SNAILS DYING!!

[churc1ej]

I'm in desperate need for a clean up crew so I went out and got one turbo snail and 3 black margarita snails. Within two days they were all dead. My levels are pH- 8.2, ammonia-0, nitrates .5 ppm, nitrites-0, temp- 78 F. I also do 15% weekly water changes. I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I also heard somewhere that electrical currents can harm snails, will i need to ground my water??
 
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[nizz]

Well I can't help about the snails. But you can't really ground your water. So maybe if you talk about your tank a little more ( size, what's in it now, the intended goal for the tank) might help someone solve your problem.

 

[churc1ej]

Its a 36 gallon, right now all i have is about 25 lbs of live rock and a percula clown. The tank is about a month into cycling and the clown is pretty healthy. I want to start with a fish only tank and once i get comfortable put some coral.

 

[mrdc]

What do you mean you can't ground your water? I thought you could with a grounding probe and GFCIs.

 
I'm wondering if your tank is too young for a CUC since it is only a month into cycling. Also how did you acclimate the snails. They are very sensitive to osmotic shock and you should do a slow method of acclimation. At least that is what worked for me.

 

[churc1ej]

When I added the snails, i just had them sit in the bag for about a half hour and after that I added about about a cup of water to the bag every 20 min until the bag was full, then i just took em out. Any idea when it would be okay to start adding a CUC?

 

[btldreef]

If your tank is only a month into it's cycle, there should not be fish or inverts in the tank yet. Have you had your ammonia spike yet?
 
If your tank is passed the cycling stage (it is possible that your tank is a month old and finished with its cycle), I believe it was acclimation that killed them. I actually think it was acclimation regardless. To acclimate snails (and other inverts), you need to follow the drip acclimation. If you're not going to do it that way, then as you add water, you must take water out, and a full cup is too much of a change at once.
 
How long were they in the tank before they died?
 
 
As for grounding your water, MRDC is right, you absolutely can, it's called a grounding probe, and you should have one, all tanks should unless everything in the tank is wireless.

 

[mrdc]

I was going to say the same thing. I haven't had any snails die in a long time and I believe it is from drip acclimating them for 2 hours.

 

[churc1ej]

I have had my ammonia spike already so I think/ hope that my tank is already cycled. The snails were in my tank for two days and then dropped like flies. And any idea on where I can get a grounding probe? My LFS doesn't have any.

 

[levinjac]

when you took them out did they smell like poop sometimes they flip over on scsedent mine do but start moving again when I flip them over you may be flushing live snails

 

[btldreef]

https://www.saltwaterfish.com/Titanium-Ground-Probe_p_1237.html
 
and google is your friend as well, we can't post competitor sites here
 
 
Sounds like an acclimation issue to me. Read and watch this video:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/Acclimation_ep_48-1.html

 

[churc1ej]

Yeah, the snails smelt pretty awful when I took them out, pretty sure the smell stayed with me the rest of the day. And thanks for all the help guys! I'll do drip acclimation for now on.