Mystery killer in reef tank?

[0utworld]

This morning, I noticed an empty trochus snail shell on one of the rocks, there was absolutely no flesh from what I can see. I have a pure snail CUC (~13) with some mini brittle stars (<1") that hitchhiked through frags. Every other snail is doing fine. Does the empty shell indicate that the snail died from predation rather than water parameters?

I also found bits and pieces of my bicolor blenny, who looked fine when I saw him last night, scattered on the sand bed. I do have nassarius snails but how can I know if he was murdered or starved to death (I have plenty of sea lettuce that he munches on)?

R.I.P Unnamed blenny and snail

 

[Gareth elliott]

How old is the tank?
Any parameter shifts, especially salinity?
Snails can be very susceptible to large swings in salinity, especially the larger ones like trochus or turbos. Being empty will not really pin point what happened as snails will eat other snails that are dead or dying. And very quickly.
Trochus can right themselves but not always. Falling over and ending up wedged somewhere the other snails and micro stars could have carried off after it was started to nibbled on in its stuck location.

 

[0utworld]

How old is the tank?
Any parameter shifts, especially salinity?
Snails can be very susceptible to large swings in salinity, especially the larger ones like trochus or turbos. Being empty will not really pin point what happened as snails will eat other snails that are dead or dying. And very quickly.
Trochus can right themselves but not always. Falling over and ending up wedged somewhere the other snails and micro stars could have carried off after it was started to nibbled on in its stuck location.

The tank is around a month and a half old. Parameters and salinity (1.022) have been stable. I did introduce phosphate control media but the phosphate dropped from 0.12 to 0.06 over quite some time. I'll keep an eye on other snails.

The shell was sort of in a wedge on the rock, so what you're suggesting is a possibility.

Thanks!

 

[Deberber]

How old is the tank?
Any parameter shifts, especially salinity?
Snails can be very susceptible to large swings in salinity, especially the larger ones like trochus or turbos. Being empty will not really pin point what happened as snails will eat other snails that are dead or dying. And very quickly.
Trochus can right themselves but not always. Falling over and ending up wedged somewhere the other snails and micro stars could have carried off after it was started to nibbled on in its stuck location.

I agree with Gareth on this one. While they are great snails, they can get trapped in the rock and, when I had them, had to flip one over once a week or every other week. Just do a daily snail scan to see if any of these triangles need help lol.

 

[MichaelReefer]

The tank is around a month and a half old. Parameters and salinity (1.022) have been stable. I did introduce phosphate control media but the phosphate dropped from 0.12 to 0.06 over quite some time. I'll keep an eye on other snails.

The shell was sort of in a wedge on the rock, so what you're suggesting is a possibility.

Thanks!

1.022 is too low.