Shrimp are lost during water changes in two places: drawn into the siphon inside the tank, and poured away unnoticed with the waste water at the sink. Baby shrimp are almost transparent, small enough to pass as specks of debris, and quick to settle where they cannot be seen. The rules that stop those losses form one unbroken chain: guard the intake, catch everything in a bucket you can inspect, settle and look properly, then pour away only through a net. No link in that chain is optional, because each one catches the shrimp the previous link missed.
Starting the siphon without drawing shrimp in
Use airline tubing as a thin, slow siphon, or cover the intake of a wider siphon with fine mesh held firmly in place, so suction at the opening stays too weak and too guarded to pull a shrimp through. Start at the open areas of the substrate and keep the intake moving slowly, giving shrimp ahead of it time and space to walk or flick away. Slow down further around moss, dense planting and the filter, where shrimplets graze and shelter, and lift the intake clear whenever a shrimp settles on or near the mesh. Everything the siphon removes should land in the bucket, never in a hose running straight to a drain.
Settling and inspecting the bucket
Siphon into a white or light-coloured bucket kept only for the shrimp tank, because pale walls make dark and translucent specks visible and a dedicated bucket carries no trace of cleaning products. Let the water stand undisturbed for a few minutes so debris sinks and any shrimp in the water becomes the only thing still moving. Inspect against the light, turning the bucket slowly and watching for specks that swim, jerk or drift against the swirl when the water is stirred gently. Return any shrimp you find to the tank in a small cup of tank water, and give the settled waste layer the longest look before the bucket moves, since one shrimp found usually means another is hiding there.
Pouring off through a fine net
Pour the settled water out slowly through a fine net held over a second container or the sink, so the net becomes a final barrier between the bucket and the drain. Slow the pour as the level drops, because the last part of the bucket holds the settled debris where shrimp shelter, and tip the final dregs into the net rather than down the sink. Check the net carefully under good light, rinse anything it caught back into the tank with tank water, and only then empty the second container freely. A shrimp in the net is the system working, not failing, and finding one should slow the next pour rather than embarrass anyone into skipping the net.
Habits that make the routine automatic
Keep the bucket, net and airline tubing together beside the tank so the safe method is also the easiest method on a busy day. Work in the same order every change, tank guard first and sink last, and never let anyone empty the bucket as a favour without hearing the inspection rule first. Note roughly how many shrimp the bucket and net catch over a few changes, because a rising count points to shrimplets sheltering where you siphon, and a slower pass in that spot will cut the number caught at the source. When cover is needed, the written routine in KinsLe within Care Pass walks a helper through settling, inspecting and netting without guesswork.