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TDS is purely an indicator. If 90% of that 140ppm is calcium, you'd still have moulting issues. Moulting death comes from two extremes, new shell too soft or old shell too hard. You might want to check your calcium levels with something like this - http://www.apifishcare.com/product.php?id=585#.VFqblPmUcoo

Very nice , Welldone.

very nice. hope this lead to blue jelly? hehe well done ineke

No prob dude, glad to help. The four powdered products he mentioned are all mineral supplement powders & therefore boost the mineral content in your water that get used by shrimp during day to day life for moulting & breeding, etc. Super Bee Max is a bacterial food for shrimp & help to both feed your shrimp & boost the bacterial content of your tank & filter. Benibachi Fulvic grains are a pH buffer, they lower the pH to the desired level for shrimp that like a lower pH i.e TB, CRS, CBS etc. It contains fulvic & humic acid to lower the pH

rodribike, you seem to get very suitable water in Portugal for fish/shrimp. Amazonia substrate is fine if you understand that there will be longer cycle times. Now lets see if I can give you a brief explanation of what I used to start my last tank. This is by no means the only way. It's just how I did my last tank. I chose Benibachi black soil for the substrate. But before adding the substrate I sprinkled the following on the bottom of the tank. Benibachi Mineral powder - The product description says "ancient sea mud that improves water quality, replenishes minerals and maintain health of water plant and shrimps." This is used as a mineral supplement and water conditioner during the cycling phase of the tank and thus can benefit the development of the important microorganisms in the filter and the ground from the beginning. Is it dissolves, the mineral powder gives off minerals constantly and thus provides the inhabitants in your tank with the minerals they so desperately require. Mineral powder is supposed to contain many types of minerals. In addition to all these positive characteristics, it stabilizes the pH value and thus prevents dangerous pH plunges. It sustains total hardness (GH), improves the water quality as well as the ion exchange capacity and provides for better plant growth and root formation, enhancing photosynthesis and the formation of oxygen. It absorbs noxious substances as well. Main constituents: silicium dioxide 55%, aluminum oxide 13%, iron oxide 4.1%, calcium oxide 3.6%, magnesium oxide 1.6%, sulphur 1.1%, potassium 0.47%, titanium oxide 0.16%, phosphorus oxide 0.07%, cobalt oxide 0.06%, sodium oxide 0.05%, manganese oxide 0.04%. I'm very convinced that Mineral Powder and any other products that are called Old Sea Mud, Micronekton or Montmorillonite, are just different product names for, this porous clay. Enough of the mumbo jumbo. why do I add it? As it dissolves it releases the minerals slowly. So the tank has a constant supply of these minerals, especially calcium, magnesium and potassium. Would I use Mineral powder again? Yes, definitely one brand or another. It doesn't have to be from Benibachi. It depends on what is cheaper. The next mineral I added was BENIBACHI Super Bacterium BEE MAX. the product description says "is a mixture of enzyme and chitosan (double of Bee3) which helps to maintain water quality, promotes growth, coloration and molting of juvenile and adult shrimps." Despite the name of the product, I am not convinced that this product actually contains any bacteria to kick start your aquarium. It's supposed to contain enzymes, but that's a product secret. I don't know what enzymes it has that's special. But it does contain chitosan, which is a product of processing shrimp and other crustacean shells, funnily enough. It's uses are antifungal and antibacterial. What it probably does is assist in the development of beneficial bacteria, by providing some nutrients the bacteria can utilise to grow. I don't think it actually introduces that bacteria though. Why did I use it? Like I said, earlier, I wanted to personally test out these product to form my own opinion of it. I was told this works well with Mineral powder when setting up a tank. Would I use Super Bee Max again personally? No, not after I finish my current pack. Since you are in Portugal, see if you can find Glasgarten bacter AE. This product actually seems to claim it contains Lactobacillus and Bacillus subtilis. Which is good bacteria to have in your tank. It's not bacteria to cycle the tank. But bacteria for healthy shrimp. For bacteria to cycle the tank, I use Prodibio Bio Digest for the bacteria + Bio Trace to feed the bacteria. The third product I used at the bottom of the tank is Benibachi Fulvic Grain. Product description is "adjusts water to a soothing parameter of 6~6.5 Ph and GH 4 for crystal bee shrimp." I only used a bit, as in 1/4 the recommended dosage for a 60L tank. To boost the substrate, as I was specifically trying to get below 6ph for this tank. This product definitely works. It will extend the life of old substrate for a little longer. Would I use Fulvic Grain again ? Definitely. Especially to extend the life of the substrate. Replacing substrate is a pain in the you know what. But do you need it to start a new tank? Not necessarily.

I agree with what people are saying here. A lot of the products you are using are doing the same thing and doubling up on it's functionality. Mosura denitro isn't doing anything more than what a healthy filter is doing, assuming you have sufficient filtration for the size of tank you have. If this truely works you wouldn't be seeing nitrates. I'm sceptical a powdered product is capable of turning nitrite and nitrates into "a harmless gaseous state of nitrogen". Mosura rich water is just adding fulvic acid, nothing a cheaper bottle of blackwater won't do, or a few Indian Almond leaves in the tank won't do. I'm convinced Old Sea mud is just Montmorillonite Powder with some other additives. You don't really think they dredge up old sea mud from the ocean for use in a freshwater tank do you? All the other products have no description of what it contains. Which means we have no idea what it is doing to the water in the tank. And that's the problem with using these big name products. Their ingredients are a closely guarded secret. But once you realise what it is, you will understand that there are cheaper alternatives. You only have what the manufacturer's description of what it does, but have you questioned the description about what it REALLY does? It seems like I'm picking on Mosura, I'm not. I like using some of their products. Take Borneo Wild Vigor for example. It's description says - "You can observe that shrimps stop dying during unsuccessful moulting. Vigor also helps in boosting plant growth in a planted tank." Really?? Yet you have shrimp dying, most likely from moulting issues if I was to take a guess. And how does it boost plant growth?? I'm not picking on Borneo Wild either. Again I use some of their products. But not all at once. You have a lot of food products. So with the exception of the food products, I would cut down of all the other additives to just one. You mentioned using Salty Shrimp mineral. Does this mean you use RO water? If you do, then that is all I would use. Salty Shrimp with RO water matched to the parameters in your tank and added slowly. This assumes your filter is well established and sufficient in terms of size to cater for your bioload. Water changes at 10%, no more, to maintain water parameter consistency. You can continue feeding using the foods you have. The key is to keep the water parameters as stable as possible with as little fluctuation as possible. The weekly addition of tonics in the regime above, whether you need it or not, is creating constant changes to the tank's parameters. Adopt the K.I.S.S. principle. Keep It Shrimply Simple. Good filtration and stable/constant water parameters suited to the shrimp you are keeping. Use the processed foods, they are good for a staple (that means you feed it regularly when you are too lazy to make fresh foods). But give your shrimp fresh foods occasionally ... leaves, flowers, fruits (we have a list in the Food & Nutrition section). Give your shrimp protein ... frozen blood worms. They will get more nutrients out of blood worms than you can find in any processed foods. Not only will KISS save you money, your shrimp will probably be better off for it.