Snail Killer

[fishmamma]

Why am I killing so many snails?
I am testing water every day since my tank is still new. This morning I was showing trace levels of ammonia (less than .025) so I did a snail/crab check and sure enough I pulled out 7 dead snails. That is a total of 17 snail losses so far. Previous water parameters over last week were good- zero ammonia and nitrite, nitrates have not been higher than 10 ppm, Sg at 1.024, pH 8.2, 80 degrees.
What is going on??????

 

[fishmamma]

Anybody? I do not not want to go out and get more snails just to have them die as well. I should also add that I acclimate them for just over an hour and bring the water temp up to that of the tank before putting them in. So far all of my snails have died within 48 hours of being in the tank. Before adding this clean-up crew I tested the water parameters from LFS and the pH was the same as my tank; my salinity was 1.024, theirs was 1.025.

 

[cbarnes]

are u checking your Ca levels or using a calcium supplement? Also do you have enough algea in the tank to feed them? and one other note some hermits attack snails fo r there shells.

 

[murph1455]

have you ever put copper in your tank? i did that once not knowing it would kill all my snails and even months later my snails would die it stay in the rocks.... other than that im not sure ... like was said before u might not have enough algae for them to feed off of...

 

[1journeyman]

Is something preying on the snails? Any signs of cracked shells?

 

[tuna dan]

Copper my guess used in tap water and well systems your tank is done with inverts if copper was in it. will keep ich away though

 

[maeistero]

i've had the same problem forever. they all die in the same place too strangely. it was due to a lack of food however more food equalled water parameter changes. my engineer goby likes to eat them as do my crabs. but hey, snails are cheap.

 

[fishmamma]

Thanks everyone for your input. The snails are not being attacked- fine one minute, dead the next it seems. I was wondering about copper......I used well water for my initial set up but since have been using filtered water for top offs and water changes.
If it is copper why are some dying and others not? Maybe it is just a matter of time for the others. Also, are snails more sensitive to copper than the hermits?
It is a new tank set up but I think there is plenty of algae. I am under the one snail and hermit per gallon ratio.
Is any trace of copper deadly or does it have to reach a certain ppm???

 

[fishmamma]

Just pulled out some more dead snails. Only 3 left. I feel horrible...just waiting for them die too.

 

[cbarnes]

defin. check ur copper----I just added 90lbs of "pre cured" live fiji in my tank and my tank crashed----alll levels off-ph-ammonia-nirites through the roof w/ a lg dip in my ph and even w/ all that my BB snails are doing fine as well as my hermits. Just a little extra input----GL w/ any additions. Hope everyone else survives. Also, just a another piece of info---when I added my snails I thought that a few were dead and after a couple days turn out they were not and r happy and healthy now. Are u sure they are dead? They may just need some time to acclimate to ur tank ans=d become comfy.
Don't know if this helped---but GL.

 

[agarr]

:thinking: mine r dying too and i don't use tap water,raising my ammonia a bit,cause theyre' dead of course but all parameters are acceptable. I thought mine were getting stuck between the rock and glass.

 

[fishmamma]

I am sorry to hear yours are dying too. That is so frustrating. How is your salinity? Do you use a swing arm to test? I learned the hard way that they can be terribly innacurate and if your SG is off that will definatly kill your snails. Just a thought.....hope you find the answer!
I do the old sniff test to determine their staus. No mistaking that.

 

[bigarn]

This is true ..... they're very sensitive to changes in Salinity.

 

[malounsbury]

I bought 10 on Sunday, and I found two of them upside down when I went home last night. Think they fell of off my rock. The one was able to pull himself back onto the rock but didn't attach him self well, so I picked him and the other up and placed them in an open area on my sand bed like I did when I put them all in, but they were just sitting there this morning.

Going to go home tonight and smell them if they haven't moved, but that's probably a sure sign they're dead if they haven't moved. Don't think my salinity has changed that much, been taking readings with the hydrometer daily, but we all know how that goes. Should have my refractometer on Saturday so I will know for sure then.

 

[evilbob22]

Originally Posted by cbarnes
I just added 90lbs of "pre cured" live fiji in my tank and my tank crashed----alll levels off-ph-ammonia-nirites through the roof w/ a lg dip in my ph
Ouch! Just goes to show that "pre cured" doesn't mean anything. Sure the dead stuff is picked/scrubbed off, but then it sits in a warehouse in Fiji, then gets shipped to the US, then sits in another warehouse, then gets shipped to you. Lots of stuff can die in that time, so your rock is basically un-cured again.