Are nitrates killing my inverts?

[g8er_h8er]

Hi all. Lost a peppermint shrimp yesterday (and another is now MIA). Also lost 2 turbo snails last week.
Water parameters are as follows:
Temp: 80 degrees and doesn't fluctuate
Am: 0
Trites: 0
PH: 8.2
Salinty/gravity: 1.024/34 ppt
Trates: 20 ppm
After my tank cycled I did a 5 gallon water change and then a few days later I did one more 5 gallon change right before I put the livestock in. Then I put in the live stock (3 peppermints, 15 turbos, 20 or so hermits).
I checked my trates last night and they were up to 20 ppm, so I did a 3 gallon change since that's all the distilled water I had on hand. I haven't checked trates today to see if it made a difference. Oh, I also took the bio bag out of my aquaclear filter for fear that it is harboring too many nitrates.
I'm not sure if I'm over feeding. I place three to four formula 2 pellets in each day, and the peppermints seem to make quick work of them.
Anyway, my question is, would a nitrate of 20 ppm kill my inverts? Is my water temp OK or do inverts prefer it cooler? Is a couple hours sufficient time to mix water? I use oceanic salt and mix with a powerhead and heater for two hours before putting in my tank. PH reads the same as tank water so I figured it would be ok.
Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[bigarn]

IMO you're overfeeding...Do you have LR and LS? Do 10% water changes weekly, and use RO/DI water only. Your salt should mix for 24hrs at least before adding it to the tank,and test the salinity of the water before adding it.
The temp. is fine for them.

 

[bsktmom]

How did you acclimate the shrimp and the snails?

 

[g8er_h8er]

So I could be overfeeding even when there are no remnants of the pellets left each day? Guess they could still be in there hidden somewhere. I just didn't want the little guys to starve.
Have 30 lbs sand, 10 of it was live when I started the tank about 3 months ago. Have 45 lbs LR.
For acclimation, I poured all of the inverts in a five gallon bucket. Then I filled the bags that they came in with water from my tank. Suspended the water bags above the bucket, poked a few holes in them, and after about 1 and a half hours the bags were empty.

 

[g8er_h8er]

So is 20 ppm an acceptable level of nitrates?

 

[bang guy]

Your Nitrate level is harmless to Crabs & Snails. Your water temp is fine.
What are you using to measure your Salinity?

 

[g8er_h8er]

I use the refractometer I bought from this site to measure both tank water and the water I use to due changes with. Calibrated it with distilled water.
My tank was a little low at 1.023, so I made my water changes at 1.025 to start bringing it up. Tank now reads just between 1.024 and 1.025.
Huh, I thought nitrates were deadly to all inverts?

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by g8er_h8er
Huh, I thought nitrates were deadly to all inverts?
Nope.
For the future, just use the Salinity scale on your refractometer and ignore the S.G. scale. Shoot for at least 35ppt but no more than 37ppt.
If your tank is young then it's possible that it's just not stable yet. Ammonia spikes can come & go undetected until the tank matures.
Are there any other inverts that could have attacked your Snails?

 

[g8er_h8er]

Thanks Bang.
I'm still trying to understand the refractometer because I thought you could have an s.g. and it's ppt vary depending upon what temp the sample is. But on my refractometer, 1.025 is the only s.g. that can be 35 ppt. Is that because my refractometer automatically callibrates for temp? So I guess I'm still a little low in that department.
I have no other inverts that would attack the snails except for the blue legged hermits, but they seem to have been behaving fairly well. It appears that the snails just fell off whatever they were stuck to and died. They were on their backs when I found them. I placed them right side up on a rock for about a day and a half and neither one moved. So I assumed they were both dead. I turned them back over and it appeared that each had receded pretty far back into the shell. Anyways, I left them in the tank and both shells appear empty know so I assume the hermit crabs had a feast.

 

[bang guy]

The refractometers sold on this site automatically adjust for temperature (ATC).
Salinity is the amount of salt in the water. This is what's important to marine organisms. It does not change with different temperatures.
Specific Gravity is the density of the water. It's not important to marine organisms. It does fluctuate at different temperatures.

 

[big911dog]

g8er, my refractometer is probably the same as urs. and yes, 35 ppm=1.025 because it automatically accounts for temp.