Why Did my Zebra Snail die?

[Brighteyes]

Hello,

I have had my two snails for a little over two weeks (I got them on Black Friday.) They were fine until 3 days ago when I noticed one in the water upside down with its "foot" in the air. I flipped it over and it ended up that way again, I assume my Red Cap Goldfish was flipping it, but then I found the second Zebra on its back. I did a 15% water change because I noticed my tank smelled bad and my Red Cap (Alice) was having some bladder problems. She is fine now, but I am pretty sure my snails are dead! They do not smell, their "cap" is not closed, and they are white in color inside the shell. They have been Quarantined until I know for sure. I also have 2 Ghost shrimp (had 4 but two got ate, lol) and I am not sure if they could have eaten all the food for the snails, yes or no? I have 4 fish total in my tank as well, water is great (tested and normal) but I do use AquaSafe Plus to make my tap water safe, could that have killed them? I have never had snails, and I am just not getting back into fish after several years of not having any. I plan on upgrading to a bigger tank in the next week (from a 1.5 gallon to a 5 or 10 gallon.) I am hoping with a bigger tank I can not only get more fish but my shrimp and (new) snails will live better.

Thank you!

 

[MartyMA]

There could be a few reasons why your zebra nerite snails have died. There is no way to know how old they were when you bought them. Maybe at the end of their lives? Nerite snails need algae to eat and plenty of it. If your tank does not have at least some algae in it or you feed algae wafers, the snails will starve. Nerite snails are not good at righting themselves once they get turned over. This may have contributed to their deaths.

 

[Khuligirl93]

You have a goldfish plus 3 other fish in a 1.5 gallon tank?? Goldfish need at least a 30 gallon tank and in only 1.5 gallons of water, waste builds up fast and turns the water toxic. I suggest you either return the goldfish, or get at least a 30 gallon tank, and read about cycling. What do you mean by "water is great. Tested and normal"? What are you testing with? My guess is the snails probably got poisoned by ammonia build up. A 5 or 10 gallon tank is still too small for a goldfish, and you most definitely should not get any more fish.