Trochus snail mortality

jeff williams · Feb 28, 2021

I seem to have more problems with trochus snails than any other type as far as dying after acclimation! Has anyone noticed this as well? I will usually lose 1-3 after acclimated to my qt and then once qt time is up and transfer to my dt I will again lose 1-3 and my dt and qt run pretty close parameters. I can add fish and other inverts straight from my qt to dt without acclimation

vetteguy53081 · Feb 28, 2021

Snails are really sensitive to Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates, and major changes in those can cause death. They also need hard water to live. Hard water contains calcium and they need this to keep their shells hard and strong. Without it, their shells will turn white and begin to errode, killing the snail.
A pH of 7.7 and higher is required. A food source is very much needed and if you have a sudden drop in the nutrient levels you can have a lot of snails starve and die off.

nick_md · Mar 3, 2021

I've noticed a similar pattern for some Trochus snails I've gotten compared to other types of snails like Nassarius, Margaritas, and Ceriths. I'm curious how long you acclimate your snails for? I admit I vary the time quite a bit depending on my patience level at the time...

I would definitely try a very slow drip acclimation and see if they have a better outcomes (if the water chemistry is within normal ranges of course, like mentioned above).

jeff williams · Mar 4, 2021

Ya me as well on acclimation sometimes I drip other times I float and add a small amount of water to the bag. But my qt and dt run same Sg temp alk. Ph might vary a little and calcium as well with all my other critters it’s pull them out of qt and straight into dt but not with trochus anymore

Acros · Mar 4, 2021

I have lost 30 torchus snails in the last few months. They all die (1 survived) within 48 hours of introducing to the tank. I float them in the sump and drip acclimate for about 45 min.

I recently heard that they are really bad shippers and not buying them anymore for a while.

All my fish and LPS are fine.

Edit: I never had issues with them earlier last year.

Fishingandreefing · Mar 4, 2021

I found astrea snails are easily die due to one of the factors that they can’t get up.

Mogwai · Apr 5, 2022

jeff williams said:
I seem to have more problems with trochus snails than any other type as far as dying after acclimation! Has anyone noticed this as well? I will usually lose 1-3 after acclimated to my qt and then once qt time is up and transfer to my dt I will again lose 1-3 and my dt and qt run pretty close parameters. I can add fish and other inverts straight from my qt to dt without acclimation

In the beginning i had issues with Dying trochus snails dying after acclimating them (Temp and Salinity) Now for my snails (Trochus, Turbo, Nassarius) I only temp acclimate them for 15-20 minutes then pop them bad boys into my tank. Seems to be working just fine for me now.

Acros · Apr 5, 2022

jamesdomini4 said:
I have lost 30 torchus snails in the last few months. They all die (1 survived) within 48 hours of introducing to the tank. I float them in the sump and drip acclimate for about 45 min.

I recently heard that they are really bad shippers and not buying them anymore for a while.

All my fish and LPS are fine.

Edit: I never had issues with them earlier last year.