Snails dying

[hrdneglcry]

I recently had some trouble with snails dying. I lost a Trochus, a large Turbo and a small turbo. The Trochus I found in his side in a hole on a rock. I righted him but left him there. A week or two later he was on his side in that hole and gone. I found the shell and the mantle of a large Turbo in a cave on the sand. The shell was upside down. Another smaller Turbo was on his back in the open. I righted him. I put him on the glass and he attached. He started shrivelling
and I put him right side up right there on the sand. A few hours later he was dead. It could have been the two Turbos fell in their backs and I was too late. Trochus are supposed to be able to right themselves but I read sometimes they can get disoriented. Anyway there is algae in the aquarium. It is established. No hair algae. But green algae on rocks and glass. I am not sure if I just had three get upside down and down within a few weeks or if something else like starvation played a role. I do try to keep an eye in the Turbos in case they fall on their backs.

 

[blaxsun]

Trochus can usually right themselves; turbos no so much. What do you have for predators in the tank? The first thing I'd start with is your water parameters as something could be off (high nitrates, etc.)

 

[hrdneglcry]

No predators for the snails. I test ammonia and its at zero. Maybe bad luck. I did read Trochus can fail to flip themselves if they become disoriented.

 

[Lavey29]

No predators for the snails. I test ammonia and its at zero. Maybe bad luck. I did read Trochus can fail to flip themselves if they become disoriented.

They would only become disoriented if their environment is out of balance.

 

[Spare time]

Any idea what the magnesium is at? How do you measure salinity?

 

[Dan_P]

I recently had some trouble with snails dying. I lost a Trochus, a large Turbo and a small turbo. The Trochus I found in his side in a hole on a rock. I righted him but left him there. A week or two later he was on his side in that hole and gone. I found the shell and the mantle of a large Turbo in a cave on the sand. The shell was upside down. Another smaller Turbo was on his back in the open. I righted him. I put him on the glass and he attached. He started shrivelling
and I put him right side up right there on the sand. A few hours later he was dead. It could have been the two Turbos fell in their backs and I was too late. Trochus are supposed to be able to right themselves but I read sometimes they can get disoriented. Anyway there is algae in the aquarium. It is established. No hair algae. But green algae on rocks and glass. I am not sure if I just had three get upside down and down within a few weeks or if something else like starvation played a role. I do try to keep an eye in the Turbos in case they fall on their backs.

Starvation is a possibility. Overdosing trace elements is another.

 

[HuduVudu]

Inverts need iron IME

 

[hrdneglcry]

I measure salinity with a refractometer. I do not dose. I have not tested magnesium. The others seem ok. After posting on Red Central and hearing maybe I was starving them I got concerned. Never considered that. I started dropping algae wafers. Just in case. The hermit crabs storm them so maybe I was starving them too. I feed Triggerfish with frozen food ans I thought the excess would be enough. I might have been staving them as I lost some crabs in my other tank. There is enough algae on the glass that I have to scrape it but maybe its too stuck for them to eat.

 

[rhostam]

When I started dealing with high phosphates all of my snails started acting odd. Lethargic and I would find nearly each and every o one of them upside down. Didn’t matter species. I thought hermits were doing it too them looking for a new shell and I’ve caught one it two being consumed. But I think those were snails I didn’t right in time. Those same crabs ignore the snails over turned or not every time I’m observing them which is quite often. I thought then my elegance were snaring then as I’ve observed a few times and maybe those that escape remain stung or something. Nevermind my danged urchins.

I’ve been lowering phosphates over the past couple weeks and those snails that survived are starting to be more active again and I’m finding them less frequently over turned.

I have an issue with GHA due to phosphates and I’ve read some concerns by people about a toxic strain of GHA. I wonder if the snails maybe got sick from that?

Who knows?

Following along to see what people say.

 

[hrdneglcry]

Just lost another. I didn't acclimate some enough I read that 6 months later they sometimes die. That is close to the time I got them. Have some more that are just staying put.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I recently had some trouble with snails dying. I lost a Trochus, a large Turbo and a small turbo. The Trochus I found in his side in a hole on a rock. I righted him but left him there. A week or two later he was on his side in that hole and gone. I found the shell and the mantle of a large Turbo in a cave on the sand. The shell was upside down. Another smaller Turbo was on his back in the open. I righted him. I put him on the glass and he attached. He started shrivelling
and I put him right side up right there on the sand. A few hours later he was dead. It could have been the two Turbos fell in their backs and I was too late. Trochus are supposed to be able to right themselves but I read sometimes they can get disoriented. Anyway there is algae in the aquarium. It is established. No hair algae. But green algae on rocks and glass. I am not sure if I just had three get upside down and down within a few weeks or if something else like starvation played a role. I do try to keep an eye in the Turbos in case they fall on their backs.

I recently had some trouble with snails dying. I lost a Trochus, a large Turbo and a small turbo. The Trochus I found in his side in a hole on a rock. I righted him but left him there. A week or two later he was on his side in that hole and gone. I found the shell and the mantle of a large Turbo in a cave on the sand. The shell was upside down. Another smaller Turbo was on his back in the open. I righted him. I put him on the glass and he attached. He started shrivelling
and I put him right side up right there on the sand. A few hours later he was dead. It could have been the two Turbos fell in their backs and I was too late. Trochus are supposed to be able to right themselves but I read sometimes they can get disoriented. Anyway there is algae in the aquarium. It is established. No hair algae. But green algae on rocks and glass. I am not sure if I just had three get upside down and down within a few weeks or if something else like starvation played a role. I do try to keep an eye in the Turbos in case they fall on their backs.

maybe your aquarium is too clean for supporting snails, I have variety of snails and hermits which I introduced in my aquriam before adding fish, it may sound wierd but a dirty aquarium supports life better then a cleaner aquriam, not meaning go over parimiters but to allow growth of all algae, fish to invertebrate are a hard balance.
I have strawberry lipped conch, bumble bee snail, nassirus, trocus , I have tiny little guys (I think nassirus growing and roaming)
This is in 200liter aquriam
If your snails are dying randomly then I would put it down to starvation
We all strive to have a clean showcase aquarium however, these guys/ snails need food

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Tiny

 

[hrdneglcry]

maybe your aquarium is too clean for supporting snails, I have variety of snails and hermits which I introduced in my aquriam before adding fish, it may sound wierd but a dirty aquarium supports life better then a cleaner aquriam, not meaning go over parimiters but to allow growth of all algae, fish to invertebrate are a hard balance.
I have strawberry lipped conch, bumble bee snail, nassirus, trocus , I have tiny little guys (I think nassirus growing and roaming)
This is in 200liter aquriam
If your snails are dying randomly then I would put it down to starvation
We all strive to have a clean showcase aquarium however, these guys/ snails need food

Thank you. I think you are right. My skimmer stopped working recently for maybe the same reason. Took three that were bad, one was near dead and I put them in the fuge which is not clean. They all started grazing. Lost crabs to, probably for the same reason. I have two Aquaclear 110 power filters running because I originally had 4 Triggerfish and a Grouper. But now I have one pair of Triggers alone in the 120. I wonder if the two Aquaclears are now overkill.

 

[hrdneglcry]

They could habe starved. Makes most sense. But I have 3 that are just dying. They flip on their backs and extend partially from the shell and lay. I put some on a mossy rock i mn the refugium. They grabbed on and moved around but then fell. Back in thr tank now. Right side up. Seems to be dying though as Turbos can't live in their backs but they keep fliiping over. Could a metal hose close on the return pump in the refugiums cause problems if its rusting? Also I donhave some hair algae in the tank. It would have been short enough at some point for the turbos to eat. But they have allowed it to grow.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

my snails come out on normal daily food like they can smell it, it's great that fish eat but unfortunately snails are slow, try a clip with dry seaweed at evening feed, then at night when you go for a wee lol, have a look to see who's around the clip, I'm no expert but it's a great insight to nocturnal activities

 

[reeftankdude]

Tiny

I read that two Firefish together was not possible. How do you do it?