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Yes, mineral stone will add to the TDS. That's what they are supposed to do, release minerals slowly. You can maybe remove half of the mineral stone, break it in half if you have to.

the Platys will eat the freshly hatched shrimp if they get a chance. the general rule is if it fits in the mouth it it eats it but below is a good general guide to what fish shrimp can be kept with and pretty much everything is gonna eat the baby's unfortunately. https://www.aquariumindustries.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Freshwater-Fish-Compatibility-Chart.pdf so ive done my final water change before i go away and ive taken my last measurements, they are as follows:- PH - 7.5 dKH - 4 dGH - 10 Temp - 25C TDS - 373PPM NH4 - Unreadable N02 - Unreadable N03 - Unreadable P04 - 0.25PPM so I've not actually dropped much TDS from the last water change I'm wondering if its the mineral stones i added when i first started trying to diagnose why my shrimp started dieing. should i take them out? Good news is i haven't seen any more dead shrimp and I'm counting anywhere from 3 to 7 shrimp when i check so i should probably have at least 12 left. No berried shrimp however. I've culled around 15% more duck weed as the Nitrite spike has subsided and i don't want to be massivley inundated when i get back.

All is now up and running so will have to see how it all goes (water parameters are nowhere near the ideal of JayC so not getting too excited yet), there are brown cull shrimps and a few assassin snails also in the tank. I have noticed there are hydra also in the tank so will be treating for that but that is on another post! Simon