Is it possible...?

[CluelessInNY]

I've posted here before that my clean up crew died off in quick fashion, save for one lonely snail that still lives. About 11 snails died off in my tank and my thought was that the hermits had killed them (I would see them playing with the shells each morning)
I have a 20-gallon, just started the tank in February, it is covered with a bed of 2" of live sand and about 12 lbs of live rock. I also have a filter running, and I turn on the lights for about 10 hours per day (just because I work from home and I like to watch my tank) with a goby, firefish, and clown fish all co-exiting happily. Is it possible that the snails died due to lack of food (algae) in the tank? My one snail seems healthy but I have very little to no algae or molds growing in my tank. There is a very fine layer on the back and side glass. Should I have waited to introduce the clean up crew? How long does ti take to build up a healthy layer of good algaue that will cover the back of my tank?

 

[melosu58]

Not really waited but should have started smaller due to the fact that your tank was so new. I would suggest that you add more LR to your tank. At least another 8-10 lbs. Also remember since you are doing a nano tank you must keep up with it constantly. A smaller tank can get out of wack real easy. HTH

 

[roka64]

How did you acclimate the snails?

 

[CluelessInNY]

I dripped them for two hours and they lived for a good few weeks before expiring. I am definintely leaning toward the thought that there was simply a lack of food in the tank

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'd agree that it sounds like they starved. I'm trying to get the right balance in my tank right now again - my first batch of snails have slowly died off and I replaced them with too many... and those died off as well. This time, I'll only add a few at a time. Don't feel bad... we all do it.

The only other thing I can think of is temperature. What temp are you keeping your tank?

 

[CluelessInNY]

The temp is right at 78. I am obsessive about that, checking it each day several times. The survivor is a Mexican snail who has outlived every other snail by two months so far!