Floating snail and I lost a fish.

[JaneR]

Hello everyone.
Im super glad I found this site! We have one big snail who has taken to floating round the top of the tank for days. He is alive and well it seems as he does come out on a daily basis, I just dont see him attaching himself to anything. Is this okay? can he feed from up there? can he sink himself if he wants to? my bf says Im too worried but I just want to make sure its okay!
Secondly, we have 4 goldfish (we had five till two days ago ). About a week ago one of them started behaving strangely hanging around the top of the tank, then not moving off the bottom. he eventually started swimming in spirals, alternatively folding himself in half and then swimming like crazy. I went to the fish shop to try get him meds but by the time I got home he had died. I have no idea what happened. We had just changed the water (not unusual). we have a filter and a pump so they have plenty of oxygen. We have checked the ammonia and nitrate levels and they are both at 0. I am concerned for the other fish. They appear to be okay but are a little skittish. (Im wondering if my cat, who has shown no interest in them until the past few days has been terrorizing them!!!).
Anyone have any ideas what went wrong with poor fishie?
Thanks!!!

 

[Ruadh]

Are you sure you have lots of O2?

Snails will float normally, but if it's doing that all the time, it's a sign that they are oxygen starved.

Is the surface of your tank quiet or does it have good agitation?
Oxygen is absorbed from the atmosphere by surface movement of the water so if the water isn't moving well, there won't be much gas exchange.

 

[GhostKnife]

Check your O2 however snails do float around the tank in search of good food and oxygen.

 

[peaceablegarden]

Sorry for your loss. You say your nitrAte is at 0. Is this correct? If so, your tank is in a cycle which could explain why your goldie died. You don't list your nitrIte level. Knowing both might help figure out what is going on. What size is your tank and how long has it been running?

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Check your O2 however snails do float around the tank in search of good food and oxygen.

How do you check O2? Is there a standard test kit at the LFS I've just never noticed or is there some secret test I have not heard about in AA yet?

 

[GhostKnife]

No there is not to my knowledge. Look for surface agitation. Power head, filter, or airstones/airlines(bubbles) are good to have.

 

[JaneR]

The tank is about 15 gallons. Its been up and running for about a year. we have bubbles and the filter is on as well. There is lots of movement on the top of the water.
I dont know if the fish are harassing the snail maybe. They dont hang out at the top of the tank so I think they are okay, skittish but okay.
Snail come out every now and then and I held him down and he opend up and sucked onto the glass last night but this morning he was up at the top again. Im at a loss. I dont know what the nitrite is. We bought an ammonia tester and a Nitrite metre. ( I was mistaken when I said NItrate) both are at 0 ppm.

 

[GhostKnife]

You want to have 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 10-40ppm nitrate. Snails do that. What it will do when it is ready to descend is release air from its shell. It will drop to the bottom. Just dont take it and drop it as they may fall fast. If it is a giant mystery or something. Id let it do its thing they do float around alot. What they do in the wild is ride the currents to take them somewhere else. Its like us getting on an airplane. Only it will come out of its shell and probably flip when it realizes it didnt get anywhere. HAHA Im sure its fine!

 

[JaneR]

Thank you everyone for your advice. we havent tested the nitrate, but I am glad that our ammonia and nitrite is 0. Thats good news. As for mr Snail, well I will leave him alone for a bit and not worry so much.

 

[gzeiger]

It really isn't necessary in an established tank to test for nitrate provided you change water regularly. If you're not worried about growing plants there's no minimum, and water changes will keep it from getting too high. It builds up in a predictable way.

Sometimes you can get snails to eat flake food when they float on the top. It's really fun to watch them eat if you can manage to add the food without scaring it into hiding.

 

[mitcore]

snails are bad for getting air in thier shell, I had a mystery snail ( big) float until i realised the air from its shell,
snail are more for water that is a little acidic
If the water is to neutral they die, I learnt that the hard way

 

[JaneR]

well that silly snail is playing a lovely game with me! He was stuck to the glass this morning and went into hiding as soon as I put the light on. He floated around while I fed the fish then let go a few bubbles right in my face!! lol.
He was stuck on the glass again when I got home from work. So I guess hes just fine and is playing a happy little floating game to make me worry .