HELLP! noob here!

[ninnybagel]

Help! I am a noob and I was just wondering what other things (clean crew, filters, power heads, etc) I should have in my tank or any advice? Anytime I get urchins or shrimp they die within a couple days.

I have a 29 gallon tank.
Live sand.
Dry pukani rock.
Heater.
Aqueon 75 filter.
Fluval led light/blue bar.
Blue damsel
Yellow damsel
Neon velvet damsel
Bangaii cardinal
Brittle starfish
Emerald crab
A bunch of Snails and hermits.

Levels
Temp 78
Salinity 1.030
pH 7.8
Ammonia 0.50
Nitrate 2 0.25
Nitrate 3 0

What am I doing wrong? Any advice or ideas is greatly appreciated!

 

[ah_notty]

Your salinity is too high. 1.026 is optimal. Shrimp cant handle amonia, doesnt look like you cycled your tank.

 

[MondoBongo]

so the two things that jump right out at me are your salinity and ammonia.

salinity should be between 1.022 - 1.026 depending on what kind of setup you're keeping. 1.030 is WAY high.

second is your ammonia. ammonia should ALWAYS be 0 in an established tank.

this two combined are likely what is killing your inverts. fish tend to be tougher in regard to parameters being way out of wack like yours, but make no mistake, they're suffering too.

 

[ericarenee]

How long has your tank been setup.?. It does look like your Tank is NOT Cycled and With that ammonia and Nitrite i would not be surprised if everything does not die ..

You need to get everything out and solve that ammonia issue..

 

[gone fishin]

so the two things that jump right out at me are your salinity and ammonia.

salinity should be between 1.022 - 1.026 depending on what kind of setup you're keeping. 1.030 is WAY high.

second is your ammonia. ammonia should ALWAYS be 0 in an established tank.

this two combined are likely what is killing your inverts. fish tend to be tougher in regard to parameters being way out of wack like yours, but make no mistake, they're suffering too.

I agree. How did you cycle your tank? Did you add everything at once?

 

[Coralreefer1]

Salinity is a little high which is an easy fix. Just empty some of your tank water and replace with RO/DI or bottled water. Do this slowly over time however!
More importantly, the two issues that stand out like a sore thumb are your ammonia and nitrite levels. This means your tank is either not cycled through or you had a major die off in your tank. Adding anything to your tank now is detrimental by means of livestock!
With your levels where they are, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't lose more of your livestock, unfortunately.
Did you cycle your tank?
When did you add all of your livestock?

 

[Sk8r]

I hate to say, too, that the fish you have belong in a tank 3x that size...sooner or later, that's going to be warfare. You should be stocking blennies, gobies, that sort of fish.