Moving Baby and Juvenile Shrimps

[squid102]

I've just finished setting up a new tank for some cherry shrimps and now need to move them over. However, I acquired the shrimps before the new tank was ready (one of those bargains). They have been busy breeding in their small temporary tank and are now a mix of week old babies, juveniles, adult and berried females.

Current tank
PH 8
TDS 405

New tank
PH 7
TDS 310
6 weeks old
Ammonia, nitrite 0
Otocinclus, chilli rasboras, horned nerite snails

I've been unable to reduce the PH or TDS in their current tank with water changes so I think it may be the gravel.

I tried moving over a small number last night - some adults and juveniles but also accidentally scooped up some babies of about a week old. I drip acclimatised them for 3 hours until I had tripled the amount of water they were in. The new tank is too well planted to see all but three of them this morning but I did spot a tiny dead baby shrimp on a bit of wood.

Should I be waiting until they are older before moving them? If so, what is the best age to move them?

 

[Dane]

What are the nitrate levels like in the new tank?

 

[roadmaster]

Are we netting the shrimp when moving them? they can be easily damaged this way.
I made a sort of trap out of window screen rolled up into size of cardboard inside toilet paper roll and about ten inches long, held together with rubber band's..
I stuff one end with filter floss,and drop an algae wafer or two inside the open end and place this in the tank at light's out.
usually within an hour or two,,there will be many ,many shrimp's inside the trap which i fetch out and place in small bucket of tank water.
Tried similar trap out of old glass milk bottle, but believe lack of O2 inside the bottle killed too many shrimp for me before I fetched out the bottle.
Can leave the screen trap in the tank for day's if needed, without harm to shrimp's.

 

[squid102]

Yes I did net them. I was going to make a trap when I move them over in bigger quantity.

I don't have a nitrate test kit. I dose EI so it will be getting weekly 50% water changes. It had a 50% water change the day before I moved them in.