Mourning

[xstream]

We lost a snail this week... Maybe two. Our golden mystery snail hasn't moved in a couple of days and this morning she was hanging out of her shell. The blue snail is moving around, but not much.

Things have been fine until my nitrites spiked. But we only rose to 1 ppm. We have already decided we are not replacing anyone until we finish the cycle. Nitrates were between 5 ppm and 10 ppm before I did a water change this morning. Ammonia was .25 ppm for the first time in a week. Due to the dead snail I guess.

It is sad, we love watching our snails. Do you all think it was the nitrites? Or do I need to be watching something else?

 

[shellyx]

Sorry to hear about your loss snails are very sensitive to changes in parameters. Like you said i would wait till your cycle is over before adding anymore.

 

[xstream]

I thought I was burying my blue snail thus evening. We came home to him hanging out of his shell... I went to get the dip net and he closed the door. He passed the sniff test. I guess I will wait and see tomorrow. I am not very hopeful.

 

[Cammywammy]

Against what everyone else says all the snails I've ever owned survive cycling tanks and high ammonia levels

 

[xstream]

Cammy,

I lost all three last weekend. My ammonia level rose to 1 ppm one time, other than that it rarely reached .5 ppm and I changed every time I saw .25 ppm.

It wasn't until I started to see nitrites levels of .25 that I saw any problems. I have wondered if I starved them to death... My tank being new did not have algae. I added a half an algae tablet every other night, and would have to remove some of that when I woke the next morning. Maybe I should have put smaller pieces more often? The first few nights they would slide to it very quickly and we would often see two snails on one piece. But the last week or so, it seemed like they ignored it. I thought maybe they are eating some algae from the tank...

I did notice a few shell issues. I was going to start adding some calcium to the tank (although with our extremely hard water I would think I had plenty).

I would like to re-introduce snails once the cycle is complete (one at a time), any suggestions?

 

[shellyx]

I think adding one at a time would be the best. I feed my snail's blanched spinach, kale and cucumber, i put it in at night then remove what's left in the morning. I feed algae wafers too but not daily or my betta would pig out on them lol i definitely prefer veg and I know that they all get there share. Also kale and spinach is good for their shells. Good luck and sorry you lost yours.

 

[Cammywammy]

Do you have copper in your tap water? 1ppm of ammonia would take a long time to kill a snail. Also how did you know they were dead and not hiding?

 

[xstream]

Cammy,

First they hadn't moved in days. Which I know they sometimes do. Ultimately, they all went limp out of their shells and didn't respond to me touching them. There was also the increase in ammonia.

I did add Anacharis the week before and Anubias Nana plants the following week. But that shouldn't have mattered.. Right?

 

[Cammywammy]

Have you kept any other crustaceans before?

 

[xstream]

No I haven't. As a child we had a large tank, but we never had snails.

And I do not have a test for copper... I will check this week with the local fish guy. I have been meaning to stop and see him.

 

[Cammywammy]

Personally my snail has gone through over a week in high ammonia I think you may have another problem.