what kills them?

[DepotFish]

I lost both of my mystery snails over thanksgiving break. The pond snail is fine though. No ammonia or nitrites in the water. Phosphates and nitrates very low. No salt since I got the snails. No chemical treatments currently. Oxygen level was fine, though the water did increase to about 80F over the time I was gone. Goldfish enjoyed the sauna, went into breeding season. Snails, not so much. I hate paying money for the darn things if all they do is keel over. I've got an add for pond snails on craigslist but no answers to it yet.

 

[joannde]

I read somewhere that the most common cause of death in mystery snails is starvation - you'd be surprised how much those guys can chow down.
Temps around 80 should be ok, but I did lose a few during ich treatment (87F).
Which fish were they in with ? Could they have been picked at and either killed that way or stressed to death ?

 

[tropicfishman]

my redtail shark was the reason two of my ramshorns died within 3 days of each other recently, he always came up behind and nipped them when they were jsut minding there own bussiness, I agree with joannde on the fact they can eat alot, most likely was starvation, sorry for your loss though

 

[DepotFish]

Makes sense. They are little pigs. They were walmart snails. Kept in little cups with a rotting piece of plant that didn't look like anything they'd even want to eat. I gave them a algae wafer in their cups overnight for them to eat before adding them to the tank. One of them chowed down on a wafer but the other didn't seem to find it.

 

[fish_4_all]

Could easily have been in bad shape when you got them. I have seen way too many dead mystery snails in Walmart tanks. Keep trying craigs list to try and find some healthy ones or find a LFS that has or can order them.