hi ive had cherrys for only about 3 months.they are in a 33g with lots of plants,i have gravel and about 10 lbs of crushed coral.i never test for anything.do water changes once a month with aged tap water.ive not lost any and have tons of breeding and babies.i think sometimes all this testing and adding stuff is the problem.or maybe im just lucky so far....
Troutonafly,
Could be luck or you are adding a product that is raising mineral content without you knowing. Not testing your aquarium water is never a good thing, unexpected problems will arise a lot more often in an aquarium that is never monitored. Without appropriate minerals in the aquarium shrimp will not develop properly, that is biology, we cant beat that.
Cherry shrimp breed prolifically in both our locations, considerably more since using appropriate buffers for over a year now. Water testing is the only way to truly know if you are providing the best water quality you can for your fish. Running an aquarium blind and succeeding is luck for sure, only performing a monthly water change in itself will cause undesirable levels to increase for sure.
The vast majority of clients bringing in water samples with problems rarely have good water quality, unfortunately this situation is the leading cause in driving people out of this great hobby IMO.
Also, very soft water encourages many fish etc. to breed, this is not necessarily a sign of good health, just an action stimulated by the water condition. As great as breeding all the time sounds, it can be very hard on fish that would not normally.