Bye,bye snails

[cgr]

Everything in my tank fish and inverts are doing well, except for my snails. There are empty shells scattered about the tank and my blue legged crabs seem to enjoy them after they die. There are times when they "fall and cannot get up". There is no copper in the tank!! What can it be?
120 Gal FOWLR
1 Yellow tang
1 Blue tang
1 Sailfin tang
3 chromis
1 cleaner wrass
1 tomato clown
1 sleeper gobie
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 coral banded shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
1 sandsifter star
emerald crabs,snails, blue and scarlet legged hermits
Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0, PH 8.2, Salinity 1.024

 

[bang guy]

Try Cerith Snails.

 

[hunterdaddy]

I too have a very hard time keeping snails alive for very long. Most don't last a month or 2 although I have one thats been going good for about a year. He is the only one in my tank along with a few 2-3 scarlet hermits and a few blue legs. All are about the same time in tank and the hermits getting rather large.

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Snails are not typically treated well during transport - your LPS may not be doing you any favors. I only use Astrea snails as they are the only ones that last more than six months. I have a couple in the tank that are 3 years old.
Try astrea's - all they do is clean and they're cheap.

 

[dreeves]

Could be your peppermint and coral banded shrimp eating them. I have watched my peppermint swim to about 6 or so inches from the bottom, latch on to a snail on the glass and work him till he falls...then it is a toss of between the shrimp and the dwarfs who gets through the trap door first....

 

[firefishspike]

all of mine are doing well
I have some turbin snails and nassaurius??? snails
they're really fat

 

[xrayharmony]

I have tons of snails and I have gotten some from the LFS and some from flying fish, but mine all are living well and my turbos have doubled and even tripled in size since i got them about 6 months ago! i have a nice mix though of about 5 turbos, maybe 20 astreas, and a bunch of ceriths... too many to count. Maybe it's been where you purchased them from? Just a thought

 

[cmack]

I read posts sayint the Bluelegs attack the snails for the shells.
Supposedly Blue legged hermits can be brutal

 

[hunterdaddy]

I have heard this also. But in 2 years of reefkeeping the only times ive ever seen a snail being attacked by blue legs is when they are either unhealthy or fall and end up upside down for a long period of time

 

[fshhub]

Originally posted by hunterdaddy
I have heard this also. But in 2 years of reefkeeping the only times ive ever seen a snail being attacked by blue legs is when they are either unhealthy or fall and end up upside down for a long period of time
lucky you
that is exactly why, I have no crabs at all in our home tank, and I do not think I have replaced any in over 2 yrs
ps, we do have them at work,a nd witnes it all the time, not only assume, bc we cant kep too many, but also actually witness them go after the snails

 

[bwets_angel]

Within the last few months I have bought 40 or so Turbo snails and my brother has also bought about 20 and out of those 60 snail between the two of us i have 3 and he has none. Needless to say we haven't had very good luck with the turbos.