Mexican Turbo snail lifespan

G Santana

Hospitality Elf
View Badges
Joined
May 20, 2020
Messages
8,352
Reaction score
45,578
Location
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/this-little-pigg
What state or country do you live in
New Jersey
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
A little over a year ago I purchased 5 Mexican Turbos, they all made it to the year mark but then started dropping like flies.
I lost 3 within days of each other last month and another yesterday.

My question is simply how long do these guys last in captivity?
Anyone with long lived specimens, and what has been your experience with Turbos.

Thanks for the input!
 
Mine isn’t the longest but I’ll have owned them for two years starting this May, very first inhabitant and saltwater critter I’ve ever owned they’ve been through a lot and still kicking !
 

Attachments

  • 2ACC9DFD-C587-4CB4-BDB9-59F8A1BCFAB2.jpeg
    2ACC9DFD-C587-4CB4-BDB9-59F8A1BCFAB2.jpeg
    181.2 KB · Views: 165
I've had similar experience with some of the Mexican turbos doing fine for a bit and then dropping off, I think the bigger ones usually do this on me. I added 5 Mex turbos October 2019 and I think I still have one left from that batch, those were big ones too and the one left in my tank isn't really big.

I added a CUC from Reef Cleaners in May of 2018, that had Trochus and maybe Mexicans in that order as well. I still have a Trochus from that order and I may have only ordered three and one didn't survive shipping. So four years.

I recently got another Reef Cleaners shipment in, with Mex Turbos, Trochus and some other snails, we'll see how long they go for.

I have a couple of Astreas in my tank that I really don't remember buying online, maybe they are from 2018 or earlier.
 
I've had similar experience with some of the Mexican turbos doing fine for a bit and then dropping off, I think the bigger ones usually do this on me. I added 5 Mex turbos October 2019 and I think I still have one left from that batch, those were big ones too and the one left in my tank isn't really big.

I added a CUC from Reef Cleaners in May of 2018, that had Trochus and maybe Mexicans in that order as well. I still have a Trochus from that order and I may have only ordered three and one didn't survive shipping. So four years.

I recently got another Reef Cleaners shipment in, with Mex Turbos, Trochus and some other snails, we'll see how long they go for.

I have a couple of Astreas in my tank that I really don't remember buying online, maybe they are from 2018 or earlier.
Yeah these were all big when I received them almost the size of a half dollar coin. I wonder if they were older or just my bad luck.
 
I see many different lifespans and will be dependent on:
Water quality
health of tank
Amount of food available
calcium levels
 
I have some that I got about 5 years ago... They were smallish when I bought them and are tennis ball size now... I've seen them much bigger.
My son found this one in the Caribbean. It was the largest I’ve ever seen

091FF55A-A1EB-492F-9888-025F9AE994B1.jpeg
 
They may have starved. I feed my 20 snails A half a large algae wafer every day. I chop it up into 1/4 size a grain of rice, and scatter onto the substrate. I built two water current barriers with thin Tonga rock so the wafer tidbits do not end up under my rock.

barrier.PNG
 
Wow now I feel bad, 5-8 yrs that's really impressive!!!
I bought two the size of golf balls a little over one year ago. A few months in, I transitioned them from a nano into a 55 gallon along with a bunch of other snails. I just lost them both about 2-3 weeks apart.
I think it had as much to do with their size as the availability of food based on tank size.
when I mentioned it to my local fish guy, he said not to worry too much. you’d rather have scarcity of food shorten the life of your clean up crew than have them fat and happy from poor tank management.
 
A little over a year ago I purchased 5 Mexican Turbos, they all made it to the year mark but then started dropping like flies.
I lost 3 within days of each other last month and another yesterday.

My question is simply how long do these guys last in captivity?
Anyone with long lived specimens, and what has been your experience with Turbos.

Thanks for the input!

they area cooler water species. Along with margarita snails.

I have a Mexican and some margaritas in a 56 degree tank. Some are 7 years old.

56 is quite low but my guess is they would prefer low 70s max.
 
They may have starved. I feed my 20 snails A half a large algae wafer every day. I chop it up into 1/4 size a grain of rice, and scatter onto the substrate. I built two water current barriers with thin Tonga rock so the wafer tidbits do not end up under my rock.

barrier.PNG
This is something I will have to do when I get another group. I tended to think that as long as there was a film of algae on one of the panes I purposely left uncleaned and nori on a clip that they would be good. But I will supplement their food source going forward
 
I too have read that Mexicans do better at cooler temps
could the “mass die-off” been associated with a short temp spike that was out tof their range?
 
I too have read that Mexicans do better at cooler temps
could the “mass die-off” been associated with a short temp spike that was out tof their range?
No temp spike, winter months tank was solid 78°
 
No temp spike, winter months tank was solid 78°
I usually recommend people that want mexican turbos long term keep them at max 74-75 deg F. There's other factors obviously, but temp seems to be a big one.
 
I have had them die off after a couple months in the past, but years ago. Over the past 9 or so years I've had one die here and there. Several have been in my tank for years and I have a trio of very large ones (baseball size) that have been in my tank over 5 years. Before that they were in another tank for who knows how long (at least a few years as they were already fairly large). So my guess is they can live for 10 years or more in the right conditions.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%

New Posts

Back
Top