Snails Seem to Keep Dying

[Hallowhead]

If your urchins are fine your snails should be fine...urchins are fairly sensitive. Have you changed any water or ran carbon lately? Might be getting bad snails.....when they are dying or close to dying(Stink) all the worms and cleanup like nassarius with eat them. Thats there job.... Hermits....hmmm pretty worthless to me....usually they just like to eat your snails and steal there shells

I'll run a fresh batch of carbon to remove anything that's lingering.

Blue hermits do serious work to cleaning rock work in my opinion, but they're not stinging the snails causing them to stay still

 

[Hallowhead]

Seem to have additional die off, it just makes no sense. I need to buy snails from somewhere new next time. Maybe they are just crap quality snails.

 

[Sam7]

Seem to have additional die off, it just makes no sense. I need to buy snails from somewhere new next time. Maybe they are just crap quality snails.

Often times they will die off fast depending on source of snails. Try a difffernt source for the snails. Soon as you get new ones let the bag warm a few minutes. Then open bag and take them out of that water they came in pour out that water and not in the tank. Then set them in your tank where u want them. Forget the drip acclimate for an hour nonsense. I dont drip acclimate anything. Sometimes dripping for long times is worse then just putting them in clean tank water and getting them out of that ammonia fouled bad water. Mine come out of the water and into my hob filter and there exposed for hours while eating film algae on my hang on the back filter. Most shippers even ship them in no water and just a bag with wet paper towel. Once in a while i will have a snail come out of tank fall on floor and cat will play hockey with it for hours before i notice and throw back in tank. Get some better snails, check your water carefully....pulls some algae out by hand and use a scrub brush....water change and live happy

Happy Holidays

 

[salty joe]

What are known good sources of snails and known bad sources of snails?

 

[Hallowhead]

Need more help on this...

I've added maybe 50 snails over the course of 2 months, and recently a sea hare. The sea hare was thriving for 3 days and then died. Plenty of GHA to feast off. I did an expired copper test showing no copper but I need more help finding this issue... Anyone ? Please

 

[salty joe]

I'd do 1 of two things, a major water change or order an ICP MS test.

 

[Hallowhead]

I'd do 1 of two things, a major water change or order an ICP MS test.

I do 20 gallons every 7 days currently, for 2 months now ?

I'm gonna grab a copper test or another icp test

 

[Mrcote1]

Do an ICP test and we can compare any high levels. As mentioned before, I am having an identical problem. I cannot keep any variant of turbo or astrea snails alive. Ive also gone through 3 sea hares that have all died but I have 2 urchins that do great. I can keep trochus snails and nessarius snails alive great. They are even breeding like crazy.

Here are my values so you can compare:

 

[Hallowhead]

Do an ICP test and we can compare any high levels. As mentioned before, I am having an identical problem. I cannot keep any variant of turbo or astrea snails alive. Ive also gone through 3 sea hares that have all died but I have 2 urchins that do great. I can keep trochus snails and nessarius snails alive great. They are even breeding like crazy.

Here are my values so you can compare:

I have similar phosphorus and also low iodine, but I am not sure deathly levels.

 

[salty joe]

For about $25 more, you can get the MS version, far more sensitive.

 

[Hallowhead]

Still needing help with this, I let the tank fallow from inverts for a month. I added 3 astrea and a trochus about 1.5 weeks ago. The trochus is paralyzed, won't move, just gets picked up by urchins and does nothing. 2 of the astrea died. I then added 12 Cerith snails this passed weekend, seems like half if not more went paralyzed, and a few are moving. The smell test says they're still alive. I am again floating these to temp acclimate for an hour then drip acclimating for another hour before adding to the tank.

It's interesting the snails in my sump (fuge) are not dying.

I am not sure what else to check or test for, but I need snails in the tank to help finish off this GHA.

 

[Hallowhead]

#reefsquad

 

[Fish Styx]

Just a thought, but have you considered that there is a potential predator lurking in your tank?

 

[Hallowhead]

Just a thought, but have you considered that there is a potential predator lurking in your tank?

but that would make them paralyzed? I don't count a predator out, but what type? I observe me tank when the lights go out and right before they turn on to find anything unusual.

 

[get-salty]

This might be a wild idea but i'd try this:

Go back to the source and buy a couple more. Then go to a different source and buy a couple there. Put them in your sump where you can keep track with two sources and see if the original source is a dud.

 

[TheNative192]

Still needing help with this, I let the tank fallow from inverts for a month. I added 3 astrea and a trochus about 1.5 weeks ago. The trochus is paralyzed, won't move, just gets picked up by urchins and does nothing. 2 of the astrea died. I then added 12 Cerith snails this passed weekend, seems like half if not more went paralyzed, and a few are moving. The smell test says they're still alive. I am again floating these to temp acclimate for an hour then drip acclimating for another hour before adding to the tank.

It's interesting the snails in my sump (fuge) are not dying.

I am not sure what else to check or test for, but I need snails in the tank to help finish off this GHA.

So this is actually a common problem if your room temperature is much different from your tank temperature. You should start by drip acclimating the snails first and then temp acclimate them in a bag for 15 minutes. If they are shocked that is exactly what happens to me when I do the same thing because I keep my AC at 70 and tank at 78.

You basically are changing the temperature twice. once to the tank temp then lowering back to room temp and then throwing them directly into tank temp.

 

[Red_Beard]

I have seen similar behaviour when magnesium levels get too high, higher than 1500ppm. You note that yours is at 1200 though, but what you describe sounds like something chemically is not agreeing with them. I am not one to recommend ICP lightly, but i think in your case it may really help to see if there is any one element that is elevated or deminished to the point it could be causing harm. It is either that or something that you have added, IE the algaecide or similar.

 

[Hallowhead]

I have seen similar behaviour when magnesium levels get too high, higher than 1500ppm. You note that yours is at 1200 though, but what you describe sounds like something chemically is not agreeing with them. I am not one to recommend ICP lightly, but i think in your case it may really help to see if there is any one element that is elevated or deminished to the point it could be causing harm. It is either that or something that you have added, IE the algaecide or similar.

I am gonna order one here in a little bit, I was only dosing bacter 7 and or NoPox, but stopped NoPox and just bacter7 now. I've done weekly water changes for a while, so hard to believe a chemical is potent enough to kill them at this point.

So this is actually a common problem if your room temperature is much different from your tank temperature. You should start by drip acclimating the snails first and then temp acclimate them in a bag for 15 minutes. If they are shocked that is exactly what happens to me when I do the same thing because I keep my AC at 70 and tank at 78.

You basically are changing the temperature twice. once to the tank temp then lowering back to room temp and then throwing them directly into tank temp.

I could try this, but I've never done this in the past, this is a new issue I am experiencing, been adding snails to tank for 8 years now with no similar issues :(

 

[Red_Beard]

What about oxygenation? You have any fish breathing hard? No glass top and plenty of surface agitation?

 

[sgdnycct]

You mentioned in an earlier post you have GHA. Is that still a problem?

Overall do you have enough food? Snake won’t go to GHA while the urchin will (usually). An urchin will outcompete snails. Maybe a picture of your tank? Also what temperature is the tank?