How to avoid killing these small cherry shrimps?

[professorjimjam]

I maintain Cherry Shrimp in my tank, where they reproduce successfully. The tank contains soft sand, and the offspring these shrimp produce are exceedingly small. During water changes, most of the juveniles perish, either drawn into the siphon or pulled into the filter, where I observe many trapped in the sponge, resulting in their death.

Does anyone possess experience in cleaning a tank without causing harm to these delicate creatures?

Please refer to the accompanying photo, which shows a medium-sized shrimp beside a juvenile. Even with the camera fully zoomed, the soft sand particles appear large, underscoring the minute size of the baby shrimp.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[troublesum]

I've never kept shrimp but i would assume its just like having fry in your tank, I would assume you have a HOB just put a prefilter on your intake tube as for WC i use to tie pantyhose on the bottom of my python so i wouldn't suck up fry.

 

[dmyersWv]

Pre-filter is a must if youvuse hob or canister filter. I switched to sponge filter for my shrimp tanks. The panty hose is a great idea I will try it.

 

[professorjimjam]

Thanks guys

 

[RyanScanner]

I syphon into a container first then pump it out from there after checking with a torch. Occasionally I’ll have a few. I believe shrimp prefer low flow filters.
Numbers game I guess out of every 50 shrimpets 10 probably won’t make it. 20 becomes 200 pretty quickly though.