Snails won't stay alive

[Spare time]

For some reason, snails (turbo mixes, cerith now I think, and trochus) have all repeatedly died in my nano. Strange thing is, all other inverts (crabs, corals) are just fine if not thriving. Anyone ever had this happen? The snails last a week or so, albeit the ceriths held out much longer. There is plenty of algae.


For reference

salinity 1.025-1.026sg
nitrate I think 10ppm but could be 5. I am colorblind and can't afford to buy a hanna right now.
phosphate 0.03ppm last time I dosed
temp 78F
ph unknown
magnesium unknown but not dosed so should be around 1300-1400ppm
alk and calcium are somewhere in the right range but haven't test recently since the tank had little coralline and only soft corals (i.e. very slow drain speed). Last time I dosed alk to 12 and calcium up relatively high.


What I think killed some was the zero water pitcher (for topping off) going bad and possibly dumping stuff back into the tank as it's DI resin expired. However I think the snails had problems before the filter went bad. I've been running cuprisorb and carbon to try and remove and possible metals that may have come into the tank. I have also done a few water changes. I am just confused why multiple species of snails keep dying in my tank after being in there for a week or two.

 

[Phlynamjax]

i think it’s likely that something(fish or other inverts) in your tank is killing them. What fish or other inverts do you have in there?

 

[Spare time]

i think it’s likely that something(fish or other inverts) in your tank is killing them. What fish or other inverts do you have in there?

Just a lawnmower benny. There are two hermit crabs and two emerald crabs. The snails were dying before the edition of them. I added them because the snails kept dying and hair algae started taking over. None of them are being suspicious. The snails just seem to die while against the glass or similar as if they get sick and then just begin wasting away rather than being killed by something. I wonder if there is some snail disease in my tank.

 

[Spare time]

Bump?

 

[Lavey29]

High magnesium can cause this but seems like you know that. Metals in the tank can harm inverts also. Perhaps there is some algae form that might be toxic to them?

 

[Spare time]

High magnesium can cause this but seems like you know that. Metals in the tank can harm inverts also. Perhaps there is some algae form that might be toxic to them?

I don't see any bizarre algae but maybe. And again with metals, I would think the crabs and corals would also not be happy but maybe there is some trace amount bad for snails but ok for crabs and corals. Not sure where the metals would have come from before the zero water filter went bad. The tank was filled with distilled and nutrisea water (I don't have access to an RODI for my office tank).

 

[Lavey29]

I don't see any bizarre algae but maybe. And again with metals, I would think the crabs and corals would also not be happy but maybe there is some trace amount bad for snails but ok for crabs and corals. Not sure where the metals would have come from before the zero water filter went bad. The tank was filled with distilled and nutrisea water (I don't have access to an RODI for my office tank).

Are you running carbon?

 

[F4u-SuperCorsair]

Have you tested for copper in your water? Do you run carbon?

 

[Lavey29]

Have you tested for copper in your water? Do you run carbon?

I'm guessing copper would affect his other inverts to be he says no to that but what if it was low level copper amount that maybe harmed snails but not high enough for crabs?

I wonder if that is possible.

 

[Flex714]

I had the same problem my salinity was to high

 

[F4u-SuperCorsair]

Last spring I did a test on my tank and found copper in the tank and my snails were doing fine so maybe his levels are high enough to affect some inverts and not others. I used CuriSorb to get rid of the copper. Not saying that's OPs problem but???

 

[F4u-SuperCorsair]

I had the same problem my salinity was to high

What was your salinity at?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

zero water pitcher

What is a zero water pitcher?

Do you mean you have a pitcher of water that contains 0 tds rodi water? Or is that a brand of water?

 

[Spare time]

What is a zero water pitcher?

Do you mean you have a pitcher of water that contains 0 tds rodi water? Or is that a brand of water?

Its a brand. It produces 0tds water. Its basically a sponge, carbon, some resin, and a DI resin.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Its a brand. It produces 0tds water. Its basically a sponge, carbon, some resin, and a DI resin.

Hmm, then I think you're on the right track of heavy metals, specifically copper.

I wouldn't think that filter is doing the same thing as forcing (under pressure) water through a membrane.

You'd be better off topping off with distilled water from the grocery store.

 

[salty joe]

I can't keep snails alive either. Nothing looks crazy on my ATI ICP results. I had a very cool spider conch that lasted almost a year. All other snails were goners much sooner. If they eat hair algae, they are not starving.

 

[Spare time]

Hmm, then I think you're on the right track of heavy metals, specifically copper.

I wouldn't think that filter is doing the same thing as forcing (under pressure) water through a membrane.

You'd be better off topping off with distilled water from the grocery store.

DI resin can be used alone, it just gets burned up quickly. So it should be the same as 0tds from an RODI unit.

 

[WheatToast]

Do the snails get coated in slime when they die? All of my rock-dwelling grazing snails (ex. Trochus, Lithopoma), perished to Oenone fulgida, a cryptic species of worm with a taste for mollusks and the ability to produce toxic slime.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

DI resin can be used alone, it just gets burned up quickly. So it should be the same as 0tds from an RODI unit.

Can you provide information or a link to this zero water?

 

[Kerbash]

The exact same thing happened to me in my 300 gallon system, no matter matter how many snails i added they all disappear within a couple of weeks, this went on for close to a year until I just stop bother buying snails. Until one night I was watching the tank and low and behold a massive leopard flatworm, ~2 inches long. Once I got rid of him, I havent had another issue with snails since then.

The really weird thing though was that I think they are suppose to eat clams as well but I had 3 clams in the tank all happy as... well a clam.