RIP my 2 biggest snails...

[Ewelina]

I noticed today that two biggest snails in my tank died from unknown reasons. That kind of breaks my heart cause the biggest one was about 2" wide. I don't suspect my hermit crab as a culprid, rather that my tank was "to clean" to feed them anymore. It's a new tank (about 3 months) and besides some hair algae on some snails' shells and some green color on LR, the glass is pretty clean. Or could there be another reason? More interestingly- we noticed plenty of snail eggs on the glass and some baby snails. Laying eggs before dying?
Anyway, if the problem is not enough algae, should I do anything special to sustain/grow it?

 

[Diesel]

Ammonia, nitrite or your hermit will be all bad for snails.
You ever thought why hermits live in a snailshell?

Test your ammonia and nitrite if that is elevated.

 

[Idoc]

We're they margarita snails? Those are larger sized. If so, they do not do well in the temperatures we usein our tanks... they typically die street a few months. LFS will still tell you they are ok AMD still them, though.

If not enough to eat, you can attach some seaweed to a rock and place in the tank for them. I did this for mine when the tank was very young.

 

[Ewelina]

Ammonia, nitrite or your hermit will be all bad for snails.
You ever thought why hermits live in a snailshell?

Test your ammonia and nitrite if that is elevated.

Surprisingly ammonia is 0. It was the first thing I tested. I must test nitrates todays- couple of days ago it was at 0 as well. And my hermit crab is way too small for any of these shells. He's a tiny little guy.

 

[Diesel]

Surprisingly ammonia is 0. It was the first thing I tested. I must test nitrates todays- couple of days ago it was at 0 as well. And my hermit crab is way too small for any of these shells. He's a tiny little guy.

Nitrite!

 

[Ewelina]

Nitrite!

Yep! That! just checked- 0!!!

 

[Ewelina]

We're they margarita snails? Those are larger sized. If so, they do not do well in the temperatures we usein our tanks... they typically die street a few months. LFS will still tell you they are ok AMD still them, though.

If not enough to eat, you can attach some seaweed to a rock and place in the tank for them. I did this for mine when the tank was very young.

I dont know what kind of snails they where. These are the pictures of them:

 

[Idoc]

I dont know what kind of snails they where. These are the pictures of them:

These look like margarita snails... good gha eaters, but they are not naturally living at temperatures we use for our reef tanks. I've heard of many dying after a few months.

 

[Ewelina]

These look like margarita snails... good gha eaters, but they are not naturally living at temperatures we use for our reef tanks. I've heard of many dying after a few months.

Do you know what temperatures they live in? I keep my tank at a lower side of the scale - about 74-75*F, or at least that's what the thermometer catches

 

[Idoc]

Do you know what temperatures they live in? I keep my tank at a lower side of the scale - about 74-75*F, or at least that's what the thermometer catches

No, sorry, I don't know the exact temps that are best for margarita snails...just lower than what we normally keep for our reefs. Here's a great resource (by Lionfish Lair) for cuc information... mentions the margarita snails at the end in the section of cuc to stay away from:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/choosing-cleanup-crew-critters.107/

 

[Dancingmad]

I like big snails, and I cannot lie. Sorry for your loss.

+1 on margaritas liking colder water.

If you like 'em big (and your tank is large enough - triple digit in gal) I suggest zebra turbos or abalones. Even if you've got a large tank I'd still make there's some nori available. These are hungry beasts. I cannot express to you how hungry they are. They're both total bulldozers though. They will mow over frags and anything else that gets in their way. But you can't even be upset, because they're adorable (Sonic, my abalone, from years ago pictured below). Abalones also have a wicked grip - if you're going to attempt to move them, you better plan on whatever rock its stuck to with it!

Generally though, smaller snails are best. New folks go buck wild on CUC when they get their first algae bloom because its *ugly*, and when all the CUC starts dying off it perpetuates the problem(I call it the death loop).

My fav small snail is a cerith - they'll get after your sand bed, and they can right themselves if they get flipped. They reproduce like crazy in my macro tank (turned foster tank for a buddy) too. His leopard wrasse likes to snack on them, so its free food all the time! Without them that wrasse would have been a goner 3 months ago. I hear Trochus are a fan fav, but never had them. If you get lucky you might score some collonista snails on some live rock - I miss mine. They're like scrubbin' bubbles of the reef getting all your nooks and crannies.