You could do this in Florida and see a ton of stuff, but the alligators are a buzz kill. Is it better to have access to a spot and not be able to enter or not have a spot at all? Mysteries of life.
You can do what you like but @anewbie nailed it for you. On this forum, you learn about first hand experiences. Online references are great, but are generalized and many factors come into play.
I’ve had shellies for years and they are little bulldozers. Personally I’d remove some of that substrate, it’s a bit excessive. Use it for another tank or future tank.
@Little Guys you may want to look it up in the disease portion of the forum. You’ll most likely find the answers you need or you’re more likely to get a thorough response in that section.
@NOLANANO I think that the only question is left to you, do you think having to charge basically every day to every other day is practical? If it is then do it. If not, then modify a bit. It’s a cool idea.
I have a Vivosun 1150 water pump (the green one) from Amazon. It helped me change water in my 75’s, 40’s, and 180 with ease. It’s fairly cheap and easy to open up and clear out if it gets clogged.
I could walk you through it, but I think it would be much more effective to check YouTube for a walk through. The visuals will help much more than words can. Good luck.