turbo snail problem

[chris4914]

i just started my aquarium after being empty for about a year........all the parameters seem to be fine.......i bought a small marron clown, small coral beauty angel, blue tang and a blue damsel.........with this i also got a "clean-up crew" of 50 dwarf red tip hermit crabs, 15 scarlet reef hermit crabs and 30 turbo snails.......all of the clean-up crew were quite active yesterday when then went in and now today the turbo snails are not moving at all. I read on this board that they should be Up-righted if they are on their backs cause they can not do so themselves.......i did this thismorning to most who were on their backs.......did i kill them already do you think???? The tank (90 gallon) smells a little funky ......could they be dead?? I know they are nocturnal, do you think they will move tonight. Should I sit tight or should I fish them out assuming they are dead?? Not sure what to do??

 

[granny]

The snails are extremely sensitive to nitrates and do not do well in warm water. If they were dead, their innards would flow out when you pick them up and yes, they stink! If you can see the operculum, then just place them upright in a shady spot and give them a chance. Often new snails take awhile to start moving, but my experience has been that some move immediately, others wait a day or two.
You addedd an awful lot at once. Was the tank up and running and cycled before you added all these creatures or did you literally just start it up-from scratch?

 

[chris4914]

is the operculum the spiral looking inarard part of the snail? if so, yes that was showing on most, nothing was pouring out of them......do they stink normally, even when well???
That was the amount that came in the clean-up crew package for a 75 gallon tank, mine is a 90. the tank had already cycled water in it and beleive it or not has been being filtered empty for about a year (i know, waste of electric)
The nitrates are about borderline and the temp is 80.3. water change is on schedule for tomorrow.

 

[granny]

When you say borderline, what do you mean? I would say that anything above 10 would be harmful to your snails.
Some hardy fish can tolerate nitrates of 30 or even a little higher, but it often results in disease.
Also 80 is higher than the snails are comfortable with. You can safely take your temp down to around 77 or 78 with no ill effects on your fish.
Yes, its a little shiny, usually brownish, sometimes whitish shell like piece that they can retract farly far into their shells.

 

[chris4914]

nitrates are at 40, i will do water change asap..........and turn down the temp
thanks

 

[granny]

You know, it wouldnt hurt to get rid of some of those hermits. Is that 80?? in there? I am not a hermit crab fan as they do kill snails for their shells. Did they send you extra shells for the hermits in this clean up crew kit?

 

[chris4914]

oh they are tiny little things...........no larger than 1/4 inch each..........they dont look crowded at all

 

[chris4914]

how long shall i give the snails to get up get movin before i should assume they are dead??
I am just afrid having dead snails in my tank will both stinck up my house and harm my other fish????????????/

 

[mcbdz]

Welcome to SWF
You added a large bio load all at once, and this will most likely cause your water levels to go crazy. Please keep a very close eye on your levels and keep water mixing for water changes.
With your tank being new you should not have any nitrates. I would do no less then weekly 10% water changes until you get your trates to close to 0. Do you have a skimmer? If not, this would be a good investment.
Please list all you water parameters, Actual numbers please. And any other info on your tank.
This will help to see if there are any issues you may need to address.
And please don't add any other animals until your tank has a chance to stablizes and catch up.

 

[chris4914]

first of all i am using those little dip sticks with the colored pads on it to test the water..........all look good execpt the nitrates are just on the boarderline of "okay" and "unsafe" .....around 40 acording to the color chart.
I have had the water in the tank (no fish) for about a year now......this is a 2nd attempt. I was undecided of either giving up or trying again......so here i am.
I have a protein skimmer and i also have a uv steriylizer which i will put on when i get a chance. I have my residents listed in a prior post, temp is now at 78.7 and i just did a water change with anotherone to be done in a day or two. I am assuming that the nitrates are still too high, this was my problem last time i died off......what should i do re: the snails???

 

[chris4914]

ewwwww, now i see what you mean by the inards falling out...........gross.....only happened to one, i guess i kinda expect it to happen to all

 

[chris4914]

ok, to give you guys an update, my house stunk to the high heavens and not a snail budged for over 24 hours..........i said bye bye to them all.........i cant run the risk of stinking my whole tank and possibly harming the other inhabitants.....feel kinda bad i did that, but honestly, i dont think they were alive..........temp of tank was 80 for the first 20 hours or so they were in there............thanks for all your help.