Shrimp and snails don't live long ...

[trennamw]

My first "real" tank is a year old with no major drama ... Algae, water chemistry, illness, or death ...

Except the inverts!! Mystery snails and ghost shrimp, even when very small at time of purchase, even when they're from local reputable shops, only last about 1-3 months.

In what ways do inverts have different needs than fish?

Tank was 29, now 56 column, planted. Water runs 0-0-20. I add Seachem Equilibrium and API Chiclid buffer to get my very soft tapwater up to gh and kh of about 4.

The snails seem to grow with beautiful thick shiny shells, then one day I realize they haven't moved in several days and while the snail is still alive it doesn't last long after that.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Fresh2o]

Any chance that there is copper in you water source?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[trennamw]

That's what it came to last time I asked this question. But The city says no copper. And the local shops who are on the same water supply say no.

I've used both seachem and Osmocoote root tabs, but nobody seems to have issues with them.

What level of nitrates can they handle?


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[trennamw]

PH is a little below 7 and temp is close to 80 ...


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[shellyx]

Any fish harassing them?
Does your root tabs contain copper? Your nitrate level is fine for snail's.


55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon vampire shrimp, green lace shrimp and snails.

 

[trennamw]

No fish bugging them. Even when they lay on the bottom half out of their shell the day or two before dying.

LFS owner, who has some of the most intricate observations and theories on fish behavior that I've ever encountered (owner of the store that was the first one around to keep Bettas in community tanks with a wide variety of fish) says it sounds like my tank was too clean and they starved.

He said anytime you see a snail cruising the floor instead of chomping at the glass, throw in some extra algae wafers right in front of the snails if possible. Because a snail on the floor is really hungry.

He was a little concerned about the ph but considering they were growing well with thick shells, they got outcompeted.

It's possible, I've never had much algae except on rough rocks than nobody wanted to put their mouths on. And the tank has 10 Otos and some malaysian trumpet snails, and gets one algae wafer a day (which the Tetras try to steal too). The MTS population sorta disappeared too. The fish aren't skinny at all, but I never increased food as they grew over the past year.

So I got two new mystery snails today and will try again!

No copper in the fertilizer ... And nobody else using the same root tabs has mentioned invert issues.

Just read Portlands water report again. I don't even live in buildings at a high risk for copper from the pipes.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Fresh2o]

Good luck with the new snails! The disappearing MTS is concerning. I've had a colony of MTS that multiplied rapidly at first in my planted tank. As I increased light, CO2, and ferts, I noticed increased shell decay and snail deaths. But the population has stabilized now. As a control, I moved a few healthy specimens to a low light low tech shrimp tank. Those multiplied and they have no sign of shell decay. Their shells are lighter colored and smoother and the snails in general are larger. In the planted tank, the shells are much darker, rough textured and some have BBA on them. They almost look like two different types of snail.
You may want to try something other than ghost shrimp. Sometimes their handling is less than ideal as they are often intended for fish food.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[trennamw]

That's interesting with the MTS. The tank is still low tech, low ferts, just root tabs ... Shells look good.

But I noticed even when I put in plants with BBA on them, it disappeared in a day. The only algae ever was on rocks that had a sandy texture, where I presume it was hard to eat off of (baby MTS were often on those rocks but nothing else).

I'd love to try other shrimp, I just want to quit killing stuff first.

Lost one snail already, got itself stuck to the filter intake. I underestimated how small they are. Can't win!


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Mebbid]

What does the pH run without the buffer?

 

[trennamw]

My only experience without buffer was in tiny betta tanks, the ph was always really unstable with frequent water changes and I lost several bettas to fin rot. I think it's like 7.8 out of the tap and hits 6 within a day?

I don't recall exactly. I started buffering slightly over a year ago, stopped losing fish, and by then had learned so much about KH/GH/ph I decided to get a 29!

Here's my water ...

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/article/484002



Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.