snails seem to be dying off....

[95accord]

i had about +12 snails in my tank a month ago and now im down to 8. just saw another dead one this morning. i have a couple blue hermit crabs in the tank and i know they were the culprit for the first 2 deaths....stealing the snails shells. but now this one just seems to have died off....any explination? is this normal?

55gal FOWLR
all parametres are in check, phosphates slightlly on the high side. besides that everything is A+.
what could be causing this? maybe the snail was just old i dont know.....

im picking up some more snails after work but id like to prevent the die off is possible. i dont feel like picking up new snails every month.....






unless the hermits are committing mass murder during the night......hmmmmm

[chuppy]

Copper?

[95accord]

havent been testing for copper. so maybe that might be it. how would copper affect the snails?

[Piscator]

Copper will typically kill off all your inverts. But I wouldn't necessarily jump to that conclusion.

Snails are hit or miss IME. Some live a long time...some die off quickly. How heavily stocked is your tank? A lightly stocked tank may not need very many snails.

Crabs are definitely snail killers, though some will behave better than others. They are the most likely cause. Personally, I don't put any crabs in my displays...just don't feel like feeding my snails to them.

[95accord]

my tank is barely stocked. 2 damsells and 3 shrimp (1 coral banded and 2 perpermint) and 1 chocolatchip star.

im getting more LR tonight to hopefully act as a better buffer.....

[stingythingy45]

What kind of snails are they?
I have a hard time with astrea's they seem to die off one by one.
But turbo snails,nassarius seem to thrive.
Snails need a long time to acclimate to your water.They tend to not die right away but will drop off over a few days if acclimated too quickly.The best way is to slowly drip them with an airline tied in a knot for at least 1- 1 1/2 hours,some go longer.
Also watch you temperature fluctuation.

[95accord]

they seem to be astreas......i think ill be getting a couple turbos when i go to the LFS tonight.....

[stingythingy45]

Try them and acclimate them slowly.
I picked up two really big Turbos yesterday and they were doing the wild thing right on the front glass within an hour.lol
Don't know what triggered that?

[95accord]

well the snails have been in the tank for id say about a month now. i did do a water change a couple days ago. i dont see what else could have affected them.

ill try the turbos and aclamate them carefully to minimize loses. hopefully ill get better results from them.

besides that i dont know. i may just be over reacting to something minor. stuff does eventualy die .........

[stingythingy45]

Snails seem to be pretty much hit or miss like Piscator mentioned.
I have one that's been with me for quite a while and has coralline all over the shell.Others you put them in carefully and they'r dead within a day.

[Mark75]

I would avoid Turbos. They get to be as big as a golfball and will bulldoze anything in their way. I had 4 in my 30 gallon and traded them back to my lfs. They are excellent algea grazers but to clumsy. If you want hermits avoid blue-legs, the scarlet reef hermits are more docile. I have 4 scarlet hermits in my tank and they do nothing as far as algea control.

[95accord]

yeah i have 4-5 blue hermit crabs.....im starting to think they may be the cause of ALL my snail deaths......ive caught them in the act before....im starting to think now that they are the culprits.

i dont have any corals or anything like that in my tank now so a couple large turbos wouldnt be bad IMO. might be just what im looking for.

[zotzer]

I like Trochus over Turbos. Most Turbos come from cooler waters, and will only live a few months in a home aquarium.

Trochus are similar to astrea, but they can right themselves so much less die-off.

Tracy

[95accord]

how can you tell the differences between snail types? know of a place where i can get some pics to help me ID snails and help me know what type im getting?
Thanks

[Mark75]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11005740#post11005740 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zotzer
I like Trochus over Turbos. Most Turbos come from cooler waters, and will only live a few months in a home aquarium.

Trochus are similar to astrea, but they can right themselves so much less die-off.

Tracy

The Turbo is not the snail that comes from cooler waters. I think the snail you are thinking of is the Margarite? I have found Turbos to be one of the toughest of all snails. They are the best at eating hair algea. If you are not worried about them knocking over stuff they are your best choice for eating hair algea.:)