Cleaning the tank

[fujiija]

I converted a 6 gal planted tank from a fish/betta tank to a neo shrimp tank.  I used to vaccum the gravel each week and do a water change at the same time when I had fish in there.

 

Since I converted to remineralized RO and put shrimp in the tank (took the fish out), I added leaf litter, one cholla wood, and and two alder cones.  It's heavily planted from the fish days and I only do about a 15% water change each week and don't vacuum the gravel anymore as it sounds like the shrimp don't need or like big water changes.  I have a lot of orange shrimp babies in there now.

 

I just removed a big catappa leaf that was all eaten up and realized there was a pile of brown mulm underneath.  Should I be sucking all that mulm up?  All the photos I see of other tanks show spotless substrate and I am now wondering if I have been neglectful and should have been sucking up some mulm with the water changes.  How clean is the tank suppose to be?  I have lots of moss, subwassertang, anubias, and crypts in the tank that has been up and running for two years.

[svetilda]

I'm not an expert but it's what I do. Everyweek or at least every 10 days I do vacuum my shrimp tanks and do water change. I use a turkey baster to clean substrate and keep that dirty water for a couple of days to see if I can find some babies in there and return them back to the tank. I keep separate turkey baster for every tank. Of course, I don't clean as good as I do my goldfish tank and usually only vacuum in places where my shrimp like to stay (under moss wall, inside feeding plate, behind filter, etc).

 

But even doing that I still wonder how spotless some people's tank are and usually those people are say they don't vacuum.