Life span of turbo snails?

MikeBrke · #1 11/12/2006, 12:34 AM

I bought 30 turbo snails for my 72G about 3 months ago. Of the 30 I have about 15 left. Of those 15, 5 of them are constantly falling over and seem like they are on their last leg. I think there is enough algae in the tank for them to eat. The other 10 are doing great. How long do theses snails usually last?

Bebo77 · #2 11/12/2006, 12:41 AM

they do die off.. how big is your tank and how much live rock do you have?

saltyFISHscales · #3 11/12/2006, 12:45 AM

Those damn things are the biggest waste of time, they kill off way too fast! I go through more turbo snails than I do toilet paper.

MikeBrke · #4 11/12/2006, 12:47 AM

I have a 72G and about 60lbs of live rock. I never really get to much algae on the glass (I really keep up with water changes/cleanings). They are mostly on the rock. I do have hair algae on the rocks that they seem not to eat.

IslandCrow · #5 11/12/2006, 01:08 AM

OK, they can't die off that quickly. I lose probably one every 4 months or so, and since I have hermit crabs, not all of those are by natural causes. Starvation could certainly be an issue. I don't have any hair algae in my tank (or at least none visible to casual observation), but I guess I have enough diatom and other algaes to keep them pretty happy.

maddyfish · #6 11/12/2006, 03:23 AM

I have 7 out of 10 that I bought in November '04.

JoeyK@OCMD · #7 11/12/2006, 07:48 AM

I put 12 in my tank after it cycled and only 2 have died. That was 16 months ago. Mine are zebra stripes though. Maybe you guys are putting to many in. I have actaually watched mine grow in size

SCR · #8 11/12/2006, 08:12 AM

After a year and a half, their still going strong.
Since most of the fish were moved a year ago, there are a lot of little snails all over the place.

Lymonhead · #9 11/12/2006, 08:22 AM

i don't think i have a problem with turbo snail death. they just grow. pretty sure they are breeding too.

greenbean36191 · #10 11/12/2006, 11:12 AM

Well one problem is overstocking. They're thinning themselves out. These guys are primarily diatom grazers. You would have to have a pretty dirty 72g to support 30 of them. Some species of Turbo might eat turf algae, but that would also depend a lot on the species of algae.

Also, what's your salinity? Are these by chance "Mexican" Turbo?

Dubbin1 · #11 11/12/2006, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MikeBrke
I bought 30 turbo snails for my 72G about 3 months ago. Of the 30 I have about 15 left. Of those 15, 5 of them are constantly falling over and seem like they are on their last leg.

I think I found your problem. These are not snails that you have since snails don't have legs

I'm guessing that these are astrea snails? If so then when you see one tipped over then YOU have to turn it back over or its just going to lay there and die since they cant right themselves.

JoeyK@OCMD · #12 11/12/2006, 12:23 PM

If they are just falling off the rocks then I would venture to say they are ill. It is true that they must be righted, but unless hermit crabs, or some other thing is picking on them, I would start checking water parameters, becuase something is wrong if that many snails are dieing.

IPowderBlueTang · #13 11/12/2006, 01:35 PM

I find sometimes the snails you buy at your LFS are not in good condition and are unhealthy, that is why you have a great die off. It's hard to tell if they are sick when purchasing them, so you take a chance!

reefdood · #14 11/12/2006, 03:01 PM

Astreas>Turbos anyday.

After 11 years of reefing, I am certain on that..

rickh · #15 11/12/2006, 03:31 PM

Astreas>Turbos anyday.

Will the Astreas eat hair algae??

stereomandan · #16 11/12/2006, 03:37 PM

I totally disagree about Astrea>Turbos.

1) Astreas can't right themselves
2) My Mexican Turbos have lasted 3-4x as long as Astreas in my experience.

My mexican turbos lasted about 1.5-2 years each on average, and the Astreas maybe 6 months.

Dan

MikeBrke · #17 11/12/2006, 05:23 PM

Now that you mention it I think I have astrea snails not turbo. Maybe mine are thinning themselves out because there are some that seem to be doing fine. My water parameters are fine. My salinity does flucuate a little though because I don't have a refractometer and use a swing arm and I think it is off

greenbean36191 · #18 11/12/2006, 06:34 PM

Well what is the salinity at most of the time? "Fine" means different things to different people.

Do you know where your snails came from?

patman3d · #19 11/12/2006, 06:56 PM

I've had similar experience with astrea snails no longer in my tank.

Bought 10 about 3 months ago and 3 'died' in the first 3 days. I am guessing that the blue legged crabs got em since I saw one move in. Also, had some sort of gorilla-like crab grab an astrea shell and was suprised to find a blue legged crab. That crab is since deceased. Now no more snails.