Give it more time to “mature.” I waited four months before adding shrimp to my 10 shrimp tanks. You don’t have to wait THAT long; I just had a lot of stuff going on. It has paid off well, though – not a single death.
Not an answer to your question, but an observation… If you want that Hairgrass to branch out and carpet the area, remove it and break it up into much smaller bunches. I did the same thing you did and nothing happened. Had to break it into very tiny root/strand clumps and let it branch from here.
If you can find it, get Fritz Turbostart 700. Add according to directions on bottle, but for 3 days, then same dosage every other day for another 4 times.
You want to dose Fritz ammonia to 2 ppm (start with half the dose it says on the bottle, then test and slowly add more and retest til you get to 2 ppm). Wait 24 hrs and then test again.
Add catappa leaves. Or magnolia leaves. Shrimp LOVE them and they provide the biofilm they feed on. Also consider some cholla wood.
Neos are easier than caridina, and are generally very forgiving. Once your tank is cycled and you add the leaves, wait a week more and then add shrimp. You should be good by then.
A cycled tank will show 0 ammonia and nitrates within 24 hrs of ammonia administration.
Depending on the kind of shrimp you might want to increase your pH. Caridinas should like it though.
I wouldn’t wait an entire month, prefeed with some shrimp food to get some more bacteria and maybe some algae going and then put the shrimp in after about a week.
To me it seems like a moment 22 to wait for a rich biofilm when you have no waste producers to feed that biofilm.
You could always chuck in some zucchini in the day after you added the shrimp.
I’m rather new aswell, but as my practical experience and knowledge increases I find more and more that people overestimate the usefulness of waiting a long time. Imo, start really slow, but take small new steps towards your endgoal quite often to avoid stagnation or crashes (eg if you completely run out of ammonia the pathways for its conversion will shut down)
The fluval stratum is what’s lowering your ph and kh, it is a buffering substrate. It also releases ammonia when first added to a tank, and you can cycle your tank without having to add any additional ammonia.
The water is too cloudy now, you need to wait till it becomes clear. Sometimes it happens overnight. You also need a TDS pen to make sure the TDS is OK. Finally, with the substrate you have, it’s going to be hard to keep neocardinia happy. You could go with cardinia, though.
Perfect practical shrimp tank. Theyre gonna love having algae as soon as theyre added. Only thing id do differently is add maybe 1 or 2 more hides, preferably small and dark ones. Baby and juvenile shrimp are skittish even in a tank with no predators. Sure theyll be fine without it but they would love some impenetrable hides. Maybe some of those little pipe stacks or a piece or 2 of cholla wood with very small or few holes. Also a piece of coconut husk would work if you can disguise in im the substrate. Or if you get luckly like me you can find a mostly hollow piece of mopani wood and boom perfect baby hide
Fastball48 
If someone can come up with a in-tank monitor that will measure all those levels on the app screen, that person will make a crapload of money!
It needs another month to mature, at least. Shrimp don’t just need a cycled tank, they need plenty of biofilm and algae for best chances.
The fog in the tank is a bacterial bloom. It’s not ready yet. Check again once it clears up.
Give it more time to “mature.” I waited four months before adding shrimp to my 10 shrimp tanks. You don’t have to wait THAT long; I just had a lot of stuff going on. It has paid off well, though – not a single death.
What are you using to test the water? It looks awesome, I haven’t set up my tank but would love a nice charting tool to show what the levels are.
Not an answer to your question, but an observation… If you want that Hairgrass to branch out and carpet the area, remove it and break it up into much smaller bunches. I did the same thing you did and nothing happened. Had to break it into very tiny root/strand clumps and let it branch from here.
If you can find it, get Fritz Turbostart 700. Add according to directions on bottle, but for 3 days, then same dosage every other day for another 4 times.
You want to dose Fritz ammonia to 2 ppm (start with half the dose it says on the bottle, then test and slowly add more and retest til you get to 2 ppm). Wait 24 hrs and then test again.
Add catappa leaves. Or magnolia leaves. Shrimp LOVE them and they provide the biofilm they feed on. Also consider some cholla wood.
Neos are easier than caridina, and are generally very forgiving. Once your tank is cycled and you add the leaves, wait a week more and then add shrimp. You should be good by then.
A cycled tank will show 0 ammonia and nitrates within 24 hrs of ammonia administration.
Depending on the kind of shrimp you might want to increase your pH. Caridinas should like it though.
I wouldn’t wait an entire month, prefeed with some shrimp food to get some more bacteria and maybe some algae going and then put the shrimp in after about a week.
To me it seems like a moment 22 to wait for a rich biofilm when you have no waste producers to feed that biofilm.
You could always chuck in some zucchini in the day after you added the shrimp.
I’m rather new aswell, but as my practical experience and knowledge increases I find more and more that people overestimate the usefulness of waiting a long time. Imo, start really slow, but take small new steps towards your endgoal quite often to avoid stagnation or crashes (eg if you completely run out of ammonia the pathways for its conversion will shut down)
No one has mentioned what type of shrimp. Neos? Caridina? KH will be an issue depending on which. 15GH with 1KH is not really favorable for either.
I would also wait another month or so.
The fluval stratum is what’s lowering your ph and kh, it is a buffering substrate. It also releases ammonia when first added to a tank, and you can cycle your tank without having to add any additional ammonia.
The water is too cloudy now, you need to wait till it becomes clear. Sometimes it happens overnight. You also need a TDS pen to make sure the TDS is OK. Finally, with the substrate you have, it’s going to be hard to keep neocardinia happy. You could go with cardinia, though.
what are the floating plants called you have there? so pretty
Perfect practical shrimp tank. Theyre gonna love having algae as soon as theyre added. Only thing id do differently is add maybe 1 or 2 more hides, preferably small and dark ones. Baby and juvenile shrimp are skittish even in a tank with no predators. Sure theyll be fine without it but they would love some impenetrable hides. Maybe some of those little pipe stacks or a piece or 2 of cholla wood with very small or few holes. Also a piece of coconut husk would work if you can disguise in im the substrate. Or if you get luckly like me you can find a mostly hollow piece of mopani wood and boom perfect baby hide