Dying snails?

[tooldini]

Everytime I get some snails in my reef tank they seem to die right away. I wanted to get more since I have an algae problem and I needed a clean up crew anyway. I got 15 snails Saturday and they are still in the same place I dropped them. I acclimated them to the water temp for 1 hour. If I have a HIGH phosphate reading could this kill them? I haven't tested for that yet. I had originally 6 turbo grazers in the reef when I started about 1 year. They died about 6 months later and seems my cyano algae started kicking butt. Could they have been keeping it under contro?

Jeff

 

[Gatorfreak]

Have you tested for nitrates? Maybe copper?

Turbo snails fall fairly often and then can't right themselves. When I had peppermint shrimp they would be quick to prey on a fallen turbo snail.

 

[Florida8]

You say you acclimated them to temp, but what about the water itself? I use the drip method as well on snails...that way they can adjust to the new water and the water temp. Try that and make sure that they are right side down when you put them in as many can't get back over before someone gets them and makes a snack of them... hope the next batch works out better.

 

[tooldini]

I didn't do the water,, I did flip them all over,, except for the ones that burrow into the substrate. They havn't moved since saturday. I haven't heard much about copper but maybe I should check for that

thanks
Jeff

 

[tooldini]

I checked for copper=0 checked for nitrates=0. All readings in the tank are good,, but still snails don't make it,, if they lay at the bottom for any time the crabs eat them and other snails that are alive LOL Maybe I need to acclimate them to the water by slowly adding my tank water to the bag? Do you think that would help?

thanks
Jeff

 

[melosu58]

Alot of snails cant handle High temps. I had a problem with mine dying till I lowered the the temp to around 76. Could not keep them alive at 81 degrees

 

[drm]

Have you tried different sources of snails also - for the new ones you purchase? I recently beefed up my cleaning crew when I enlarged my tank, and I found dramatic differences in the liveliness of stock depending upon source.

 

[cmor1701d]

Snails need to be acclimated not only to temp but to salinity. They are very sensitive to changes in salinity and must be acclimated over a long period of time. Either drip acclimate them for several hours or if you can, give them a quick rinse and the attach them to glass above the water line and let them acclimate themselves. This works for me in my sump. After they have moved down below the water line I can safely move them to the display tank.

 

[MarineFlake]

Pay close attention where your snails come from. Mexican turbos are warm water snails. I couldn't keep any alive in my 75G (Over $100 worth of snails). The problem is most likely one of three things...Nitrates, Phosphates or temp. Temp swings will do in snails fast. They will not tolertate more then a couple degrees. I have a 29G that has no problem with snails and the temp stays between roughly 81 and 83. I have found that mexican turbos are much more active in my tank at warmer temps. Cerith and Nassir's don't seem to care and conheads prefer cooler waters (79 and below). I have only had a couple margarita snails but they fell pray to my nitrate and phos issue, no clue what they prefer though I speculate mexican margaritas would do well in warmer temps as well.
My advice for turbos...Know some background on where the snails come from. Keep the temp swings within 2 degrees (This may mean turning your heater up to keep up with ambient room temp. Room temp alone can bring a 75G tank down 2 - 4 degrees over night) and keep nitrates and phosphates low...very low. I would also 'advise' you get a phos test and double check your nitrates. That slime is an indication that something is too high, prolly phos. Take it from someone who spent a lot of money on snails, its worth the $30 - $40 on new test kits if your going to dump a couple hundred into snails.

Peace.

 

[melosu58]

I dont know the exact name but I was told mine were Red moon glow snails. They do better in cooler water.

 

[tooldini]

OK,, thanks everyone.. I have tested for phosphate= .1 on seachem test, nitrates= 0, so I don't see that being an issue I was also told to test for magnesium and alkalinity. All my normal reading are good PH= 8.2, nitrites= 0, nitrates=0, and ammonia= 0. I am totally confused now LOL My temp stays at right around 78 always so maybe that was an issue with the turbos. My salinity is usually kinda high I think around 1.025. I can't seem to figure out the massive algae problem thats why I wanted to boost my clean up crew,, but can only keep crabs alive. Thanks for everyones help

Jeff

 

[fishman2]

how about the specific gravity?

 

[zuzecawi]

how about the specific gravity?

He just put that up... 1.025.

I would suspect your acclimation methods more than anything. Try nassarius, they seem to be more hardy than turbos. It seems like your water parameters are in line, and even if you had a ragingly high alk level like 21 dkh it shouldn't make your snails die, unless, of course, you're not acclimating them properly. Try the drip method. It really does work the best. Do you know if you're getting ph flux and how bad it is when you turn your lights on and off? Do you have a refugium on 24/7 or on opposite schedule as your main? Do you have any macro algae, or just nuisance algae? If you're going to test for mg/magnesium, you should also be testing for calcium, because it is how much ca you have that determines what your mg levels should be. Do you dose your tank with iodine or iodide? Too much of either can kill inverts. Copper is another possible culprit. If you use tap water, don't use hot water, because it WILL have copper in it from your hot water heater. If you use RO/DI water in house, you could still get copper if your membrane is old. If you use tap water, it is possible depending on the age of your home that you're getting lead in the water, or high iron from galvanized plumbing. Really, RO/DI is the way to go. And the best way to get rid of nuisance algae is first to starve it, and then to out compete it. This is one case where caulerpa comes in handy... I used caulerpa prolifera to out compete the hair algae in my tank, then fed it all to the tang! Now I have gracilaria in my sump/fuge and in my main, and my hair algae problems are nearly over. Of course, this was with blenny and tang grazing to help. The other option, is if you don't have coral, do a blackout. Just wrap the tank up with towels and leave the lights off for a few weeks. Your coralline can't do anything under hair algae anyways, and the hair algae keels over pretty quick without light.

 

[Florida8]

Yep, I think acclimation is more than likely the core issue, as he stated above, floats to temp but no drip to adjust to water... Try drip acclimation next time

 

[jasno999]

It is all abotu the poshpate (po4) I would think. However you said you tested in and it was 0.1 which is good.

Did you test for calcium?? Need good levels of that for your inverts.

 

[Lance_Celli]

I always have to wonder when I see statements about how sensitive ocean creatures are to temperature change. Has anyone here ever actually swam in the ocean? There are thermoclines everywhere. You can be swimming around in nice warm water then, bam, an easy 10 degree drop as you move up/down in the water colum. I don't recall seeing any of the fish in the ocean drop dead when they swam through it. That's not to say you shouldn't acclimate your fish, I just have my doubts about how much temp swing bothers fish. I think it's much more likely that salinity and ph change are what you really need to acclimate for.