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There's a lot of people who don't clean the substrate! So I'd say not to worry! And with the correct bacteria in the tank, you don't need to anyway! A product like Mosura BT-9 is supposed to help with breaking down waste. I've got it mixed with Richwater to create SEMO and will see how that works. I do occasionally clean the substrate, but probably no more than 3-4 times a year. Was thinking that the shrimp are either going to be Caridina (YKK's or TT's) or Neocaridina (Orange neo). Either one could live in the tank with what you currently have in there and it could breed with at least one of the other types of shrimp. If Neo, it'll breed with your red cherries and you might just get red/orange babies or you might get some wild type. Or, if Caridina, they'll breed with the Crystals and you might end up with some interesting offspring, but it could also take a few generations. (with a *very* slim chance, I think, of cross-breeding between genera) Then I remembered another Caridina that can't breed with either one, but the offspring would not survive in freshwater. I highly doubt it's these guys. Based on the pictures, they are *probably* Orange neos. The one(s) shown in pictures is a saddled female. Saddled, because her ovaries, full of eggs, looks like a horses saddle! The "saddle" is much harder to see on shrimp with a thick opaque shell, like the ones in your tank.

It is safer to keep the same 'type' of shrimp separate, especially cherry as when they cross breed you end up with them reverting to wild type, mine have done that and 75% of my cherry shrimp are now a boring brown colour. I don't cull them though as now I am focusing on the Taiwan Bee shrimp, the fish and cherry tank gets pretty much ignored most of the time. I expect in a years time ALL the shrimp in that tank will be boring brown ones unless I restock at some stage! You can use some of the dirty water from the other tank and/or bucket as well to speed up the cycling process in the new orange tank setup, so if you do anything between now and then I would keep the water ready for setting the tank up at the weekend. Those parameters are good now but the TDS will probably rise fairly quickly as the shrimp poo in the bucket in the meantime and there isn't anything else in that bucket, that is probably why it was so high before? Simon

Thank you zoidburg for your input on gravel vaccuming substrates. Thanks for your help on id of the shrimps. Hmmmm..will do a separate tank for them. Im still a newbie and dont want to be playing around with breeding but it is good info on what you mentioned i could do with them.(put them tgt), in the future perhaps? [emoji16] Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk Spot on with the tds level of the pail, i vac all the poo out and changed the water. Tds level came down to 205. Gh at 5 Yep gonna separate these orange into a separate tank. Scaping it end of this week and will start cycling. Will wash off the dirty sponges in that cycling tank when i start its cycle(thank you jayc n simpn for the idea) Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

Just doing this separately as the threads are getting a bit long and confusing, so new day, new start. With the crystal/red cherry tank, I would check the distilled water (assuming you have some around) for GH and KH and if they are both 0-1 I think you should be ok. With the bucket, I suspect that the TDS is shooting upwards quite quickly due to the poo in the bucket (tell me if this is wrong anyone!) so you should probably vac that often? As Zoidburg stated, if you put the orange shrimp in with the crystals or Red cherry they will crossbreed with one or other depending on what the orange shrimp are. As you have it at the moment, orange separate for new, tank and red crystal and cherry in one tank there won't be any cross breeding. Simon

Thanks for helping with this. Simon

If you use dechlorinated tap water TDS121, GH3 and do a 50% water change in the pail it should take the parameters to GH5 and TDS 230. IF the shrimp are tangerine Tigers these parameters (as per the video) are pretty much there. A friend has Tangerine tigers and says they are hardier than Taiwan Bee and nearly as easy as cherrys, IF THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE?? You could try typing 'Tangerine Tiger Shrimp' in google and looking at images to see if it looks like the pictures. Difficult to know the parameters without knowing what type they are? IF they are Tangerine tigers you may be able to get away with just using dechlorinated tap water (with maybe some GH+ to increase the tds/GH if the tank runs at the Tap water TDS121 and GH3, but that would need reassessing when it is up and running, especially if the pail water came from the tap as well?). I would probably wash/squeeze the sponge from your old tank into the new tank to seed it and I did put a neon in the tank and it survived to go back in the fish tank later - I didn't think it would survive. You are certainly going to have fun keeping track of different tank parameters with each tank I HOPE I AM KEEPING UP WITH EVERYTHING???????? Simon

Hey simon, Yep correct i had thought that through evaporation, the tds will drop than with a top up it may drop further due to dilution. (Just thoughts that i had,sounds stupid but i just had to ask). Thank you for the gravy analogy, i understand what zoidburg, jayc and urself are explaining even more clearly now. Nothing can beat a water change and like what jayc said, if its bad, sometimes you just need to go and do that big water change. Solid salts can only be greatly reduced by the water change there is no other way i guess. This thread really addressed my questions on water changes and parameters. I feel that after mastering to maintain the paraneters that works for your shrimp, next would be to tether and plan water changes. I will not be able to figure anything out had no one replied to this thread, one cannot plan a schedule of water changes if one does not understand the physics behind parameters. Things havent gotten horribly wrong yet, will monitor the conditions. Keeping to 1litre water changes weekly. But now that i am more educated on how all of this works, the min things change, i am prepared to do that big water change. Ps: yep you were quite spot on my tank capacity! I have a next very impt question. Will start a new thread. Kind of like a btb(back to basics) I only have this tank and i had thought that tetras could be kept together with the shrimps, thank heavens i removed them before the babies hatched. Anyways this tank was cycled in a way that was the best i understood how(did not find this helpful forum here than), it was so rushed! My question would be how to properly cycle a tank, shrimp specific tank. (The long fishless cycle, i rather wait)I do not see good articles online. Thanks again everyone. [emoji178] Hope everyone had a great monday. Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

Got it. I am schooled again. Will apply this theory together with simon's guidelines. This really explains adjusting water parameters with water changes in detail. Thank you for going into the minute details. Deeply appreciated. Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk Jojo, you mentioned that you are too scared to do big water changes. Sometimes you just have to. The tank can be depleted of one or another mineral the older it gets. A big water change can reset the tank back to the right levels. As long as you match the ideal parameters for your shrimp and drip the new pre-adjusted water slowly back, the shrimps will be fine. It doesn't have to be 100% water change as well, that means every single drop of water is replaced. I usually change whatever amount of water where it still leaves enough water that the filter pump is still able to maintain operation, as I don't want the filter to run dry. That could be 80% maybe. Yep, i will be brave and do it. I think dripping the adjusted water in slowly, will surely not kill the shrimps. In theory, better to correct the bad conditions than to let it sit in the tank and kill everyone. Thanks again. Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

I was about to say the same thing as Zoidburg. Top ups, ie. topping up evaporated water does not reduce GH. Water evaporates and leaves behind all the salts and minerals. That's why you see GH climbing slowly over time. Assuming nothing is added and all things equal. Water changes are essential to remove these excess waste and minerals. Jojo, you mentioned that you are too scared to do big water changes. Sometimes you just have to. The tank can be depleted of one or another mineral the older it gets. A big water change can reset the tank back to the right levels. As long as you match the ideal parameters for your shrimp and drip the new pre-adjusted water slowly back, the shrimps will be fine. It doesn't have to be 100% water change as well, that means every single drop of water is replaced. I usually change whatever amount of water where it still leaves enough water that the filter pump is still able to maintain operation, as I don't want the filter to run dry. That could be 80% maybe.