Are snails overly sensitive

[clownfish]

to anything in particular. I recently noticed more than the usual amount of turbo snails upside down. Most are fine once I right them, although it looks like I lost one this morning. One of my peppermint shrimp seem to be making a snack of him.

About a week ago I added a royal gamma and a shunk shrimp to my tank that had a pair of clowns and a pair of peppermint shrimp.

Could the shunk or gamma be knocking them over? Are snails picking up a change in water quality that I don't detect?

Presently:
ph 8.2
sg 1.024
temp 80
amm 0
nitrate 0
nitrite .2 (slightly higher than my normal 0 )

Any thoughts are appreciated...

[Hara]

The astrea snails cannot right themselves. Mexican Turbo snails normally can.
The Mexican Turbo snails prefer a cooler water temp..I think mine are living shorter lifespans due to my warmer water as the ones in my seahorse tank,temp 76, seem to be doing great.

[Anemoneman]

I notice some turbos have a difficult time righting themselves. If I see them kncked over I always help them out

[clownfish]

Yup. Noticed that too. And I am helping them out. Point was: Seems like a lot more are going over now. Was wondering why. And, one died was trying to determine the cause. Don't know if they die more quickly when upside down, but this one couldn't have updside down more than a few hours. Or, if died and fell upside down.

Just wanted to catch anything early, if there was anything to catch -- If that makes any sense...

The Mexican Turbo snails prefer a cooler water temp..I think mine are living shorter lifespans

I don't know about that..Mine seem to be doing rather well at 82* and above. I do however add a piece or NORI once a week to keep them happy.. They will travel the length of the tank to get at it when I put it in...They eat and eat until it is all gone...They are getting huge too..

I have astreas and I really don't like them...I don't help them either. They turn into treats for the other inhabitants.. I figure it this way... I am sure that they do this same thing in the wild and it is dawg eat dawg. May the best snail survive...(Or the one that can hold on the longest...)

[Casie]

Hiya Clownfish =)

Snails are, of course, very sensitive to copper. But since your other inverts are fine, you can rule that out. The only other possiblities I can offer would be poor acclimation or possible starvation.

Snails need acclimation time to adjust to changes in salinity and temperature. Dr Ron's advice is, "Remove them from the bag. Let them dry out in a cup or bowl for about 15 minutes. Then take them one by one, and place them in the tank at the water line with the aperture next to the wall. The animals will extend, fasten to the wall and move into the water of their own accord. In effect, they will self-acclimate."

This works very well I think. Its easy on the snails AND me!

I don't know if you are looking to try different snails in the future, but I thought I'd add this little list.

Nassarius Snails: Great detrivores and sand-stirrers. They will hide in the sand until feeding time.

Astrea Snails: A great algae eater, but sometimes fall off the glass onto their backs and will require a little help to right themselves.

Banded Trochus: Algae eating machines. Ideal size, won't knock over corals/rock, and can move very fast.

Stomatella Snails: Will breed in your tank! You will only need to get 4 or 5. They're great algae eaters and stay very small. I give these to all my friends. =)

Cerith Snails Will also breed in your tank. Good algae eaters and sand-stirrers.

Fighting Conchs: Little vacuum cleaners. One per 2 sq. ft. of sand. They'll eat diatoms and, sometimes, cyano.

Turbo Snails: They are big and clumsy. They'll knock over or move anything that isn't glued/nailed down.

Red Moon Snails: Cold water species.

Bumble-bee snails: Carnivorous.

[Hara]

Great informational post Casie!

[kwtowmaster]

If theres any chance of copper being in tank ,like putting water in from LFS. Or putting in a peice of coral that was in copper ,and having it leech out .it wont kill everything but snails get the effects first.if at all possible start using poly filter.It happened to me.

[clownfish]

Thanks all. I've had the snails for about 4 months so acclaimation isn't the problem. Did not introduce LFS water or anything else that I can think of that would leach cooper. As i mentioned I did recently add a shunk cleaner shrimp and a royal gamma. Acclaimated them properly with no LFS water ending up in my tank.

Problem seems to be that the snails are ending up on their backs more then they used to. Used to be I find one upside down once every 3-4 weeks. Now its seems that it's once a day. The Shunk cleaner is bigger than my peppermint shrimps and quite active. The only thing I can think of is that he's knocking them over!??! I have about a dozen in my 30g tank, so there is ample chance to run into one....

Any thoughts...

Casie... Great list and great info. Thanks 8)

I just made a trip to the LFS's today; 3 of them; and every holding tank for astreas had quite a few that have fallen and wont get up... The owners had no clue as to what causes this, and the closest thing that I heard was that they may fight. When one crosses the others path they will hitch a ride and the weight of the rider is too much causing them to fall. Then, the rider has not gone belly up because his foot is still attached to the less fortunate victim and crawls onto the sand and then up a rock to safety. The victim snail is left belly up and cannot right itself and falls prey to hermits and shrimp. This is just a theory and not proven....