A few dead Turbo Snails

[headabovewater]

I have a 55 gallon tank with 45lbs of live rock. Its been set up for a little over a month with one damsel. I recently bought a cleaner wrasse and he has disappeared. Now I notice that I have 3 dead snails I bought a 10 - 20 gallon clean up package from here. All the other critters seem to be doing fine even the two peppermint shrimp. I recently moved all my rock around to catch 4 damsels, and took the oportunity to siphon the debris off the sand bed and change about 15 gallons of water. What do you think killed my snails should I be worried and do something? The PH is 8.2, AM 0 ppm NI 0 ppm, NA 0 ppm ???

 

[treble]

ther might not have been enough for the snails to eat...? was there a good amount of algae?

 

[fshhub]

were the shell damaged?, if they are empty but undamaged, they probably got ate by your clean up crew, however if they were damaged, look for predators
Many snails have a habit of drowning believe it or not.if they flip over, they cannot upright, tehn drown(turbos are very well known for this, to name one)
Trochus are great, they cost a bit more(@ $4ea), but they con't have this problem, and seem to clean more
Don't buy anything, if your shells are busted up, until you find oout what happened, but if they are jsut dead(and maybe empty), you should be ok
[ December 10, 2001: Message edited by: fshhub ]

 

[mlm]

I had the same problem. This weekens I had 3 snails die. 2 of them I found dead and it seemed one of the dead ones had a live one "sucking him up". Another one I noticed when it fell off of a rock and it was laying on the sand on its side. I pick it up and put it upright but this morning it was still in the same spot. None of them had damaged shells and all the water parameters are fine. All other tank inhabitants such as Xenia, Bubble coral and mushrooms ar doing fine. Is it possible that emerald crabs attacked them?

 

[headabovewater]

None of them have damaged shells. They just kinda fell of the rocks there were on then just laid in the sand upside down and stopped moving. Ive seen em get up before. I just wonder if something didnt get in my water when I did the water change.

 

[headabovewater]

Now all my brown algae has disappeared is this normal? I know its supposed to be over taken by the green algae when the tank matures is this normal?

 

[fishymissy]

I needed to say this, snails do not drown. They live in the water, they breathe the water. They cannot drown in the water. If they fall or turn upside down, they can right themselves just fine. If they can't then they are dying, and it's not because they are drowning!!!!!!
Headabovewater, if the snail shells were empty when you found them, but intact, then I would think it was the hermit crabs attacking and killing the snails. Many of them will, not only to eat them but to steal their shells. If the shells are damaged, like with holes, then you might have a mantis shrimp in the tank eating them. If it is the whole snail with intact shell, then it's either water quality, or a combination of water quality and older snails. Older snails are less flexible with regards to water conditions. If for example when you did the water change and the new waters ph was just a tad off, it could have affected those particular snails in a negative way.
As far as the cleaner wrasse, are you sure he is dead? Could the fish still be alive and hiding? If it is dead, I doubt it has anything to do with the snails.

 

[swtanks]

Hate to break it to you fishymissy but it is a well known fact that turbo snails CANNOT right themselves if they fall on their back.

 

[headabovewater]

I guess the cleaner wrasse could be hiding Ive got a lot of LR with lots of hiding places but he swam around constantly for the first day then a little the second day, but now I havent seen him for 5 days.
Thanks for the replies guys!

 

[starfishjackedme]

Sometimes a turbo can right itself if it is able to reach the substrate or another snail's shell. My turbos fall off the rock from time to time, and sometimes I have to flip them over, most of the time I don't. I think after the initial algae is eaten, there can be a lack of food to sustain a large # of them.

 

[fishymissy]

I hate to tell you this, turbos can indeed right themselves, I have several in my tank, and they fall over occasionally and have righted themselves everytime!
If they cannot turn themselves over, then there is most likely something wrong with them. A healthy snail should not have a problem with this.
Since we are talking about turbos, how many other people have them breeding in their tanks?
[ December 12, 2001: Message edited by: fishymissy ]

 

[wamp]

I have always found it really cool to see a reefkeepers arm flipping over snails that fall over in nature! They can and do right themselves. Maybe you have "specail needs" snails? Just kidding.

 

[swtanks]

They are slightly challenged.
Actually, if they fall and the tip of the shell gets into the sandbed, no matter how hard the little buggers try, they cannot flip back over.

 

[cyn]

I have baby turbo's in my tank. Believe me it is no an intentional happening, I have very little experience with reefkeeping. I recieved an adult turbo on a piece of LR I bought at the LFS. I noticed the babies the other day when I saw the baby brittle star. I am amazed at all the life in this tank! Like I said before, I am not sure what I am doing, but I am doing something right!

 

[jrruss]

I have a few turbos i just introduced into a reef tank and they seem to be inactive and i am afraid they are dying...
I have Damsels and crabs that i have had for a while with no problems... Does anyone have any ideas on the turbos and why they might be dying
any advice appreciated....

 

[fishymissy]

How did you acclimate them?

 

[jrruss]

How should have i acclimated them....
I am kind of new to snails and used the same method i acclimate fish...
About 30 minutes until the the temp is changed and slowly add tank water to the bag that they are in until full...
Takes about an hour...
Is this wrong?????

 

[robinfly]

I myself am not a big fan of the turbos. I've purchased two sets of 6 in the past year and half of them have died. Those that have lived are nowhere near as effective as a 'cleaning crew' as other common snail species.
I acclimate 'em about 45 minutes, pouring water into the bag slowly until the salinity and ph in the bag closely match that of my tank.