y did my snail die ?

[ickey]

my tank is 6 wks old(120 gl),i've had 2 perc clowns in it for 2 wks, they're going great .yesterday i added 1 dwarf red tip hermit and 1 mexican turbo snail ,i acclimated them for 1 hour . when i put them in the tank i sat them both in a corner and they never moved again . i've been testing my water every otherday , and yesterday it was nitrates 15,nitrite 0,ammonia 0,ph 8.2. I do have lava rock for my baserock , should i test for copper ? I read different advice on the lava but my lfs said i could use it , and the guy i bought the tank from said he had used some of it in his other tanks ,so i trusted him. Any ideas? pleeeaaase help .

 

[Wally]

Ive had Turbo Snails sit in the same place dor over 2 days without moving. How long have they been in your tank?

 

[ickey]

about 24 hours,the grab is definitely dead.

 

[reefrunner69]

Yes, test for copper.

How long did you acclimate them and how did you accimate them? What is your SG and what is the SG of the LFS?

 

[ickey]

i acclimated them by leaving them in their bag for an hour and adding a half cup of tank water every fifteen minutes during that hour . i talked to my lfs today and he said their sg is 1.023 to 1.024 my sg was1.018 to 1.019 i did a 20 percent water change thursday and didn't do a good job getting the sg back to where it was ,i've been adding salt slowly all day long,am i doing the right thing? should i still test for copper? thanks .

 

[reefrunner69]

i've been adding salt slowly all day long,am i doing the right thing?

No, you should bring your SG over the course of days, by simply replacing evaporation with SW. Adding straight salt to your tank is very stressful and dangerous to your inhabitants.

I doubt it is copper, but testing wouldn't hurt. Snails and shrimp and crabs are very sensitive to changes in SG andtemp and ph, more than likely they were shocked by all three. Take a look at the article on acclimation in the articles section and think hours of slow drip acclimation for mobile inverts.

 

[ickey]

Thank you very much, i'll follow your advice .

 

[Brisc0]

Even if you think that redtip is dead, which is likely the case, don't toss him just yet. Red tips are infamous for playing dead for 3 - 4 days after going in. I added 15 to my reef and they sat in a pile for three days before they started roaming around the tank.

 

[ickey]

thanx brisc0

 

[got bait?]

Snails and shrimp and crabs are very sensitive to changes in SG andtemp and ph,

Why are these organisms more sensitive than others? The thing I see most different with these organisms is that they have all have an exoskeleton, or are slugs and nudibranchs the same. I've had a lettuce nudi in my tank for three mos now, and had a few snails die since, but the lettuce is doing great.

 

[reefrunner69]

Why are these organisms more sensitive than others?

I don't know the science as to why, so I'll answer my typical, cause they are

 

[got bait?]

That works for me