BettaNamedPino
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2020
- Messages
- 2
Hi there! This is my first post on your lovely forums.
I need some advice - my golden mystery snail (named Lucas) has been sick for several weeks now. I've read that snails can sometimes stay inactive for weeks on end and be just fine, but it's stopped moving in general now. The snail IS alive and seems to be very alert to motion around it, but I have not seen it moving on its foot for at least a week now and haven't seen it climb for at least two weeks. I also have not seen it eat, though I have tried giving it green beans. I do see it opening up and putting a snorkel out often. Yesterday it appeared to be trying to stand up, but wasn't able to. It seems to be shrinking in size, the "door" to his shell seems to be further in when it's closed up than it used to be.
I've had it for about 8 months, and it's been very active for most of that time. When I got it, it had a large dent on the shell which I was aware of, but I bought it anyway. It hasn't seemed to be an issue. I will say that parts of the shell have become white overtime and appears to have eroded considerably. I've read this is caused by soft water, but my water tests seem good (I think). The tank is also kept between 75 and 80 degrees.
pH: 7.6
High Range pH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
I'm ashamed to say, but I need to in order to get good advice... it's in a 5 gallon tank which is currently overcrowded. The tank has a betta and 5 gold cloud minnows, along with some java fern and 2 pieces of driftwood. The tank has a built in filter medium that uses carbon filters. My local shop suggested I pair a betta with 3 gold clouds and a mystery snail, which went well for awhile, but they have all grown and the clouds have managed to breed, so there are now 5 of them. A recent apartment move has kept me from getting a new tank, but I am in the researching process of finding a larger tank to move the minnows into. I added the snail as a bit of a clean up crew, but I'm also ashamed to say that I'm learning now they aren't really intended to be used that way and I fear that I may have mistreated this snail and not fed it enough.
Last thing, and I plan to post about this in another forum... my tank has been overrun by string/thread algae over the last month or so and I'm worried this may be a contributing factor to the snail's health. I'm not quite sure what's causing it, but have some ideas. Overcrowded, too much light, etc. I have been a bit lazy with water changes, too, but did a large water change last week and a 50% water change today. I've attached a couple photos of Lucas in the spot he's been in for the last several days, and the state of the algae growing from the gravel.
I would prefer to not euthanize the snail, but I also am not sure that it can bounce back. Does anyone have any advice, either for improving my current tank while I work on getting a larger one set up or for treating Lucas specifically?
I know this was lengthy, so thank you to anyone who made it this far and for any advice you can offer!
I need some advice - my golden mystery snail (named Lucas) has been sick for several weeks now. I've read that snails can sometimes stay inactive for weeks on end and be just fine, but it's stopped moving in general now. The snail IS alive and seems to be very alert to motion around it, but I have not seen it moving on its foot for at least a week now and haven't seen it climb for at least two weeks. I also have not seen it eat, though I have tried giving it green beans. I do see it opening up and putting a snorkel out often. Yesterday it appeared to be trying to stand up, but wasn't able to. It seems to be shrinking in size, the "door" to his shell seems to be further in when it's closed up than it used to be.
I've had it for about 8 months, and it's been very active for most of that time. When I got it, it had a large dent on the shell which I was aware of, but I bought it anyway. It hasn't seemed to be an issue. I will say that parts of the shell have become white overtime and appears to have eroded considerably. I've read this is caused by soft water, but my water tests seem good (I think). The tank is also kept between 75 and 80 degrees.
pH: 7.6
High Range pH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
I'm ashamed to say, but I need to in order to get good advice... it's in a 5 gallon tank which is currently overcrowded. The tank has a betta and 5 gold cloud minnows, along with some java fern and 2 pieces of driftwood. The tank has a built in filter medium that uses carbon filters. My local shop suggested I pair a betta with 3 gold clouds and a mystery snail, which went well for awhile, but they have all grown and the clouds have managed to breed, so there are now 5 of them. A recent apartment move has kept me from getting a new tank, but I am in the researching process of finding a larger tank to move the minnows into. I added the snail as a bit of a clean up crew, but I'm also ashamed to say that I'm learning now they aren't really intended to be used that way and I fear that I may have mistreated this snail and not fed it enough.
Last thing, and I plan to post about this in another forum... my tank has been overrun by string/thread algae over the last month or so and I'm worried this may be a contributing factor to the snail's health. I'm not quite sure what's causing it, but have some ideas. Overcrowded, too much light, etc. I have been a bit lazy with water changes, too, but did a large water change last week and a 50% water change today. I've attached a couple photos of Lucas in the spot he's been in for the last several days, and the state of the algae growing from the gravel.
I would prefer to not euthanize the snail, but I also am not sure that it can bounce back. Does anyone have any advice, either for improving my current tank while I work on getting a larger one set up or for treating Lucas specifically?
I know this was lengthy, so thank you to anyone who made it this far and for any advice you can offer!
