Death of 2(3) Mexican Giant Turbo snails....

[AndySmithers]

In my 90 gallon reef wannabe I've had some drama today (see 'Clown's amazing journey).
Also over the past two days I've lost 2 of the large Mexican Turbo snails.
They just seemed to stop moving and when investigated the 'insides' had gone all rock hard - obviously dead.

Question is - why?
I've got all kinds of other snails, crabs, a starfish, mushrooms, polyps and, of course, fish in the tank and all are apparently healthy and feeding well. Water chemistry seems fine also.

Why the title says 2(3) is that the 3rd (and final) snail hasn't moved from the top of a rock for 2 days now even though I can see his antennas moving and he's stuck fast to the rock. Twice now in two days I've seen him ejecting a kind of 'smoke' - I thought it was sperm - but I'm not so sure now.

ANy ideas???

 

[BillyZ]

the 'insides' had gone all rock hard - obviously dead.

Not necessarily. Many snails have a bony plate that they use to shield themselves if they feel threatened. This combined with your clown escapade, you may have some water issues. yes, I did see you said the water parameters were "fine", but lots of us here have grown very skeptical of that phrase (don't take it personal) post up actual readings from your tests and give us a little more info about your system (size, age, inhabitants etc) and maybe we can see if something is off.

 

[AndySmithers]

No - these snails were definitely dead. One of them the body had actually fallen out of the shell and was completely solid.

These things are just simply too big to be threatened by anything else in the tank (it's a peaceful, non-predatory tank - the only slightly predatory critter I've got is a large green brittle star and he shares his caves quite happily with very small peppermint shrimp!).

Water parameters? They are pretty constant - PH:8.5, Nitrite:0, Ammonia:0, Nitrite: <5. Salinity: 1.023, Temp: 81-82.
I am, however, battling a cyano outbreak at the moment - it seems to be coming under control slowly - but did I read somewhere that this stuff can be toxic to these critters???

 

[Bang Guy]

Is there a chance they starved? They only eat diatoms and they need a lot of them. I don't know, just a suggestion.

 

[captivereefs]

If they were acclimated to fast they will die i about 1-3 months. A change in sainity that is brough on to fast will rupture them internally doing fatal damage. This could of happened at the wholesaler the fish store or your tank.

Darin

www.captivereefs.com

 

[AndySmithers]

I realized the one bit of vital info. I left out from my original posting is that these guys have been in the tank since January this year (they were the first critters put in there).

How long do they live??

 

[Guest]

I have had a couple for at least a year now, and I did also have a few that died. I wonder though if they died from starvation now.. The two I have had for this long, seem to be quite healthy... They are very big eaters....

 

[AndySmithers]

You know I'm actually coming around to the starvation theory myself now...
When I first got the snails, hair algae was rampant and they dined like crazy on the stuff.
But now the only non-desirable life form in the tank is some cyano.

I wonder if the tank is now basically too clean to keep these monsters alive?

The other thing leading me in this direction is that I've had an explosion of baby snails of all types in the tank - Go knows where some of these came from - there's hundreds of them on the glass and rocks. Maybe the competition for a big eater like the Mexicans has just gotten too much.

If that is the case do you think it's too .... harsh.... to just say, well thanks for all the hard work guys but you don't have a job now - or would I be best off finding some food for them (him)?

 

[BillyZ]

well if you fire them by returning them to the LFS, then it's not harsh. If you fire them by letting them starve then yes, thats harsh.

You can try picking up some algae sheets for feeding fish, and anchor it to the bottom under a small bit of rock, see if they'll munch on it. A little bit will go a long way with snails )

 

[Hara]

you can put nori in the tank, they love the stuff. The other thing is they are a cooler water snail that does better with temps around 76. They will live in warmer water, but not nearly as long.

 

[Bang Guy]

How long do they live??

About 20 years.