Something killing Mystery Snails ?

[mkat]

Hi,

About 6 months ago we added a mystery snail to our aquarium. It only lasted a few days and was dead.

A week ago we tried again, 2 mystery snails added to the tank, the next morning one was dead, I assumed it was dead when they gave it to us so we went and got another for a total of 2 in our tank.

Now in a week one of those is dead...

We have an african dwarf frog, zebra danios, neon tetras and a small algae eater that is about an inch long that I'm not sure what it is but it's not a catfish or supposed to be aggressive I remember that from when we got it over a year ago.

Does anyone know if any of those types of fish could be killing the snails? The frog sometimes seems to swat at fish if they try to steal his food but he doesn't otherwise seem aggressive so I don't think it should be him but I'm not sure(it is not the "clawed" frog by the way).

Thanks for any advice.

 

[brennae]

Dwarf frogs have webbed feet, and clawed frogs don't. Could be the frogs and could be the algae eater. Could you post a pic of the algae eat so someone can identify it and then we can better tell you if that fish is the problem? Also if you put any salt in the tank that will harm the snails.

 

[mkat]

Dwarf frogs have webbed feet, and clawed frogs don't. Could be the frogs and could be the algae eater. Could you post a pic of the algae eat so someone can identify it and then we can better tell you if that fish is the problem? Also if you put any salt in the tank that will harm the snails.

Here is a picture of the algae eater and the frog together.

 

[ppo8820]

The frog may be the culprit, but it could be other things as well. Do you add any aquarium salt to your water? If so, that will kill snails, shrimp, plants, etc. Meds also kill the things I just mentioned.

When buying a snail, ask for one you see moving as there are quite a few "duds" in the tanks usually. Also, they will stay in their shells during day hours for the most part and are much more alive at night. This sometimes makes people think they are dead, but they are just closed up. You can tell if its dead by a quick sniff test.............trust me, dead ones are awful smelling!!!

I also suspect the algae eater. If its a Chinese algae eater, they suck slime off fish and I am sure snails, which causes disease and death. I am not sure why stores still sell these little buggers as they are not good for fish tanks.

 

[ppo8820]

THAT LAST PIC, it IS a Chinese algae eater and its sucking the slime coat right off your frog! I would remove it and take it back.

 

[fish wrangler]

That looks like an otocinclus imo

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[mkat]

Hmm I'm not sure what to do now. I got him from petsmart and all of the fish and the frog have been living together for over a year. But if he is attacking my frog then that is not good. When I went to take the picture of him is only the first time I ever noticed him on the frog and I was wondering why he was on there. The snail that I thought was dead seems to have been sleeping in his shell because now he has moved, I didn't see him move but I did pick him up and smell him and he didn't stink so maybe he's just slower than the other snail or less active or the algae eater did in fact attack him.

I do not put salt in my aquarium at all. What can be done with the algae eater if he is attacking my frog?

 

[Angela1108]

That is an oto not a CAE (the line is too sharp to be a CAE plus it has the face/barbs of an oto). Snails are pretty sensitive to water parameters and those frogs are actually very very messy. Have you tested the water recently? In my experience snails will not do well with high nitrates


Also how have you acclimated them?


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[Angela1108]

CAE:

Oto:





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[mkat]

That is an oto not a CAE (the line is too sharp to be a CAE plus it has the face/barbs of an oto). Snails are pretty sensitive to water parameters and those frogs are actually very very messy. Have you tested the water recently? In my experience snails will not do well with high nitrates


Also how have you acclimated them?


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I don't often test the water in the tank to be honest, but they are always about the same except this morning my ammonia is a little higher than normal, I don't know if that's because i have had some cucumbers in there for the last 2 days hoping the snails would eat them or what? I did it this morning though with the api master test kit. here are the results...

PH: ~7.9 I would say its between 7.8 and 8.0 ... it's always about 7.8 I don't know what to do about that

Ammonia: It's between 0ppm and 0.25ppm... normally it's always very close or right on 0ppm.

Nitrite: 0.25ppm

NirAte: 20 ppm

I have acclimated them by just putting the bag in the tank for half an hour before letting them go in like I did with the fish...one snail still seems to move all over the place but the other is for sure alive, but doesn't move around much...

Reading another thread here called "Overstocking a 20 regular" I might be overstocked with my 10 gallon...

3 glowlight tetras...
4 neon tetras...
2 zebra danios...
1 african dwarf frog...
that one algae eater...
one fish I'm not sure if it is a Rasbora Heteromorpha...it looks like that but its more clear...
and now the 2 snails.

My levels as posted have always been as posted. PH is always high but I don't know how to really lower.

 

[ppo8820]

My bad, I thought it was a Chinese Algae eater. If its an otto, he can stay. The snails are way more active at night. The ammo is most likely from the rotting veggies you put in. Id take them out and do a nice water change. Snails are odd. I had two that moved non stop when the water was warmer (ich when I started). Now they only come alive when the light is out.

 

[mkat]

Thanks everyone for the help, maybe it took him a little while to get used to the place but yeah I have been checking more at night and both snails seem to be all over the place now.