer a bright blue color while some prefer a dark blue color. Avoid blue bolts that has a pale blue or looks whitish.

I have yet to touch on the pattern of different shrimps, but I will do that on another post.

Similarity
Usually in shrimp competitions, there is a minimum requirement of three shrimps to enter and a maximum of five. This is to determine the purity of the bloodline of your shrimp, as some breeders only have one amazing shrimp out of the entire bloodline, by sending one good shrimp with two culls would score you zero points here.

Here is two examples that would help you better understand this:
1) Five similar shrimps would score more points than three similar shrimps
2) Three similar shrimps would score more points than five different shrimps

Overall Activity
In this section, it usually holds the least points. This is to determine how well your shrimps are able to adapt in different environment. Some shrimps are stunted in competition as they could not adapt to the tank conditions provided by the organisers. Even thou most of the tank water is from your tank, the shrimps might get shock in the new tanks. If your shrimps are more active as compared to your competitors, you definitely score here.

Shrimp tanks in competitions are usually filled with some soil, and 20% distilled water. The rest of the water comes from you. Depending on different organisers, some do not allow you to remove water once you have added your shrimps in.

In summary, to win all 4 sections in a category, you need to send in five of the biggest shrimps with same pattern or color. Berried shrimps are highly recommended as they do score a lot more points for you in sizing. Avoid sending male shrimps as they usually look smaller.

In my next post, I will touch on how the pattern of the shrimps are graded and also share some tips on how you can prepare your shrimp before competition to bring out the best colors. Get updated on the latest news from MADSHRIMP at our facebook page HERE.