Berried RCS and water changes

[MartyMA]

I know that water changes are important for any tank containing RCS. I have been doing partial changes every two to three days of about 20%. I try to be as gentle with the removal and flow back in as possible but most of the shrimp get pretty excited by the activity. I had my first and only berried female drop all of her eggs within minutes of the change. Is this normal? Would having the light turned off during the change help with keeping everyone calm? I keep the light on just so I can be sure I don't suck any shrimp up. I am guessing the light has nothing to do with this but maybe someone can confirm. The water I am adding has been treated with Prime and is always at least been sitting for two days prior to use.

 

[MABJ]

I know that water changes are important for any tank containing RCS. I have been doing partial changes every two to three days of about 20%. I try to be as gentle with the removal and flow back in as possible but most of the shrimp get pretty excited by the activity. I had my first and only berried female drop all of her eggs within minutes of the change. Is this normal? Would having the light turned off during the change help with keeping everyone calm? I keep the light on just so I can be sure I don't suck any shrimp up. I am guessing the light has nothing to do with this but maybe someone can confirm. The water I am adding has been treated with Prime and is always at least been sitting for two days prior to use.

Don't worry about the female, she's ok. They drop their eggs when they're inexperienced. She'll keep more next time

That's a great method for water changes, but the frequency may not be necessary. A decent TDS is healthy for shrimp. The real challenge is nitrAtes. Keep them under 20 always. If they ever near going over 20, do a water change. If you have plants (which you should) then you may not need to do frequent changes.

Light doesn't have much to do for it, but doing the water change at night could be beneficial. It won't disturb them as much, and the slight drop in temperature won't be too foreign.