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TDS will rise due to normal evaporation as well, though probably not by 10 per day this time of year? Topping up between water changes should be done with just RO water (no added GH+). Don't keep changing the water to keep chasing the TDS figure you want. Hopefully we can sort it out fairly quickly? As above there is a likelyhood the rocks are the problem or a combo of the 2? Simon

It's almost always rocks that cause TDS to rise. Zoidburg is on the right track. Remove the rocks. Test it in a bucket of water. Check the tDS before adding the rock, and test the TDS again after a few hours with the rock in the bucket.

if you have a mesh or foam on your inlet, so that baby shrimps are not sucked into the filter, that is enough as a prefilter.

KH should be 0 Do you know what kind of rocks the java is tied to? Bacter AE could be causing a rise in TDS Any other rocks in tank? Or coral?

I am new to caridina shrimp keeping and recently finished cycling two tanks, 5G and 20G long. I just purchased 8 CRS and 5 shadow panda (they are in separate tanks). When I brought them home the store water TDS was on the low side ~95. So before adding them to my tank I lowered my TDS to about 105. It's been about 4 days and the TDS seem to be going up about +10 every day. I have changed water 2 times already (~20%) to keep the TDS around 110. Is this right approach? Should I constantly change water to keep it at 110 and until TDSs stabilizes? Any idea why the TDS is going up? Any help will be appreciated. Tank info: I am using RO water and mineralize with GH+. Substrate is Fluval stratum and have christmas/Java moss and Java fern tied to rocks. KH 2; GH 6. I feed bacter AE and snow pop.

Update: Just back from visiting family for the holiday. Buddy looked after tank, abs did a fantastic job. No additional casualties to be noted. Yes! Nuisance Algae is 99% gone, abs everything looks GREAT! First generation of babies have grown more, abs they are out as much as the adults.

I had the same problem with rock. I won’t ever use rock without a muriatic acid test from here on out.

It's Seiryu aquarium rock. I did some reading on this type of rock and you guys are spot on, they are not meant for soft water tanks. I will remove the rocks, hopefully that will help with TDS and keeping the KH and GH low as well. I am going to replace the rocks with Cholla wood, can too much cholla wood be bad for soft water tank? I am talking 10 to 12 cholla wood (8 inch pieces) with moss/fern tied on them in a 20G. Related question, can I move the rocks to my other tank with inert substrate (has only cardinal tetra, pearl gaurami and neocaridina shrimp)?

Thanks, I have a glass inlet tube, the holes are small, not enough for baby shrimps to get sucked in.

Hello there. How is your breeding routines going? it have been years now , that shirmps dont breed in winter, i keep aroud 20 tanks. Shrimps stop breeding from novemer to march. Temp no plays role, i keep tanks without heat and tanks with heat , also some tanks with more light and some wiht less. I saw crs breeding in 15c,,,, and in another tank with 22 c from 200-300 srhimps no one breeding with same light. After a lot of research the only think that it play roles in winter is barometric presure. The crazy is that a friend living here , he saw some breeding in winter. The only think its in my mind is that my shrimp room dont have a good insulation so barometric presure is the same as outside... In house with a good insulation aircodition can change the barometric presure, and keep it stable . What is your opinion about breeding in winter ?

There is a good video about Taiwan bee shrimps not breeding in winter so it is worth watching if this is something happening to you, great videography as well? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYvkSWrZAEc My taiwan bees aren't breeding and I suspect that it is because it is winter here and so it was really bad timing on my part as they probably reached breeding age as winter started, d'oh! I think I have said elsewhere on here, but can't now find it (my bad) that my small 15L tank I started with didn't have this happen but I found my old notes and babies/berried shrimp actually didn't start to be seen until end of March (then it went crazy) so again it appears to confirm this affected that tank as well, and it doesn't seem to matter the size of tank if this is correct. Annoyingly this means I have to try and keep these adults alive until spring, though I can hope there may be some babies soon (oblivious)?? Simon