Astrea snail mortality

[guitarfish]

I have a 20g QT tank. Filled it with water from my display, put in some small pieces of live rock from the display. Put 1/2" of CC in the bottom, and let it run for a week.

All parameters test good, zero ammon & nitrite (as I'd expect, considering everything came from the display).

I bring home 10 astreas from the LFS. Their water & mine both tests at SG of 1.024 with my refractometer. Excellent.

I float the bag and add 1/4 cup for water every 5 min for an hour, and in they go.

It's now 3 days later, and most of the snails are half hanging out of their shells and look dead. A couple are still moving, but not much. I have no idea why this happened.

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks.

[McBeck]

It's hard to guess without more specifics. What was the pH of your water vs. theirs? What's your temp? Have you tested your water for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate today?

[guitarfish]

I know I didn't provide too many details. I guess tomorrow I'll do some testing and see if anything turns up. Generally speaking, are astreas "hardy"?

[m3ntal]

same thing with my astreas...they all seem dead...my turbos, on the other hand, which i introduced at the same time are mowing down hair algae like its their job...

[HowardW]

They are pretty sensitive to temp, PH, and salinity changes, and need to be acclimated very slowly like for about 2-3 hrs.

[Letmegrow]

I disagree with howard with the acclimation time.
They should only need 1/2 max.

Astreas are VERY hardy.

Are the snails upside down when you find them dead ?
That's how 50% of them die, they can not right themselves and die on their backs.
The other 50% is predation from those rascaly hermit qwabs ! :lol:

If the snails are shipped "wet" and some die in the bad, the couple rotten snails spoil the bunch. 80% that were in the bag with the dead snail water will likely die, it might take a week but they will die.

Astreas should be shipped with as little water as possible. Just a 1/4 cup in a large bag will keep them hydrated. It prevents them from absorbing all the gunk water. It also makes acclimation easier, if you float a piece of styro and put the snails on top, they will climb in the water on their own and acclimate at their own speed (which is quick not 2-3 hours).

[HowardW]

<<< I disagree with howard with the acclimation time.
They should only need 1/2 max. >>>

Nearly every single vendor offering these says they are sensitive to changes and recommends a slow 2-3 hr. acclimation time preferably using a drip. I would seriously doubt so many experienced vendors would all agree and recommend the same slow acclimation time if it wasn't necessary.

[Letmegrow]

Im a vendor, sold thousands, recieved thousands, this is my personal experiance.

Vendors should be sending them dry, not wet, most vendors are fly by night operations and have no idea on husbandry and shipping, that is usually why mortality rates are so high and they recommend the long acclimation.

[guitarfish]

OK, here's what I got.

I brought home 11 astrea snails on 4/10. I floated the bag for 45min, then added 1/4 cup every 5 min., poured half the bag out, did a little more, and in they went.

There are no crabs or fish in the tank, it's a QT. No copper in there or anything like that.

The SG of my tank and the bag matched at 1.024. I don't know what temp the LFS was at, but my tank was at 80. It was a 60 degree day, so I don't think they got too cold during the 90min they were in the bag. Besides, they were all stuck on each other, huddled together keeping warm. :lol:

Now, 4 days later, 10 snails are dead, one is hanging on. I tested the water:

Ammo - 0
Nitrite - 0
pH - 8.2
SG - 1.024

It's a big mystery to me.

[m3ntal]

after a few more days looks like mine all perished too...hmmm..turbos and all the other inverts are doing fine

[The steven liu]

You know with my experiences in the hobby and working in a LFS I kinda have to agree with Letmegrow. It is funny how one shipment will be a nice batch but the next shipment will just be total bummer depends on our source. The ones that have survived the initial week in store tend to do very well and have good longivity. The bad batch will die off almost altogether in a couple of weeks. I used to have bad luck with them before I started workin in LFS since I don't know how long has these batch been in and also how healthy these snails has been. But since I began working in the store I was able to identify hardy survivors and have 100% survival rate sofar with my astrea. I do acclimate them for 1 full hour, that's my personal standard for everything and sofar has 0% fatality with any creature under that standard.