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Finally an update. We're just about there at last after a lot of delay(s). Since I last posted we've stripped the built in robe and repainted the room and patched up miscellaneous holes etc. We've added a hole through the wall in the corner with a pipe that I can use to conveniently drain my water changes directly to a reservoir outside. I've just been putting together the mounts for the LED today (PVC stormwater pipes) and also connecting and fixing the main airlines to the walls and shelving - one section needs to be finished where it runs along the ceiling to the two middle display tanks. The tanks are all washed out and ready to go and I hope to have them filled and cycling within the next few days. I'm pretty happy with how it is looking it should make for a pleasant room to be in. I still need to find a comfortable couch for the empty space along the back wall and arrange to print out some large pictures of my best shrimp to decorate the room. I also have some bamboo material I will wrap around the black legs in the middle of the table to improve the appearance of the display setup there. All in all there is 8x50cm long, 4x60cm long as well as 2x40cm cubes for display in the middle and a 60cm cube for display in the far corner next to the couch. All of the tanks have a division in the middle except for the biggest cube. I'll update again very soon :-) [emoji173][emoji111][emoji445] Will Love and peace Will

Seed shrimp. some think they are unsightly, especially if they multiply too much. But it's a sign of good water quality ... and that you are feeding a bit too much.

Gravel vacuuming a planted substrate is not necessary, especially in the first 6 months. But you can certainly do so if you find a lot of muck in the substrate. If you have lots of root plants, then vac less. If you have very little rooted plants, like mosses and ferns with roots above the substrate, then vac more - even then it's not necessary to vac very often. I use a glass feeding dish to minimise food falling in between the substrate, that helps minimise the need to vacuum. You should try a feeding dish as well. When you find your water parameters like TDS, and GH climbing and water changes are not helping to bring it down to CRS/CBS suitable levels ... then a substrate vac might be in order. For the most part, just a simple water change is all that is required. 1.5 inches is ok for most tanks. But since you have a 2.5gal tank, start at 1inch. The substrate will be rich when new, and can/could cause the pH, to drop too much in such a small tank.

Perhaps because you have such limited genetics, the colony was able to start producing a mutation(s) on it's own?