Escapee turbo snail

[stratomom]

One of my turbo snails escaped out of the back of the tank so we carefully peeled him off and put him back in. He seems fine and is right back to cleaning...but is it normal for them to do this?

So to keep him from escaping again, I put on the plastic strip that came with the tank cover that bridges the gap in the back...cutting it to size of course because of my filter and heater.

My question about the cover is...will closing off the entire top of the tank have an adverse effect on the water or the amount of oxygen in the water?

Thanks!

Rachael

 

[Karlos69]

Ya i have turbos who do that too i found if i feed them a peice of seaweed every couple days they dont go over the wall do they have lots to eat in the tank? As far as the o2 im thinking that wouldnt matter

 

[Gti_Leo]

i'm sure a snail can live just fine otu of the water, my turbo snail sat on the top part of my tank above the water level for a few hours. i did a PWC saturday and didn't make enough water so i had to wait the next day to add more sunday he sat above the water level and then i topped up the water

 

[mandy2936]

I'm no expert, but these are just my thoughts. Anyone else can chime in and add their input on this.
Check your levels, because sometimes snails try to escape the water when the parameters are poor. So they might be stressed out, but I wouldn't worry as long as your water quality checks out fine.

I'm not sure on the oxygen, but if your worried you can use a netting/mesh to cover the gaps instead.

Just an idea.

Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium

 

[tyspot1000]

Are they going above the water line or out of the tank?

One more thing. Snails have been known to climb out of the water if the sg is too high or too low, so you may want to double check just to make sure

 

[stratomom]

I'm no expert, but these are just my thoughts. Anyone else can chime in and add their input on this.
Check your levels, because sometimes snails try to escape the water when the parameters are poor. So they might be stressed out, but I wouldn't worry as long as your water quality checks out fine.

I'm not sure on the oxygen, but if your worried you can use a netting/mesh to cover the gaps instead.

Just an idea.

Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium

Actually, I had wondered if that was perhaps why he climbed out. My levels ARE a little out of whack right now, but the tank has been treated, so hopefully it will get back to normal within a day or so. The levels aren't toxic, but they certainly aren't where they need to be.

Oh...and in response to Karlos69...I do typically have a little seaweed in there to munch on, but I've backed off on that for now while I'm trying to get things leveled out.

Thanks for all the replies!

Rachael

 

[stratomom]

Are they going above the water line or out of the tank?

One more thing. Snails have been known to climb out of the water if the sg is too high or too low, so you may want to double check just to make sure

Sorry... I'm a noob to this... What is sg?

Oh...and he climbed clear out of the tank and was half way down the back.

 

[tyspot1000]

Sg = Specific gravity (This is a density measurement for the amount of dissolved salts in saltwater compared to freshwater. Explained another way, saltwater is composed of many more elements than freshwater. The specific gravity measurement shows us how much heavier or denser saltwater is compared to freshwater.)

 

[stratomom]

Sg = Specific gravity (This is a density measurement for the amount of dissolved salts in saltwater compared to freshwater. Explained another way, saltwater is composed of many more elements than freshwater. The specific gravity measurement shows us how much heavier or denser saltwater is compared to freshwater.)

I have no idea what that would be. I took a sample of my water in to the LFS who only deals in saltwater and they said everything was fine except the nitrite spike (I added new fish a little over a week ago). So hopefully everyone can hang in there while the bacteria gets back to where it should be. The one snail is the only one who has done anything out of the ordinary. Everybody else (including the other turbo) seem to be fine. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[uscamaro]

salinity level, checked by a hydrometer or more accurately, a refractometer.

 

[David S]

if you have a nitrite spike everything is far from fine.You need a refractometer to check the water each week due to evaporation and water changes,are you topping up with RO/DI water and are you doing pwc??

 

[mandy2936]

The levels aren't toxic, but they certainly aren't where they need to be.

Actually, they are toxic. Not to sound harsh or rude here, but you should understand that any levels of Nitrite or Ammonia present at all in the tank is toxic to the fish. Sure, higher levels present more of a threat, but still harmful nevertheless.

they said everything was fine except the nitrite spike

So, you're right about your levels not being where they need to be, but yeah just wanted to let you know that Nitrite is toxic, too. Keep a close eye on those parameters and watch for Ammonia spikes as well.

Good luck!!

 

[stratomom]

Thank you for the help. Yes, I do know that nitrite is toxic...bad choice of words on my part. I had been watching the water levels very closely since adding the new inhabitants and contacted the LFS as soon as I saw the nitrite come up. They did have me do a partial water change, and they had me add some bio-spira. Everything is back to normal now.

The thing that scares me is that between me and the people at the store we couldn't figure out what I did wrong. I always de-chlorinate the top-off water (they said de-chlorinated tap water was fine). Also, my salinity level has been very stable. Cleaning agents don't come anywhere near the tank and I don't have air-fresheners in there. The only thing I can think of is that maybe I added too many inhabitants at once, although the store people didn't think so.

Thanks,

Rachael

 

[Karlos69]

You shouldnt use tap water bad advice from your LFS use RO water tap water has phosphates along with other contaminates ask you LFS if he uses tap water probably not.
Do you have lots of live rock and a fine sand substrate that helps with the nitrification process also u can check your ph levels if they drop then you may have a oxygen level problem. Just some stuff to check

 

[stratomom]

You shouldnt use tap water bad advice from your LFS use RO water tap water has phosphates along with other contaminates ask you LFS if he uses tap water probably not.
Do you have lots of live rock and a fine sand substrate that helps with the nitrification process also u can check your ph levels if they drop then you may have a oxygen level problem. Just some stuff to check

I'm a bit confused on what water to use/not use. I've heard many different things from many different sources. In addition to what the LFS said, I had one person tell me to use distilled water, but I researched it and one of the sources said that distilled water doesn't have the right make-up to support a tank. So is RO/DI water the "perfect" water for a saltwater tank? Or can there be problems with it as well? I would invest in a RO/DI system if I thought it would help avoid water-related problems.

I started the tank with quite a bit of rock...some of it was live some of it was dry. I also used a good amount of live sand...the bulk of it is fairly fine with crushed coral/shells.

Thanks,

Rachael

 

[Karlos69]

Ro and distilled are both perfect for salt aquariums for example store bought RO water has to be under 10 parts per million, distilled is 2 parts per million, and your average town and city waters are 300 parts per million. Good you have the live rock 1 pound per gallon of tank size is your minimum and sand about 1 inch deep is enough. I would deff buy an RO machine if u can afford it well worth the investment for drinking too hows the readings on your tank now?

Wait if you have crushed coral that can lead to high nitrates u want a super fine sand deffinatly not crushed coral!

 

[stratomom]

Thanks... I've been researching RO/DI equip today, not sure what to get just yet. I'll take any suggestions.

My levels are fine now. No nitrites showing up at all anymore on my test strips.

The sand I have is about 2" deep and was half regular sand, half live sand when I put it in. It's pretty fine. It's not entirely crushed coral...if that's what you mean. There's just some pieces in it. But the bulk is fine sand. So I'm hoping what I have is ok. I haven't really seen anything different offered in any of the stores I've been in.

 

[Karlos69]

Ok sounds like you got it figured out glad to hear as far as ROs i have a 50 gpd unit with 2 3gallon tanks but u can get bigger or just fill up 5 gallon bottles when u think of it. U just need a 4 stage RO machine with membrane,carbon filter,sediment filter, and a post filter. Usually can find them online for 100-150$. I dont have a deionization unit and honestly know nothing about them im sure someone else can tell u about them, but IMO u dont need one. I run a bottled water company so i do know ROs and distillers .