Help!! my clean up crew keeps dying

[Oceanavekid]

im not sure why but all my inverts keep dying

Salinity 1.025
ph 8.2
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 40ppm

^it's a lot better used to be 120+

30 gallon
I have about 1 1/2 live sand bed
40+ lbs of live rock
I used filtered tap water
going to invest in an RO/DI unit soon

my snails were doing well then yesterday they all died
I bought a cleaner shrimp today and 30min later it was dead
I have two pieces of coral, they never open anymore
they're always closed

I have foxface
2 false clownfish
yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp(only invert that stays alive) -_-
all my fish are fine

i'm really not sure what i'm doing wrong
the tank is about 2 months old, cycled around day 17. I know cycled or not, it's still a new tank

everything was fine, now my inverts keep dying. I can't seem to keep my cleaning crew alive :/

all my snails
my cleaner shrimp and looks like my fighting conch all died


any advice would be helpful

[Oceanavekid]

https://www.facebook.com/oceanavekid...0784070&type=1

should be able to see pics of my tank. I hate how it looks right now -______-

I really don't get why all my inverts are dying off. with the exception of the cleaner shrimp, the rest have been in there for over a month

[reef1906]

this is a new tank and its gonna take some time regardless of what your readings say. When i started all my cuc died as well, whats funny is that even 6 months later some of them still died. so i would just take it slow man just be carefull as you may have overstocked your tank in my opinion too fast. i would check with the other guys on here though but i think u added a fox face too soon. Also be careful as die off from the cuc can make things go a little wackie as well.

[Oceanavekid]

Yeah as soon as the snails fell out of their shell I scooped up the remains and flushed them. All my fish are fine and swimming around like they should. They all eat. Seems like I made a few rookie mistakes that ended up costing me $$$

[Mpek]

My CUC kept dying for the first 6 months. Not all of them but most of them would perish. Now I don't lose any. Just make sure you check alk, mg, and ca. If those are off then you're going to have a lot of problems. I agree with reef1906 about stocking your tank too quickly...take it slow nothing good happens in this hobby fast. As far as your stock..the foxface is going to outgrow that tank pretty quick but if you want to keep him that's up to you. I say learn with gobies and clown fish bc they're easy to care for and when you're ready upgrade if you're up for the challenge.

[Oceanavekid]

i'm going to upgrade my tank soon

I should have listened to everyone that told me start with a BIG tank

but I didn't listen and got a nano, now i'm making a few rookie mistakes


for now, i'm just trying to get my levels where they need to be

[Mpek]

Nitrates are pretty high as well. Do some water changes and if you don't have a skimmer I would consider getting one to help keep it in check. Overfeeding and a high bioload also contribute to that problem.

[Mpek]

Hey everybody needs to learn...can't always listen to everybody else. A lot of this hobby is what works for you and your tank. Still gotta keep that chemistry in check. In my opinion larger tanks are easier to keep for beginners because if you overdose or underdose you have some time to catch it and realize what went wrong.

[Mpek]

Oh and an RO unit is an absolute must have. I recommend you check out bulk reef supply...they have some good deals on there.

[Oceanavekid]

yeah I've been looking on BRS they seem to have a few RO/DI units for a decent price

I have a skimmer Aquamaxx hob 1
It works great, pulls some nasty stuff out. I was thinking about getting a neptune controller. I like that if anything goes wrong when i'm not at home it will alert me. I should have looked on craigslist when I was getting my tank. I bought an all in one with a stand and only using the tank and stand now. upgraded the lights to led and bought the skimmer. took off the stupid trickle filter and put that in my turtle tank.

I know I rushed a few things and have lost live stock and $$ because of it. Thats why now i'm not adding anything i'm just going to give it time and do what I can to get my levels down

[Lynxone]

I would stop using tap water. Buy some distilled from store until you get your rodi. Then, keep up with the water changes to get your nitrates down. Have you tested for phosphates?

Then just take your time. We all make mistakes, sometimes we get away with it and sometimes not. Seems like more the latter with reef tanks.

[Hokies83]

I just get R/O water from Kroger Machine is outside at most 1.50$ for 5 gallons.

[Oceanavekid]

no never tested for phosphates

I think it's the tap water that keeps my nitrates high

everything else is where it should be

[Mpek]

That's a very good possibility that the tap water is screwing with your chemistry...def get that unit asap.

[thegrun]

You also need to check for copper, another reason for a good RO/DI unit.

[Oceanavekid]

never thought to check for copper

[Mpek]

Yup...if you have copper pipes for your tap water...that could be a major concern for you fish tank.