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Giving up with oebt


Valek

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I really don't understand what's happening with my oebt. I tried keeping them with neos at pH 6.6, gH 5, kh 0-1, tds 160 and temp 72. They slowly died away at a rate of one every 3 to 4 weeks. I set up a tank just for them. pH 7.4, gH 8, kH 4, tds 200 and temp 72-73. In 2 months I lost 2. No signs of breeding. They've become lethargic and pretty much ignoring any kind of food that I give them. So freaking frustrating. 

Ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are always 0 btw.

 

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Wish I could help more but I just wanted to say I have the same problem with my prl. 20 long tank with perfect  parameters and they slowly die. No breeding. It's very frustrating. 

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@Valek , I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble.  My tigers have been some of the hardiest shrimp I've ever kept!  Let's see if I can assist a bit.  

 

I've dosed Gluteraldehyde with no issues (Flourish Excel) even at double the recommended dose, but I don't dose any fertilizer or trace minerals for plants.  Something to be aware of, Glut can melt/kill Jungle Val, Anachris and Java Moss if you dose too much.  

 

What are your temps at?  Mine never go over 72 & the Tigers seem to prefer it a bit cooler although being a little warmer shouldn't be a deal breaker.

 

I have them in both low pH tanks with softer water (Caridina Parameters) and higher pH tanks with harder water (Neocaridina Parameters) and they do well in both.  That being said, my main colony is in Neo parameters and they seem to go gangbusters with that.  

Are you using tap water or remineralized RO?  I use RO remineralized with Salty Shrimp GH/KH+ to 200TDS, that gives me a pH of 7.4, gH 9, kH 5.  

 

What are you feeding?  What is your feeding schedule like?  I feed almost every day and feed a variety of fresh greens, leaves, my own food & commercial foods.  

 

What size tanks are you keeping them in and what type of substrate are you using?  Are the parameters staying stable?  Can you take pics of the tanks for me with the surrounding area included in the pics?  Do you keep lids on your tanks?  

 

How often and how do you do water changes?  I do around 10% per week and push that 10% into the tank over an hour using a dosing pump.  

 

What are your A/N/N readings when you lose a shrimp?  Is Ammonia high or maybe you've got a Nitrate spike or something?  

 

 

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14 minutes ago, wyzazz said:

What are your temps at

72-73.

 

14 minutes ago, wyzazz said:

Are you using tap water or remineralized RO? 

Remineralized distilled water with Borneo Wild GH/KH+. Tds 200, gh 8, kh 4 and ph 7.4

 

14 minutes ago, wyzazz said:

What are you feeding? 

Sunday- no feeding

Mon- Shrimp King protein

Tue- Magic Powder 

Wed- Shrimp King mineral

Thu- Shrimp King baby/magic powder

Fri- Ebita Breed spinach tab

Sat- Magic Powder 

23 minutes ago, wyzazz said:

 

What size tanks are you keeping them in and what type of substrate are you using?  Are the parameters staying stable

10 gal with sand substrate. Parameters are always the same. No lids.

 

25 minutes ago, wyzazz said:

How often and how do you do water changes?

10-15% biweekly. I pour new water as slowly as I can.

 

29 minutes ago, wyzazz said:

What are your A/N/N readings when you lose a shrimp

Always zero 

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I've heard that with powdered foods like Magic Powder and Bacter AE there can be a drastic reduction of O2 in the tank.  Maybe that is causing an issue?  Everything else looks to be in line with what I would expect.  

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The aqualifter will help out tremendously!  I make little hooks out of thermoplastic straws to keep the airline from falling off of the tanks.  

Do you have tanks with other shrimp?  Are they in the same location?  Is it possible there is something environmental going on?  Could you move this tank to where the other one is or possibly get a lid for it?  

 

I don't think the substrate is an issue, but you're right...   ...sand is a PITA to keep clean!

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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.

 

----------------

 

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.

 

 

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I forgot to mentioned. My canister filter is integrated with my sponge filter. I also forgot to mentioned that I am dosing very low amount of CO2 in my tank. How do I know its low? I dose like 1 bubble per five-six seconds, my CO2 indicator is dark green, my pH never swing, and I don't get "peeling" effect. I just need CO2 source for my plants to grow and propagate. FYI, CO2 is more soluble in water than O2. But O2 is more present in the atmosphere than CO2. 

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1 hour ago, chappy6107 said:

that is a great idea.  wondering though if having that control valve restricting the aqua lifter will cause any damage to the pump?

Mine hasn't had an issue thus far.  

 

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From the looks of it, that dead 1 pictured  above doesn't appear to be diseased.  From my experiences w/Tigers, you'll see color fade & broken antenna if they're sick.  On feeding them, mine get fed every 3 days. Any more, caused my Tigers problems every time.  Likewise, I agree on powder foods causing multiple parameter issues too. 

 

Another thing, I'd suggest looking into some Newstone Mironekuton chunks.  Find it on Amazon, $20 get's you 2.2 pounds of this wonderful stone.  

 

Finally, don't give up on them yet!

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Α  question about this pump... it look interesting....

If it leave without water ( when water ends  ) is it ok?

 

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