It is not a good idea to do 100% water change. The beneficial bacteria require to stay wet in order to survive. Being out of water for more than a few minutes will kill them and crash the cycle. I'd rather do several large partial water change than a single 100% water change.
Since you use RO water, what is the hardness and PH you aim for after you rebuffer it?
After you get fish, you have to be very careful to make sure you get the same number every time. Fish do not like sudden change in water hardness and PH. It can shock and kill them.
6/27 Results
pH: 7
Ammonia: .50ppm
Nitrite: .50ppm
Nitrate: 80ppm
Getting stable results after 12 hours I have my RO water ready today and waiting to do a big water change for new fish today.
My water parameters after reconstitution should be
PH: 6.6-7.0
KH: 0 - 2
GH: 4 - 6
Water temp: 72 degrees fahrenheit
72F is a little low for most tropical fish. You might want it to be 78~80F when you add fish.
Shrimp Tank
Here's the complete tank
Much love guys couldn't do it without your help my first shrimp tank
You are welcome.
I see you have plants attached to the driftwood. It looks great.
I can see one Zebra Nerite snail, and the 3 Otocinclus Catfish.
How many oto cats did you get? Are the shrimps in there too?
I got 5 oto's no shrimp yet until a few more days if my test subjects make it by then I'll have shrimp soon.
Otocinclus Catfish is not a good test subject. Not only their sensitivity is too high, but some of them also can't be converted into eating anything but natural algae.
Is your goal to have a complete shrimp tank with nothing in there to eat them? Is it why you don't get other fish because Otocinclus won't eat shrimps?
Yes, that's the reason why I chose to get Otocinclus because they're sensitivity is high and they're doing just fine eating my organic zucchini
I'm getting high grade crystal red shrimp and Oto's are the only tank mates I would trust having with high grade shrimp.
Crystal red shrimps are another sensitive species due to generations of selective breed.
I hope you are not trying to use them as test subjects. Usually the tank will establish itself better over time even after it's already fully cycled. I would have started with hardy species, then add more sensitive ones after 3~6 months.