Snails extremely active suddenly

[DracoKat]

Hey all,

My nassarius snails has become active suddenly. More active than usual.

This is in my pico tank at work. Usually they'd hide in their shells at the bottom of the tank, but for the past few days, they are everywhere. On the glass, on the rocks.. no where in particular but everywhere. It's all of the snails, not just one.

Water testing is good, nothing to worry about there.

No dead critters that I can see, all accounted for

any ideas for their activeness?

 

[ihavecrabs]

My guess would be parameters.. High Mg can make them slow or inactive, so if the Mg is now in a more acceptable range for them, they may be more active. It could also be a survival response if a parameter has gone out of wack (ammonia, pH, or temp) they may be fleeing (unsuccessfully of course).

 

[DracoKat]

Ammonia, Ph, temp, nitrate and nitrite is all where it should be. I dont have a mg test here, so that may be it, perhaps

 

[ihavecrabs]

Specifically to those snails, they detect food entering the tank. They also detect recent deaths as food also. You may have had a hermit or snail die and the nassarius are seeking them out.

 

[Neo Jeo]

+1 They smell food. Maybe a fish passed?

 

[samnaz]

they come out if they smell food. I don't know of any other reasons they might emerge. did you feed the tank recently? or stir up the sand bed/blast the rocks?

 

[DracoKat]

I didn't feed the tank yet. they've been all over all day long for the past few days. I thought maybe food or dead critter, but no food in the tank, and all critters accounted for.