Taiwan Bee Tank - No Breeding

[drk5179]

Hello All,

 

Looking for some advice on my Taiwan bee shrimp tank that was once very fruitful and for the past year has seen zero breeding activity and I cannot figure out why. 

 

Some background, tank is about 20 gallons and currently home to about 100 shrimp all Taiwan bees. Most born the tank. I started with 18 and the population quickly exploded and then breeding stopped completely after the first generation. 

 

Water parameters (RODI with SS GH+)

TDS 120

GH    5

KH    0

PH   <6 (I only have an API test kit, so it could be below 6 but i can't read it)

Temp 71F

 

I use 2 UGF boxes with ADA Amazonia and a thin layer of Amazonia on the base. I switched to this filter strategy some time ago to make it easier to swap soil without completely disturbing the tank.  The soil is all 6 months old or less.  Some buce and christmas moss for the shrimp to hide in. Malaysian driftwood, alder cones, and almond leaves.  I have experimented with different feeding schedules and water changes to try to get them breeding with no luck. When i slowed feeding and upped water changes they started eating eachother, so i've maintained 10% WC every week and now i'm feeding Shrimp King complete, Bacter AE, and Shrimp King Mineral in a rotation every other day. I siphon the gravel when changing water. 

 

I'm kind of at a loss, i feel like i'm doing everything right and anytime i change something i lose a couple shrimp. For the most part they are all very active and happy looking, they all eat aggressively when i feed them.  I'm not sure what else to try. Maybe they feel they are at a population capacity? In which case i could feed more and start doing WC twice a week. Any help or advice would be appreciated!