Nassarius Snail help

[be_ninja_pancake]

Got another Nassarius snail, Metallica, about 3 weeks ago and has been doing great, but today I noticed him not burrowing into the sand, his tentacle feeler looks weaker, and has this weird brown thing on the bottom of him. What can I do to help?


Sorry about the diatoms, got a new torch yesterday and didn’t want to disturb this area around it

 

[Weeb]

Was it acclimated properly? They are carnivores. Is it being fed meaty foods? Usually, after a meal they burrow. Can't clearly see "the brown thing."

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Got another Nassarius snail, Metallica, about 3 weeks ago and has been doing great, but today I noticed him not burrowing into the sand, his tentacle feeler looks weaker, and has this weird brown thing on the bottom of him. What can I do to help?


Sorry about the diatoms, got a new torch yesterday and didn’t want to disturb this area around it

Are there any other snails in the tank? Sometimes, by looking at similar animals, you can determine if the issue is just with one snail, or if it is something affecting the whole group (like a water quality issue).

Is the thing you noticed at the bottom, the animal's operculum? It looks like its foot is just sort of limply hanging out there, not a good sign.

While this isn't an acclimation issue (not after three weeks of looking good in your tank) sometimes, snails just fail to thrive. I generally see about a 10 to 25% mortality rate on groups of snails, depending on the species and how fresh they were.

Jay

 

[tharbin]

The weird brown thing is almost certainly its operculum. Nassarius snails have a small ovoid hard spot on their foot that is used to close off the opening in their shell for defense. It isn't usually very noticeable but totally normal and it does look disconcerting the first time you see one.

That said, it does not look very healthy. I have seen a few recover, even after a week or so of looking nearly gone, but snails do sometimes just not make it. You usually loose a few from a shipment. I had one that laid like that for about ten days before it suddenly recovered but if it has been okay for three weeks I would not hold out much hope for it.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

is there enough food for them, the tank looks very new. They don't eat algae, they are carnivores. How often do you feed your tank?

 

[be_ninja_pancake]

is there enough food for them, the tank looks very new. They don't eat algae, they are carnivores. How often do you feed your tank?

Every day, and I make it a point to feed the tank the LRF nano at least every other day. The other two nassarius snails are doing just fine.

 

[be_ninja_pancake]

Are there any other snails in the tank? Sometimes, by looking at similar animals, you can determine if the issue is just with one snail, or if it is something affecting the whole group (like a water quality issue).

Is the thing you noticed at the bottom, the animal's operculum? It looks like its foot is just sort of limply hanging out there, not a good sign.

While this isn't an acclimation issue (not after three weeks of looking good in your tank) sometimes, snails just fail to thrive. I generally see about a 10 to 25% mortality rate on groups of snails, depending on the species and how fresh they were.

Jay

The other two nassarius snails are doing just fine, and I have 3 trochus snails who are doing fine too. I'll keep watching it to see how it does these next few days. Sucks that snails just up and die out of nowhere though

 

[be_ninja_pancake]

UPDATE: my partner was observing the snail and saw the red legged hermits picking on it. I guess it's common for hermits to pick on snails occasionally for no reason, which sucks but makes sense. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Nemo&Friends]

The favorite shell of the hermit seems to be nassarius shell. I have at least 2 hermits who moved into a nassarius shell, and I was not too happy about it. Now that my hermits are fairly big I try to get small nassarius snails in the hope that they will not be tempted to get their shell as it would be too small for them.
I hope it will work.

 

[tharbin]

The other two nassarius snails are doing just fine, and I have 3 trochus snails who are doing fine too. I'll keep watching it to see how it does these next few days. Sucks that snails just up and die out of nowhere though

I was going to ask if you had hermits when I responded but they usually just up and evict the Nassarius from its shell. As @Nemo&Friends said, Nassarius snail shells are a favorite for hermits. My hermit, that has since been rehomed to an LFS, was wearing a dwarf Nassarius snail shell when he showed up in a shipment of empty dwarf Nassarius shells that were supposed to be full. When he left he was wearing a rather large Nassarius snail shell.

In your case they may be picking at it because it is dying rather than house hunting. Either way, Nassarius snails do not generally fair well with hermits.