dying snails

txmedic1

txmedic1

Member
my snails keep dying. i've lost 4 mexican turbos the past 3 weeks. i noticed the bumble bee snails scavanging one dead turbo. i read that bumble bees may kill othersnails, so i moved them to my QT tank. but this morning i found another dead turbo. i do have a few small cap snails, one is solid black, but cant find any info regarding them killing other snails. all my water parameters are excellent. fish and coral are all fine. any ideas? can cap snails or slugs kill turbos?
 
limitedslip

limitedslip

Member
what kind of fish do you have, how established is your tank? what is your salinity at? need more details on the tank before I can say for sure.
 
hemicross

hemicross

Member
yes we do need more details on your water condition, what is your calcium level what type of substrate do you have? LS? do you have aragonite? or any crushed coral substrate?
 
txmedic1

txmedic1

Member
the tank is 90 gallon RR with 20 gal fuge full of cheato, 100 lbs lr, 3-4 inches of fine aragonite. livestock include: 1 yellow tang, 2 percula clowns, 3 green chromis, 1 6 line wrasse, 1 scooter blennie, 1 cleaner shrimp, lps and sps corals. as of yesterday parameters are: sg 1.025, ph 8.0, amm .25, nitrite .20, nitrate 10, phos 0, alk 2.0 calcium 350. i'm assuming the detected amm, no2 and no3 are from the dead snail i just picked out. fish are active/healthy, corals are healthy.
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
do a water change and use some amm lock. You appear to be going through a cycle. You could loose more livestock.
 
txmedic1

txmedic1

Member
ok, another dead snail, the largest of my turbos. all parameters great, exept nitrate 5.0 and phosphate 0.1 did 10% change tonight, i'll check parameters again tomorrow. so again, besides bad water, what else can kill snails???
 
mie

mie

Active Member
I have heard nothing but death and dimay from people useing ammolock chemicals should be avoided, do you have hermit crabs? they love to kill and eat snails, also when i first set up my tank all snails were fine except the mexican turbos
 
meleerock

meleerock

Member
How are you acclimating the snails? Inverts tend to be a little more fragile when it comes to acclimation. The drip method would be best, or even placing the snails on the glass above the water line and letting them go in the water when they feel like it. Where are you getting them from? Are they reputable? If you purchased all the snails from the same place and are all dying I would try to find another store that carries them. Just my 2 cents.
 
txmedic1

txmedic1

Member
not using any ammolock, just water changes. all my snails are older, havent bought a snail in some time. seems to be just the turbos dying. the nass and bumble bees are fine, though i removed the bumble bees, thinking that they may to blame for the deaths. no one has said yet if slugs or cap snails are dangerous to other snails, any input?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Not sure about other predatory snails, however if the turbo's have nothing to eat, then they are simply starving to death.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Yes, but possible as the test kits are not particularly accurate. What brand of test kit is it?
If you have ammonia in a day or so, I would be more concerned...BUT I would be very suspicious of the test kit first.
Have you done any recent water changes? Do you dose with anything? What is your source water? Do you have any brass fittings? Have you ever tested for copper? Do you notice anything "odd" about the snails, eg they fall on their back and appear "paralyzed" though alive for a time?
 
txmedic1

txmedic1

Member
see, now thats the info i was looking for. tested with 2 different test kits, API and Red Sea. No brass fittings, and haven't tested for copper. yes snails act strange, as if they fell off a rock or glass onto its back, not able to right it self up. so now, what does it mean?
 
txmedic1

txmedic1

Member
OOOOH, and water. RO water from water windmill. do my regular water changes bi-weekly, and salt is mixed properly 24-36 hours in advance.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
You need to test for copper. The "paralysis" is frequently a sign of heavy metal issues, and is often seen with copper. Now some snails do seem to have this problem in general, but it is something to look out for.
 
javman

javman

New Member
I have had the same problem my turbos just keep falling off and my levles were fine. I hope you figure this out
 
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