Hi great video and it's nice to see more shrimp keepers on KZbin. HC Cuba can be very tricky outside a high tech setup, I'd definitely advise to use something like HC Monte Carlo instead, It is much more forgiving and virtually identical. Realistically you need a much stronger light to get any plant to carpet, Something like a Hygger Rgb LED which is cheap but effective would do if you are on a budget. Seriyu is one of my favourite looking rocks too but it can wreak havoc on your water TDS which I found my shrimp do not appreciate, They like stability. Depending on your tap water parameters you may not experience severe problems with it, My problem was exacerbated by me running Co2 in the tank with it. I wish I could still get the unscented expanded clay kitty litter in the UK, It was a great cheap substrate and worked well for low tech planted tanks. You could use something like Dennerle nutri base under your gravel instead of active soil and this shouldn't cause any swings in Ph or water quality if sufficieently capped. My biggest bit of advice with shrimp is to season the tank for at least 2 months before adding livestock, This allows all the micro flora and fauna to develop in the tank which is a vital food source for baby shrimp. I hope you don't take my suggestions as criticism, I'm just offering some suggestions from my years of experience in shrimp breeding and aquascaping. I'll give you a sub and look forward to watching your tanks develop. Any questions feel free to ask.

This video is so helpful. Thanks!

Cheers from my fish room in Chicago and thank you for the video from yours!

I like your content keep working on it 👍

Hey friend, cheers from my fish room channel, where i'm happy to be your fourth subscriber! I won't comment on the Kitty litter or the science, but I really like your hard scape. It looks awesome.