A ? about turbo snails & small white worms

[daveinomaha]

A few weeks ago I purchased 7 turbo snails & 2 orange turbo snails, all of good size!
The reg turbo snails keep falling off the glass & ending up face up, they have a difficult time correcting themselves so i have to help them over.
Also 3 turbos & 1 orange have died? all my levels are in the good..........
what could be the cause for this.
My tank has been cycled for over 3 months now, there is brown algee traces.are they starving?
My cousin has the small white worms in his 130 gallon. We beleive he got them with his last addition of figi live rock. We think there bristle worms, are they bad, & if so how can we get rid of them.
Thank you everyone for your previous help, you all have been very helpfull.
Cheers & Happy New years.... Dave in Omaha

 

[thomas712]

Dave how did you acclimate those snails. I would also like to know what your salinity,nitrates, and temp are. I do not think that I have heard of an orange turbo, perhaps a red footed moon snail?, what type of shell does the orange one have, very rounded and smooth?
Thomas.

 

[daveinomaha]

The snail is smooth & well rounded.
My stats are PH8.6 Selinity .o22 Nitrite & nitrate at 0
ammonia 0 temp 78*
They were introduced into the tank after 30 min of floating, with 2 water additions, from my tank to the snails bag.....just like i was told to intro fish.....
I do remember the store clerk plucking them from the tank rather roughly, but Im sure they knew what they were doing.
My tank is new, so brown alge may be there only food source?
Thanks Thomas... Dave in Omaha

 

[daveinomaha]

I took a water sample to the LFS, I told them I only need the tests beyond the basics. I found out that my salinity gravity meter is off quite a bit. My salinity was at 1.o17, when my sEA teast read allmost 1.023.....YIKES
Plus my Calcium level was 240, when it should be arround 800.
They GAVE me what i needed to get my tank corrected...GAVE it to me free of charge. I buy most of my stuff there, but was not expecting anything for free........proof that there are still nice people in the world.
I guess snails & crustations are more sensative the specific gravity, while fish have an easyer time adjusting.
So.....Low salinity helped the snails fall off the glass, & the lack of calcium helped seal theirt doom.......
Thanks for your help...................Dave in Omaha

 

[thomas712]

Good that you found the problem, did you lfs tell you how to avoid this in the future? When you check your own salinity you should rinse your meter in fresh water, then once a month you should also soak it in a week vinigar solution and rinse throughly.
I have two swing arm types and use them both for comparisons.
Thomas

 

[thomas712]

Dave - What do you mean that your calcium should be around 800??
Thomas

 

[daveinomaha]

Calcium too high !....yikes!]
Is there a list of perameters for saltwater chemicals...
Im still quite new at this, I dont know what my levels should be.
Thanks for all the help..... Dave in Omaha

 

[thomas712]

Calcium around 450 at least above 400
Alkilinity 11 to 14 DKH
Magnisium 1300 - 1450 ppm
salinity 1.021 -1.025
When calcium is high usually the alkilinity will fall, when the alk rises the cal will fall. Magnisium will help keep them in balance and help to prevent that yo-yo affect.
You would benifit from doing a search on the net about aquarium Calcium and buffering..I'll look for a link and try to add it.
Thomas

 

[c_bell]

Dave,
When you get salinity up and are ready to get some more snails look for Astrea snails. They are smallier and do a great job, but they are not sensitive. Also because they are so small the can get into places on LR the bigger one cant get to and clean.