Water
Water evaporates over time. So it must be added back once in a while.
Pure water can be added directly to top-off evaporation loss. Characterized by near 0 TDS, examples are: rainwater, RO water, distilled water etc.
Without pure water, some existing water should be removed before adding new water to prevent mineral and TDS build-up. Known as a water change
Water Change
How to prepare regular water for water changes?
Obtain a container to hold your new water. Should be large enough to accomodate partial water changes.
This will be your water reservoir.
Water Reservoir
Treat it like an aquarium, throw in used filter media, sand, gravel or other equipment, should cycle very easily.
Introduce fast-growing plants like sweet potato, duckweed, hornwort etc.
Natural Treatment
Let water sit in here and the plants grow.
This natural system will alleviate chlorine and chloramine and to a certain degree, other toxins like heavy metals.
Provides an opportunity for degassed water to aerate, heat up, and for you to monitor and remineralize (if needed).
Add to Shrimp Tank
Siphon out some water from the shrimp tank and discard.
Add water from reservoir to shrimp tank, I prefer through a drip system.
Maintain some water in the water reservoir, so that it continues to support plant life.
Feeding
Feeding should be done sparingly, and not may be necessary.
Follow the once a week routine as described in the Setup Blog for a safe guideline.
Fish food(from whole fish or whole shrimp) and dried leaves are nutritionally complete, and can be fed indefinitely without need for supplements.
Trimming
As plants grow, they will need to be trimmed.
Trimming method should be catered to the plant species. Research your plant species and manage accordingly.
Rough Examples:
Floaters: remove directly in clumps
Stem plants: cut with scissors at stem
Runners: break off runners, may need to dig under substrate
That's it!
These are all the tasks needed to sustain the tank and cherry shrimp population.
Long Term Maintenance
Replacing the light, resealing the tank, replenishing sand are some of the things that need to be considered.
Perhaps another article will be needed for maintenance beyond 10 years.