Turbo snails always flipping over and dying

[limitup]

My tank is about 3 months old now. Everything is going great - except for the turbo snails. They are always falling off rocks, etc. and landing upside down and then usually die. There are a few that seem to know how to flip themselves back over, but most don't. I've probably had 50 die in the past few months, and I'm down to maybe 20.

The cerith snails, hermit crabs, etc. are all pretty much fine, it's just these dumb turbo snails. I don't have time to check the tank all day every day in order to save them, so what should I do? Is this normal??

Maybe they are just too big and I should go with smaller turbo snails? Or should I stick with Cerith and maybe other types of snails? Ideally the kind that know how to flip themselves over when they are on their back!

We just removed about 50 shells the other day ...the sandy floor usually looks like a snail graveyard. Not to mention they are nasty when they die and decay ...

 

[Guest]

Some snails can't flip themselves over. Most cerith snails can, nassarius snails can easily, but are not algae eaters. It's just something you have to deal with sometimes.

 

[quarryshark]

We just removed about 50 shells the other day ...the sandy floor usually looks like a snail graveyard. Not to mention they are nasty when they die and decay ...

I'm suprised the Hermits don't clean them up. When a snail flips in my tank, the hermits put on their bibs and break out the hot sauce. 8)

 

[limitup]

Yeah the hermits do get to some of them, but there have been so many dying that the hermits can't even keep up. So I guess the question is, which snails are algea eaters and can easily flip themselves over?

 

[Guest]

Cerith, is what I would go for.

 

[Sparky]

Conch snails are good.

 

[Atari]

While it does happen occasionally, 50 in 3 months is way too many. I would suspect something is not quite right instead of just accepting it as normal or bad luck.

BTW - if you have dwarf blue legged hermits then ceriths would be a bad idea.

 

[phases99]

Once acclimated I have never had an Astrea/Turbo fall on its back. They have pretty strong suction and are not easy to remove from the rocks or glass. Once on their back they are gonners. Is there sufficient algae for them eat?

 

[Atari]

I remember reading on wetwebmedia once that low calcium levels can have this affect on them, aswell as just starving from lack of food.

 

[sw65galma]

what size is you tank?

The turbos are recommened 1 per 20 gallons.

 

[nodoubt471]

you probably have to many and dont have enough to eat, i made that mistake in my first tank. now i only have 3 in my 46 gal and they do a good job.