snails are dieing

[duhwun]

i have my tank running for 2 months already, i have some live rock and live sand in it , thats about it, well yesterday i went and bought the clean up crew, all the hermits survived but all the snails died, i dont know why, they dont seem to be opening up and they all died. my ph is around 8, temperature around 80 degrees f, nitrites are 0, nitrates around 10, ammonia close to 0.. so whats going on?

 

[nolesfan06]

what kind of hermits do u have? I got blue-legs and ever since i got them all they do is pick on the snails to death.

 

[jumpfrog]

How did you acclimate them?

 

[bang guy]

Did you drip acclimate them?
What is your salinity?
Do you use tap water?

 

[duhwun]

my salinity is around , 1.023, and i float the bag in the tank for around 15 minutes and just dropped it in. how do u acclimate them by dripping anyways. My friend bought his and popped it right into the tank and it seems to survived and moved around, but mine wont move and its dead i think

 

[jumpfrog]

Not the best way to acclimate inverts, just plopping them in. Water temperature is only one factor.
Folks use both the drip and water replacement methods with success. Both are slow processes.
Start with temperature stabilization like you did. Floating the bag is fine. Some will then 'drip' through air line tubing into a resevoir containing the invert until the water volume doubles. Remove half the water and 'drip' some more. Usually after the 2nd time, some go 3 times, you can remove the animal and place it in the tank.
Water replacement works the same way except your adding water a little at a time instead of 'dripping.' I use a turkey baster and add about a third of the turkey baster in volume at a time.
It's not unusual to spend 2-3 hours acclimating.
HTH

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by duhwun
my salinity is around , 1.023, and i float the bag in the tank for around 15 minutes and just dropped it in. how do u acclimate them by dripping anyways. My friend bought his and popped it right into the tank and it seems to survived and moved around, but mine wont move and its dead i think
Acclimation proceedures can be found by clicking on the "Acclimation" button over on the left
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[duhwun]

well my friend just popped them right into the tank after he buys em from the store, he didn't float the bag in the water , some reason his snail is doing fine, but my snail never made it ... but ill try the dripping method , hope it works! i just bought another turbo snail just now, i place it into the tank and it closes up , but as soon as i put it back into the bag where it came from, it open up again.

 

[jumpfrog]

Wow Bang, since I've come back to the site I didn't even notice that button.
Thanks, I could have saved some finger cramps

 

[promisetbg]

Duhwun,I would suggest raising your SG. to 1.025..do this slowly by adding SW at 1.025 instead of your usual top-off of fresh until you reach the SG..
Snails will also continue to fall off the glass at a low SG..

 

[duhwun]

when i bought the snail from the lfs , the guy said the water salinity from tank where the snail was in was 1.023, and mine is about the same, my ph is kind of low though , around 7.8

 

[ophiura]

What is your alkalinity? What circulation do you have in the tank?
Just throwing snails, or any inverts, into a tank is risky. You might have roughly the same parameters as the LFS and so you might get away with it but obviously it is better to give the animals a better chance. Certain animals, like snails, starfish and shrimp, simply can not tolerate significant and sudden changes. Even very large water changes can kill them. So I agree to very slowly bump up your salinity (use salt water to top off, not fresh) and then acclimate them slowly.

 

[duhwun]

i just have one powerhead in the tank and its blowing the water in circular motion, from one end of the tank to the other end. i dont kno wat my akalinity is either. theres two snails that i put into the tank, they been in there for about 3 days already, i checked them once in a while and they seem to be alive, but they never stick to the glass, they just open up then closes again, whats wrong with them? do all hermit crabs eat algae? or some needs to be fed? if i have hermits in my tank right now, do i have to worry about feeding them or they can eat whatever that is in my tank?

 

[weberian]

I think your circulation could be a little low, so maybe you could calculate it and post it?? You have a 55 gal tank with a wet/dry and one powerhead. Here's how: look at the pump chart of your return pump and if it is pumping three feet up to the main tank then look at the chart where it says 3 feet of head - it should give you a flow rate in GPH gallons per hour. (for example, my Mag 5 pump which is rated at 500 gph at zero head only pumps 325 gph against 4 feet of head - my vertical distance is over 3 feet with several 90 degree bends). Now take your result and add it to your powerhead's gph. Let's say it a Maxijet 1200 powerhead and is rated at 295 gph. Ok, then 325 gph for the return pump plus 295 for the powerhead = 620 gph total circulation. Now divide 620 by your tank size (55) and you get: 11.3 tank turnovers per hour circulation. Let us know what your number is, please. (I know - all that for just one tank parameter)