Snail death by powerhead suction!?

[gautier]

I bought two gold mysteries about a week ago. Unfrotunately, the shock hasn't treated them too well and they were pretty much dormant for the first couple of days. eventually, they both started roaming around the tank, one being obviously weaker than the other.

eventually, the larger snail found itself around the seams of the powerhead. the seams apparently have a little bit of suction power, but couldn't be too much. i pushed it off since it wasn't really touching the powerhead but just drifting around it. eventually, the same one attached itself to it again and at the same location. this time, it looked like it was stuck and i unplugged the powerhead, couple days later, it was still in the same position. i pushed it off again, but this time it wasn't moving. at this point i realized that it was dead and i had to push it off with a lot of force. (it wasn't a pretty sight)

anyway, i'm a little confused as to what happened. it was clearly dead when i took it off and the powerhead is hardly strong enough to truely suck it into the seams.

to make matters worse, my other snail is pretty much dead as the trapdoor is so far recessed inside the shell.

any suggestions/explanations? i want to have lively snails, but the ones i have always end up becoming really sluggish until they die.

 

[Jarred Darque]

I have had a few snails commit suicide on the power heads and filters. The best fix for this is to prefilter the powerheads and filter intakes.

 

[hc8719]

had a ramshorn do it a few months ago. he got nearly torn in half, and only lived for a few days

 

[gautier]

yeah it's a pretty ugly sight..
but what can you do to prefilter? like a fish net or something? eventually, i want to cover up the powerhead with rocks but that's hardly going to cover it from snails

 

[toddnbecka]

Some sort of sponge would be better than a net, to spread the intake flow over a larger area and decrease pressure.

 

[pentiumburner]

I have heard of using old nylon stockings but I'm not sure what type of restriction they may cause.

 

[tropicfishman]

iono about you guys but anything thats in my tank that dies, dissapears real quick, maybe its my red tail shark