Snails dying

[zues3026]

I have slowly been trying to introduce snails into my main fish only tank, but to no avail. I wake up the next morning with them dead or dying. The temp in both my reef tank and fish only tank is 80 degrees. PH 8.0 Nitrates, nitrites and Ammonia is 0. Never used copper. The snails I am trying to use are Astrea Snails, Cerith Snails and Mexican turbo snails. I just want them to take care of the excess algea growth.

 

[ninjamini]

What is the salinity?
How did you acclimate them?
Where did you get them?
How old is the tank?
Are they dead and getting eaten or or they just dead?
Could be a mantis shrimp or some other preadator you do not know about.

 

[zues3026]

Well I have a bunch of snails in my reef tank, salinity is 1.023 in both tanks. No mantis shrimp, in tank at all, I do have a cowfish and a snowflake eel though. I acclimated the snails for about an hour and a half before putting them in.

 

[snapperboy]

Salinity is too low to keep those snails happy, try raising to 1.024-1.026. I keep mine at 1.026 and the only time they die is when hermits attack!

 

[ninjamini]

Snails die from poison (ammonia, nitrite or really high nitrates), starvation (the mexican require a fair amount of algae), incorrect salinity or they get eaten.
Sounds like its the salinity for you. Unless...
Originally Posted by ninjamini
How did you acclimate them?
Well let me answer the question...
drip all inverts for 2 hours or more. Then float them for 10 minutes to temp acclimate. When you drip them you will also need to keep the temperature in range. I use a small tank heater for this.

 

[zues3026]

Thank you I will try that now.