Fish keep dieing,,what can be wrong

Nitrates a between 0 and 5.0 the color change on my card is so close that I normally write 0 to 5.0..I know the tank is cycled,and I have this feeling that something is a miss with my water..My water is clear and nice,crabs are eating and healthy.
I am in the process of draining 40% of the water and then I will add it back..I really think this is the problem,,I will let you all know what happens,,thanks so much for all the help.
 
I have the 55 gallon out and re added new to the tank..I used what I took out on my drive way..free weed killer..lol..I added a heck of alot of charcoal and now it is a wait and see thing..Thanks Niko,,You all are the greatest..
 
Oh yeah forgot to add,,hubby has a marine pump that makes it sooooo much easier to take water out and add water he rigged it so that I can use the gravel cleaner on it and it will raise and clean the gravel but not suck it up in my freshwater tank...Thought I would add that and give you all the tip,,If you have a marine pump or can get one,,they are a trick..I hooked the water hose to mine and ran it out side to the driveway..
 
Another possibility. I have heard of bad batches of Carbon, or carbon that is not suitable for marine, and will in fact in the case of a bad batch leach what ever is bad in them doing the exact reverse of there intended purpose.

What ever is in your tank is toxic, remember when everything is dead, only the crabs remain, so don't use those as a measure. Carbon is exactly the right direction to go. However I can't help feeling that this could be a cause considering how extreme and sudden the deaths are.

Hope you get to the core, and I feel sorry for your loss.
 
Thank noskimmer,,I had very little carbon in the tank while all this was going on.Also it was the same carbo that I use in my freshwater tank.So I don't think that was the problem.I wont however count it out..The carbon I got today says it is for fresh or salt water aquariums..
Water is alittle hazy right now PH is at 8.3 and salt is at 23..Crabs are still moving,so thats a good sign..lol.I am almost out of salt so I will have to buy somemore to do another water change..I have my fingers crossed that this will fix my problem.
 
A friend of mine had this problem too, after a few hours, his new chromis died, they appeared to bury themselves in the gravel before they died, he did a few water changes, and i think the problem was associated with the salt he bought as it came in blocks rather than grains. He also used a ph buffer which he thought might have caused the problem too. best thing i would do if ur still having problems is to buy ready made marine water if they sell that in the shop you visit, though it is rather pricey. Anyway, im just a beginner in this hobby and im sure there are plenty of people on here who have a better idea of what you can do, im just speaking from experience of a friend :) Hope everything sorts itslef out with your water changes!
 
Are you using a Hydrometer or refractometer to measure your SG..? Our Hydrometer was telling us we had an sg of 1.024, when we had it tested at the lfs with a refractometer(bought one that day)it measured 1.027 almost 1.028...Hydrometers are unreliable IMO but if they are rinsed and cleaned with vinegar regularly they are ok...

Good luck
 
I will have to look for that tankanator when I go to the lfs for more salt..thank you..
I am using a Hydrometer right now,,yes I know those things are bad..Found that out while setting the new tank up..Mine was reading 24 and I was really at 29 by the refractometer.The lfs was out of refractometers but have ordered some and will hold one for me as soon as they come in.I bought another hydrometer that was acurate will the refractometer to use in the mean time..
 
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