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Ok then. Will add more plants to try and reduce nitrates. Thanks Simon and JayC for the pointers and hints. I think the Dino Spit is the Glutaraldehyde and the Dino Pee has the macro and micronutrients. I will leave off the Glutaraldehyde and reduce the dose of the Pee to one third. I am pretty careful with the dosing. Good news is that there are at least two RCS females still in the tank and looking well. Maybe they went and hid and moulded after the big water change? The surviving DAE are all looking well. Anyway will take all your advice on board and do smaller water changes and work out a dripper system.

I'm not sure what they recommend as per 1 stick per ?? shrimps as I don't have the packets. I smash them all up (need a hammer though as they are very tough) and keep them mixed in a container, then use an old shrimp lolly stick dipped about 1 or 2 mm in the tank water, quickly in the food, tap off excess and then into the tank. I do this about 3 times each other day (I alternate with other foods). One thing is for sure though, I have 100+ shrimps and the total of doing the above is definitely less than half a complete stick in total, probably nearer a third of a stick. This also means the food gets spread around the tank better and they don't all have to fight to get to it, though there will still be some squabbling. With everything though I use less than the manufacturers recommend as they are in it for the profit firstly............. oops I may have repeated myself somewhat on some of this! Simon

Cherry shrimp are a lot tougher than caridina but they are still more sensitive than fish for instance. I think smaller regular water changes are safer than the bigger one you did. JayC has covered a lot more than I know about but generally I think shrimps and plant fertilisers don't mix well. As long as the plants don't actually die, them growing slower will also save on maintenance, or maybe try using a lot less than the recommended dosage may work if it is shrimp safe. I use this dripper that is made for reptiles to keep them moist, but it works well as a tank re-filler as well (it just sits on the top of the tank). As JayC says, he makes his own version. https://skfaquatics.com/forum/forums/topic/14032-dripper/ Hope you still have some red cherry shrimps left and you decide to continue with them. Simon

Dino Pee is made up of 50gm SOLUBLE CHELATED TRACE ELEMENT (Fe, Zn, Mn, B, Cu, Mo) 250 gm POTASSIUM SULPHATE (K2SO4) 250 gm MAGNESIUM SULPHATE (MGSO4.7H2O 125 gm POTASSIUM NITRATE (KNO3) 25 ml HYDROCHLORIC ACID (HCl) (optional as preservative) swimming pool strength (350g per litre) 3 litres WATER (demineralised H2O) If the acid is not used, the brew must be kept in the refrigerator. The stock solution is dosed into the water at 10 ml per 1000 litres of aquarium water. - straight from Dave at Aquagreen. It's a pretty good K & P macro fertiliser. Dose is 10ml per 1000 litres. So make sure you have added the correct dose. That's very little required. You could halve the dosage if in doubt for a tank with shrimps. Dino Spit is a ten percent solution of glutardaldehyde. Dosage is 1 drop per 10L of water. Again this is a very low dose. Check you are not over dosing. It's equivalent of Seachem's Flourish Excel. An alternate source of carbon for plants. Both products are low cost alternatives to the expensive imported brands. It is a compromise, either you look after the welfare of the plants or the shrimp. High tech, fast growing plants with shrimp is a bigger compromise than low light plants. So choose low light plants. A shrimp tank can still look beautiful with low light, low demand plants. I know, I have many like that with shrimps in it and minimal fertilisers being used. Not saying you can't succeed with high demand plants, it's just harder. Ferts need to be introduced slowly into the tank if there are shrimps. Of the two ferts above, Dino Pee might be the culprit based on your shrimp's reactions. "Hanging" out on the surface means they are trying to get to more oxygen. And of the two ferts, Dino Pee with it's glutardaldehyde would cause such a reaction in the shrimp. Glut depletes oxygen in the water. If you add a pinch of Bicarb Soda to your water changes, you can raise the KH and pH of the tank. And by doing it every water change, the increase is slow enough to not affect the shrimp. Aim for a pH of 6.6 -6.8 for RCS (they can handle 7.0 just fine, slight acidity is good for the plants). Edit - As for drip container i use a DIY system. Air hose, Cleaned 4 (or 3, cant remember) Litre milk bottle. The soft plastic makes it easy to work with. Cut open the milk bottle at the top to allow you to add water, much like a water can hole. Basically, large enough for you to pour water in. Leave the handle for easy carrying. Make a small hole just a fraction smaller than the air hose at the bottom of the milk bottle and fit int hose into it. Silicon it in for a water tight seal. You might not need silicon if you did it right, should be tight enough. But use silicon if you butchered the hole while making it. At the other end of the hose, attach an air valve. One of these ...

It might be a good idea to separate it and avoid it breeding, just in case it is a genetic problem.