Mexican Snails/Short Lived?

[bdhough]

I've never been able to keep any invert, particularly snails, attached to the mexican region alive for very long. I used to think my mexican turbos starved to death but there is PLENTY for them to eat in my tank and they are still dying off slowly. I've also noticed that the ceriths i have are listed for the mexican region on another site and they as well don't stay alive for very long. Just curious why this is? Temperature maybe? Thats all i can think of. Thanks for any insight.

 

[viper_930]

I'm thinking either you have copper in your water or your calcium level is way too high. Have you tested for these?

 

[bdhough]

You know.... I contemplated the copper thing but ive got all kinds of inverts in that tank doing well, as well as corals so i doubt that. My calcium was quite high at one point but that was over a month ago maybe longer. Maybe it was the calcium that did it???

 

[meadbhb]

Hiya,
What about your salinity?
Meadbhb

 

[bdhough]

Potentially but i've been very good about keeping it steady. That still doesn't explain why just those snails? Why not everything else in my tank? Maybe someone will know.

 

[ty_05_f]

Well Mexican Turbo snails need cooler water than what our tanks normally are. So that might be a reason for the deaths.

 

[bdhough]

Considering my tank was 80+ yeah could be. I knew the red foot snails were temperature sensitive but i didn't think the mexicans were. Why i am asking.... But that would certainly explain why my snails are dying for no reason. I guess i won't buy them anymore.....

 

[bdhough]

Off the top of your head is the tongan region lower or higher? I've seen some nassarius snails from there as well as fighting conches which i sure could use for my sand bed, why i was buying the ceriths......

 

[ty_05_f]

yeah I have some nassarius and they do fine. I'm not sure about the conch but i'm pretty sure most of them usually starve to death if the tank isn't big enough.

 

[mudplayerx]

My mexican turbos are anything BUT fragile! Upon acclimation, I accidently dumped them into the tank after only 5 minutes. Not one casualty.
They are very hardy indeed. I actually see them crawling across the intake for the powerheads and they just continue on like it is no big deal.

 

[ty_05_f]

what do you run your tank temp at?

 

[bdhough]

Its usually up around 80-81. I just turned the heater off since its warming up outside so we'll see in how things are in the summer time.

 

[ty_05_f]

you might need the heater at night. If you could put it on a timer or something that would be good. I run metal halides and my temp would drop significantly with them turned off.

 

[mudplayerx]

My metals halide keep the water at 82 degrees and the heater is set for 80 degrees at night. I have an all-invert tank and havent lost one critter yet. I think these guys are correct in that temp is a big part.

 

[schneidts]

Bdough,
There's nothing you can do...there are 4 or 5 species of snail collected from the Baja region that live in cooler waters. They can withstand warm waters for a while, but will die after a short time.

 

[bdhough]

Yeah i figured. Ah well. Lesson learned finally.....