wyzazz

Hi Valek,
 
Let me share my experience with OEBT from @wyzazz. I will tell you "everything" that I have done so far with my tank. I hope that these will be informative and at least help you with your problem. I am celebrating today my one "monthsary" of having them (got them the 13th of last month).
 
I have a 20 gallon tall tank with:
1.) Imagitarium Aquarium Black Sand (20 lbs)
2.) Very low LED lighting (graded for 10 gallons)
3.) 1 medium size wood with lots of holes (got lucky finding this in my LFS)
4.) 1 large cholla wood (got lucky finding this in Ebay)
5.) Small branch (12 inch long) with dried leaves from my Apple tree.
5.) Trimmed aquatic plants from my 75 gallon freshwater fish tank.
6.) DIY cooler
7.) DIY canister filtration
 
Here are my water parameters:
7.4 - 7.8 pH 
3 - 4 kH
9 - 10 gH
200 TDS
65 - 70 F (before  I got my temp controller), now 69 - 71 F (70F most of the time, fluctuation is due to "process control - ON/OFF" of the temp controller).
 
I use RO water with 0 TDS (my tap has a very low TDS). I use Salty Shrimp GH+ to get gH and Baking Soda to get kH. I did dose Flourish when I started the tank and when I did water changes (that is at least 3 times by now). Besides helping my plants, dosing Flourish helps me get ~200 TDS (My TDS is not even 200 TDS, more like >190 TDS). As for water change, I flush 5 gallons of old water from my tank in a very fast pace (exiting from my pump, few minutes) and introduced new water to the tank at a very low pace (>5 hours) using a doser pump. The water enters the canister instead directly to the tank, which homogenizes the new water and old water. This is to dilute the new water with the old water from the tank and not "shock" the shrimps. Then the water enters the tank.
 
They have neighbors: 3 adult Rabbit Snails and 2 baby Rabbit snails (produced by the adult snails).
 
I had infestation before I got the OEBT and have dealt with it. I believe that that story line is irrelevant. I tried feeding them food from King Shrimp 5-in-1 (pellet size of few millimeters). They tried but never like any. I tried dosing probiotic for human (from a pill). They did seem to enjoy it. They were always active every time I dosed, which was every 3 days or so (never paid attention and consistent) until the pill's content was gone. Few weeks after I got the OEBT, I added an Apple branch. They seem to enjoy it as they tend to hangout on the branch. Now, they just munch on it. Few days ago, I tried feeding them dried-freezer bloodworms. I pre-soaked it first before putting in the tank to make sure they will sink. As soon as OEBT's touch a piece, they just keep munching on it. That being said, I do not feed my shrimps everyday - probably once a week, if not, none in a week. BTW, most of them have turned partially dark brown, which is I think a sign that they have entered adulthood.
 
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I do not want to bring your hopes down. I heard this from somewhere/someone that once the shrimps got into this stage (dying for some reason) they will keep dropping. You're only hope is that they survive that stage. To be honest, I did experience this. I used to have a colony of Blue Velvet and two Amano in a 2.5 gallon tank. One day, I did a water change. Since then, they started drying. For some stupid reason, I bought a couple of Chocolates and added to that same tank. They died along with the Blue Velvets. Now, I only have "ONE" surviving Blue Velvet and Amano. Try to do a root cause analysis on what might have been the cause of this disaster. I did on mine and found it was that stupid large water change I did then. I never did care about my water parameters then thinking that shrimps are suppose to be hardy since they are below the food chain. After that, I decided to be a serious shrimp keeper (as I am with my fishes and plants in my 75 gallon tank). I did a lot of research and bugged a lot of shrimp keepers about the shrimp that I was getting: the OEBT. I stopped being cheap and trying to do "short-cuts." I tried to be consistent and be patient in everything. These are very difficult as everyone knows - you get excited with everything, you want to get things ASAP, and you just want to try everything.
 
I do hope that your remaining OEBT survive and do encourage you to not give up on OEBT. Just to be clear, I am no expert. I am just sharing my experiences and opinions in the hope of helping others.
 
 

First and foremost, Congratulations!  
 
The first thing I'd suggest is to try and keep the temp below 72F (22C), these shrimp will do better in temps below that.  Much above that and they become more susceptible to bacterial infections and have a reduced life cycle.  You can try a fan blowing on the surface of the water to keep temps down. 
 
I don't think I'd dose Melafix every day, if you don't have an infection then don't dose.  You have a chance of killing the beneficial bacteria in your tank by dosing meds like that consistently. 
 
I'd also try and hold off on the gravel vacuuming, most of us do not gravel vac our shrimp tanks at all because we'd constantly be sucking up baby shrimp!  
 
As for feeding, the babies will likely subsist on detritus and biofilm so there aren't really any worries there.  As for overfeeding, I feed in a dish and remove what isn't consumed in 2-4 hours.  
 
Pregnancy for dwarf shrimp works like this.  A female shrimp becomes saddled, then she molts.  Once she molts you generally see the males swimming around the tank like crazy.  One (or a few) of them will find her and quickly mate with her.  Shortly thereafter (less than a day) you will then see a berried female carrying eggs on her undercarriage.  Around 4-6 weeks after (depending on the species and temp, tigers tend to take longer) she will release her shrimplets.  
 
Any chance you can get some pictures of the parents?  I don't really see any orange eyes on the shrimplet and want to try and ensure you have what you think you have.  

Yes, it is safe.  I use a softener before my RO water (around 500TDS) and get it down to 10 or so TDS after my RO Membrane, I can get it to 0 after DI.  I feel your pain my friend, my water is liquid rock!!!

Hey there ! 
Last month, I bought 6 small oebt shrimps that were actually sold as feeders (OMG) and placed them in my cycled Fluval Edge with about 5 Amano Shrimps and a bamboo shrimp . This morning while doing my weekly wc pumping gravel , i  noticed a small pale blue shrimplet ! I was so happy ! 
I wanted to ask for advice of any breeders here in order to give them the best life ☺ I counted about 4 of them but I know for sure that most are hiding in my huge java moss . 
Here are some basic infos :
- pH : 7.0-7.2 
- gH : 5-6 
- kH: 4 
- T° : 23°-25° (its usually around 20° but its the hottest days /weeks of year here) 
- Aquaclear 10  with the usual sponge/carbon/bag of white ceramic cubes + sponge to prevent the babies from getting sucked up
- Mopany wood + anubias (where the Bamboo shrimp hangs and feeds with fans ;) 
- Mopany wood with about 4 big handfuls of java moss
- small white gravel
- I feed Hikari crab cuisine + Hikari First bites ( intended to feed the bamboo shrimp) 
- i also feed Omega One Spirulina flakes for the hungry Amano Shrimps every 3 days. 
 
Q:  I wonder how much to feed without overfeeding ? 
Q2 : Should i feed something else for the berried shrimp shrimplets ? 
Q3 : How often should I vacuum clean with the shrimplets dwelling on the white gravel? 
Q4 : is Melafix every day ok to prevent the common bacterial infections due to higher temps? The temperature hangs around 23-24 ° C 
Q5: What is the approx time between the female giving birth and next time she gets berried? 
 
Thanks in advance for everything !
Lily :)
Ps: the gravel and water is murky because i was vacuuming and doing wc when noticing this tiny lil shrimpy☺☺
 

Move the snails to a bowl, dose with fenbendazole (Panacur C) and you should be good to go.  I sent you more specific instructions via PM.

Once they eat all the biofilm, they will begin to consume commercial shrimp food.

Tangerine Tigers (Caridina serrata var. "Tangerine Tiger") get used for Cross-Breeding quite often as do OEBT's (Folks just love those orange eyes!).  OEBT's are Caridina cf. Cantonensis.  Both of these can interbreed.  

I use GE Silicone 1, haven't had it turn orange on me yet.  I give it 48 hours to completely cure and then fill the tanks with water.  I use it to reseal tanks and to put in braces for HMF's.

I use GE Silicone 1, haven't had it turn orange on me yet.  I give it 48 hours to completely cure and then fill the tanks with water.  I use it to reseal tanks and to put in braces for HMF's.

There are lots of diffuser designs out there that use a powerhead to chop up the co2 bubbles and disperse them.  If you don't mind the soda pop look to your tank you will be fine.  All co2 does is make plastic brittle overtime so keep that in mind.  If you do notice it causing problems you can always add a Venturi to the pump output and run the co2 after the impeller.

Nope, it's fine.  You can put a bit of Pothos back there if you want to, I do this in some of my larger tanks but otherwise, you can leave it be.  

Update: one of the orange eyes grown up, and a few white eyed juvies. Terrible pics as usual..

While I agree with that, I think that can be accomplished with any substrate.  I also fully believe that you can keep shrimp in bare bottom tanks if you have enough surface area (plants, driftwood, filters, etc...) to keep beneficial bacteria on/in.

just made some fresh food today let me know if you're interested. Open to trade as well. Won't last long so better hurry

I don't use pesticides or anything so I just dry them flat for storage and package them in bags.  

you need to know what the gh & kh values are.  this means alot more than the tds. 

Milky bodies point to muscular degeneration.  Aside from that, I don't know much more.  Water changes and very small doses of H2O2 can help (I've heard).
 
The cinnamon sticks certainly won't hurt, and I'm sure the shrimp will love them.  Just boil them first for a little while and then chuck them in the tank! 

You've pretty much said it all right there! 
 
The warmer it is the faster they grow and breed, their lifespan is shorter and they are more susceptible to bacterial infections.   You also have the potential for a heater failure that could possibly cook your shrimp depending on the heater.  
 
The colder it is the slower they grow and breed, they live longer, less susceptible to bacterial infections & there is less to fiddle with/less room for error.  
 
I have 17 tanks and only heat one of them, it's my dwarf puffer tank.  The shrimp tanks are all unheated, and my temps drop into the low 60's in the winter.  

They aren't regular pumps with propellers in them, the Aqua Lifter is a diaphragm pump (similar to most air pumps used in the hobby) and the dosing pumps are peristaltic.  They are both made to run dry and can prime themselves without an issue.  I use them as mentioned above and also use much larger versions for Beer/Winemaking.  

I have done this for years without any problems.
 
I do see the benefit of using a aqua lifter or dosing pump as @wyzazz has mentioned.  I never tried because I thought I would burn up the pump when I let it run dry, but apparently they work just fine after running dry.

Welcome!  Love the setup!
 

-Gotta grab some DI water tmr, gonna fill the tank a little above substrate to start the cycle atleast. 
-Hopefully by the time the tank is cycled the cube has exploded with juvies already. Not sure what variation I'll get but im looking forward to it.
-Has anyone also seen ellen wang ...uhh is it a zebra bb? Looks so beautifully amazing. Not sure how he crossed it but its definitely unique.Will post a pic at the end. Also, please remove his picture if its not allowed to be shown. Thank You.
 

 
-some of them came out for feeding. they really like @Jamisondaniel33 home made food. Really recommend ya try his product, its no joke.
 

 
 

I started using them around a year ago and haven't acclimated any other way since.  I know that @dazalea uses them and I'm sure there are a few others here that have seen their benefits.  
 

No, but doing water changes improperly will.  
 
Shrimp don't like quick changes in water parameters, especially most Caridina, so as hardy as shrimp are there some things that can upset them rather quickly.  When you're changing water it's best to do 10-15% water changes, match the parameters as closely as you can (Temp, pH, GH, KH, TDS) & drip the water in.  

It's also been explained to me by a very successful breeder here in the U.S. another way.  I'm paraphrasing here...   ...Shrimp NEED water changes to stay strong and healthy.  When you first get your shrimp start out slowly changing out 5-8% of your water every week or two.  Your shrimp are weak and not at their best at this point, you need to be careful with them and not change your parameters too quickly because they are so weak during this time.  Gradually up the frequency and the volume of your water changes.  As you do this your shrimp will become stronger & healthier, you can then continue to up the frequency and volume of your water changes (still trying to match the parameters as closely as you can).  Over time your shrimp will become healthier, stronger & more adaptable to changes in water parameters.  More like Viking Shrimp!

Mechanical filtration with no dead spots, that and a nicely cycled/seasoned tank will find it's own balance given time.