Too many inverts?

[aduncan]

I have a 24 gallon Aquapod that I have a hard time keeping fish in. I have lots of inverts and I wondered if this is affecting my fish. I have been adding many of the inverts to help with the algea. Tank Contents:
3 Turbo Snails
1 Cleaner shrimp
7 red leg hermit crabs
8 blue leg hermit crabs
5 margarita snails
5 onyx snails
2 tonga nassairius snails
5 Nassarius snails? ( i only see them at feeding times, not sure how many)
6 Astrea snails
I also have a
leather coral ( rabbit ear)
dwarf feather duster
zooanthids
I keep my temp close to 80
sg at 1.024
no trace of ammonia
no trace of nitrites
no trace of nitrates
ph is at 8.3 (i use ph buffer to attain this)
i had a blue atlantic tang that i bought, he seemed healthy, had lots of color, no spots, was very active, and eating on the first day. He did not make it the first night. i have a small blonde naso tang that is in a qt that i want to add, but now i am scared. Is it possible that my inverts are killing my fish?

 

[perfectdark]

IMO no, although you have too many for your tank the result will be starving them to death. I believe your issue is the fish themselves, your tank is wayyy too small for them, 75 gal minimum. And second what are your alk readings for your tank?

 

[aduncan]

my alk is 15, probably from my ph buffer. i know this is a little high, but is ist deadly? My cleaner shrimp died last night. I have been using this tank for small fish. I plan on getting a much larger tank as soon as i can get a fish to live more than a few weeks.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by ADuncan
http:///forum/post/2528583
my alk is 15, probably from my ph buffer. i know this is a little high, but is ist deadly? My cleaner shrimp died last night. I have been using this tank for small fish. I plan on getting a much larger tank as soon as i can get a fish to live more than a few weeks.
It can be... have you tested your calcium? these all have relationships with eachother and major swings in any can be dangerous. So its best to test for all trace elements to see what else maybe off.
The use of your pH buffer was to get your pH to 8.3 but where was it prior to that? And how often and how much are your water changes?

 

[aduncan]

i am doing a water change at least every two weeks if not sooner, i do 5 gallons at a time. My Ph was at 7.9. i will have to test for calcium again, but unless the ph buffer affected that my calcium was at 450