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So here's the thing. I've got 6 bare-bottom neo tanks that have been chugging along just fine for quite a while now. There are lots of babies and it's extremely rare to have any deaths, even when I add new shrimp. I use remineralised rain water that has been filtered through an RO. I stopped using substrates in the tanks after I had ongoing issues with it breaking down, and to be honest, I wouldn't go back. Now I want to start some caridina tanks for tangerine tigers, CRS and blue bolts but want to know if I can get away with bare bottoms in them too. My RO filtered rain water comes out at pH 5, and when I add Salty Shrimp 'Bee shrimp' minerals to give me a GH of 5, the pH goes up to around 5.8. Do I really need the buffering affects of a substrate if my water is already within an acceptable range for caridinas?

Hi Simon, NO, I wasn't using a buffering substrate previously in the neo tanks, it was just some white gravel that I had laying around. It had originally been in a fish tank some years ago, so it wasn't new when I put it into the neo tank. It started to break down just because of age, and my GH, and subsequently TDS, were rising out of control. JayC talked me through a rebuild with a bare floor. It has worked so well that when I set up more neo tanks I just made them bare as well. Like I said, I wouldn't go back. The little buggers are breeding like crazy, I have a very high baby survival rate and almost no deaths. Under my particular water conditions, it works great ... for neo caridinas. Now I want to do the same with caridinas, but not sure if there's more to a buffering substrate that I don't know about. Hopefully someone out there will be able to help me (and you) with the answers :)