Trouble keeping snails

[markfmvl]

Since my 90 gallon had a crash last July, I haven't been able to keep snails in it. When I introduce them from our other tanks they just go inactive or just drop off the glass. So I have to put them back in the tank they came from. Thought it might be heavy metal or some toxin. Got polyfilter and ran carbon. No help. The polyfilter just turned brown from organics. Pulled most of the rocks out and scrubbed them and vacuumed the gravel along with a 15-20 gallon water change. I've done that twice,scrubbing off a bunch of the brown slime algae. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Coralreefer1]

Have you used copper in the tank?

 

[markfmvl]

Have you used copper in the tank?

The tank is about a year and a half old. I had transferred rocks,sand,etc from my old55. It may have been treated with copper 30 years ago. But before the crash, the 90 was full of life, fish,pods,worms,tube worms,sponges,crabs,snails and an urchin. Besides, the polyfilter absorbs copper and some other metals and it has a color change when it does. None of those colors appeared. I'm starting to think it's the brown slime algae. I don't think it's dinos, we were struggling with that in the other system for a while. This stuff looks different. It reminds me of what grew on my algae scrubber.

 

[markfmvl]

The tank is about a year and a half old. I had transferred rocks,sand,etc from my old55. It may have been treated with copper 30 years ago. But before the crash, the 90 was full of life, fish,pods,worms,tube worms,sponges,crabs,snails and an urchin. Besides, the polyfilter absorbs copper and some other metals and it has a color change when it does. None of those colors appeared. I'm starting to think it's the brown slime algae. I don't think it's dinos, we were struggling with that in the other system for a while. This stuff looks different. It reminds me of what grew on my algae scrubber.

#reefsquad

 

[ihavecrabs]

Could be a couple of things..

First I would check your Magnesium and make sure it isn't extremely high. High Mg makes snails sluggish and sometimes enough to starve them.

Second thing I would look into is the "brown slime". If it is Dinos or cyano, it can be a poison to snails.

 

[markfmvl]

Could be a couple of things..

First I would check your Magnesium and make sure it isn't extremely high. High Mg makes snails sluggish and sometimes enough to starve them.

Second thing I would look into is the "brown slime". If it is Dinos or cyano, it can be a poison to snails.

Magnesium 1160
NO3. 0
Not surprising, because when I put a new ball of cheeto in , it usually lasts about a week before it is half,or mostly dead. Starving,in essence. So last week when I did the cleaning and water change I put the grow light over the refugium on 24/7.

 

[markfmvl]

Magnesium 1160
NO3. 0
Not surprising, because when I put a new ball of cheeto in , it usually lasts about a week before it is half,or mostly dead. Starving,in essence. So last week when I did the cleaning and water change I put the grow light over the refugium on 24/7.

An update... the room in which I have this tank has a door to the outside that is opened frequently and between that and other issues in the heater, it was not keeping up. Bought another heater and now the temp is stable.
That should help with the cheat, is temp sensitive. However not with the snail problem. I turned off the display lights to see if that will kill off the seemingly toxic algae.