Snail & Condy Tangled.. Snail in Isolation Box

[TinyReefObsession]

Sooo I’ve rescued my nassarius snail from my cody’s grasp before, as my cody tried pulling it off the glass and into it’s mouth… the other night the condy was big and low with mouth all puffy (in eating mode), and I saw the nassarius shell wedged between the rock and the glass next to it… I was initially happily surprised to find my snail on the other side of the tank the next day, but noticed that it’s siphon appeared swollen and split, and it was no longer able to burrow into the sand. Later the other nassarius went for it, then the hermit tried, the bristle worms have been sniffing around it… so i put it in the isolation box in case it’s “stunned” and just needs some uninterrupted rest (the other nassarius spent the entire night on the glass at the top of the tank hoping to get to it- which I know is a bad sign…). it’s just laying on it’s side, but any time I think it’s dead and move it back to the sand and something goes for it, it rapidly twists away from it… anyone else have a similar experience with snails and anemones tangling? Anything I can do?

 

[blaxsun]

All my snails are far too smart to go anywhere near my condy anemone. The fish, too.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sooo I’ve rescued my nassarius snail from my cody’s grasp before, as my cody tried pulling it off the glass and into it’s mouth… the other night the condy was big and low with mouth all puffy (in eating mode), and I saw the nassarius shell wedged between the rock and the glass next to it… I was initially happily surprised to find my snail on the other side of the tank the next day, but noticed that it’s siphon appeared swollen and split, and it was no longer able to burrow into the sand. Later the other nassarius went for it, then the hermit tried, the bristle worms have been sniffing around it… so i put it in the isolation box in case it’s “stunned” and just needs some uninterrupted rest (the other nassarius spent the entire night on the glass at the top of the tank hoping to get to it- which I know is a bad sign…). it’s just laying on it’s side, but any time I think it’s dead and move it back to the sand and something goes for it, it rapidly twists away from it… anyone else have a similar experience with snails and anemones tangling? Anything I can do?

Snail should work itself loose. You can also gently pull snail away as long as its not within mouth of the anemone. Condys are sticky tentacled

 

[TinyReefObsession]

All my snails are far too smart to go anywhere near my condy anemone. The fish, too.

Yeah, mine did it not once, but TWICE! Although i am afraid this might be the end of him… he’s just keeled over in the isolation box but spring into defense when anything tries to finish him off in the sand i guess i’ll just have to wait and see

 

[blaxsun]

Yeah, mine did it not once, but TWICE! Although i am afraid this might be the end of him… he’s just keeled over in the isolation box but spring into defense when anything tries to finish him off in the sand i guess i’ll just have to wait and see

Snails are pretty much "rentals" at this point anyway. Most of the hobby ones will only survive a year or two at most.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Snails are pretty much "rentals" at this point anyway. Most of the hobby ones will only survive a year or two at most.

Never heard " RENTAL" but fitting. Im lucky as most of mine are 3+ years old

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Snail should work itself loose. You can also gently pull snail away as long as its not within mouth of the anemone. Condys are sticky tentacled

Thank you! I have very carefully rescued this snail once before (when the condy had it about an inch from it’s mouth! Eek! )… this time I missed exactly what happened, and only noticed because my clowns were frantic in front of the nem and the snail was in an odd spot next to the nem, stuck between the rock and glass…

at this point the snail keeps falling over- but it did just use it’s siphon to clean the debris off it’s foot that had been stuck there all day! I’ll count that as a step in the right direction

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Never heard " RENTAL" but fitting. Im lucky as most of mine are 3+ years old

Yesss! These snails are about 2 years old each, from the previous owner. It sucks to lose anything in the tank, but especially since I’ve only taken over the tank for 4 mos let’s see what a few days in the isolation box does…

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Snails are pretty much "rentals" at this point anyway. Most of the hobby ones will only survive a year or two at most.

Crap mine are at the 2ish year mark i believe- but this guy was my strongest, fastest, best burrower… crappy… i want everything to live forever lol

 

[blaxsun]

Crap mine are at the 2ish year mark i believe- but this guy was my strongest, fastest, best burrower… crappy… i want everything to live forever lol

Between stupid snails, hermits wanting to upgrade and just, well... life - many of my snails don't make it past the 6-month mark. I do have snails older than 2 years - including a large mutant 3" trochus snail that has to be at least 3" in diameter (probably in excess of 5-7 years).

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you! I have very carefully rescued this snail once before (when the condy had it about an inch from it’s mouth! Eek! )… this time I missed exactly what happened, and only noticed because my clowns were frantic in front of the nem and the snail was in an odd spot next to the nem, stuck between the rock and glass…

at this point the snail keeps falling over- but it did just use it’s siphon to clean the debris off it’s foot that had been stuck there all day! I’ll count that as a step in the right direction

Give it a couple of algae tabs

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Give it a couple of algae tabs

Ah! I have some nori in the cabinet! …just need to figure out how to keep it from floating away without weighing down the box lol ..it’s definitely more alert now- but looks like it’s having trouble gripping with it’s foot … poor guy! Thanks again!

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Between stupid snails, hermits wanting to upgrade and just, well... life - many of my snails don't make it past the 6-month mark. I do have snails older than 2 years - including a large mutant 3" trochus snail that has to be at least 3" in diameter (probably in excess of 5-7 years).

5-7years! That’s awesome! …yeah i have a small tank and there’s one hermit that bullies everyone depending on it’s mood but remarkably the only time I saw it go after one of the snails (other than this one which may well be dying..) was when it desperately needed a new shell (the previous owner NEVER gave them shells and the crabs were all a few years old). Luckily i swatted it away and quickly added new shells to the tank and all the hermits had a shell swapping party for a week straight!!! Lolol

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Well, I put the nori in and the little guy perked up, moved successfully (a very short distance) without falling over, and has remained upright - probably trying to figure out where the heck they are lol it has remained upright for the first time in 24+ hrs!!! Maybe this guy WILL make it!

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Just posting in case anyone is interested in the outcome, since I couldn’t find anything when I searched.

…I thought this guy was moving in the right direction, even cruised around a little when I added sand to the box, but it passed the night before last… it was a good learning experience for me regardless;
- I see why people think detritus eating bristle worms are killing their “healthy” pets- if I hadn’t seen it’s bright white shell in the dark, next to the nem (where it stayed overnight) & the nem’s “meal face”, I might not have watched closely enough to see that the snail had traversed the tank the next day but could not burrow, or turn very well, before the other nass, bristles, & hermits started trying to eat it & I isolated it
- my clowns are total bullies and I had no idea the snails siphons were so long, since the clowns bite them & flip them…
- these snails are more aware of their surroundings than I realized (I’ve watched them plowing mindlessly into hermit crabs, anemones, and clownfish territory…), possibly only of predation risk from the same species? Pheramones? - the injured snail fully retracted into it’s shell once the other nassarius was at the top of the glass trying to access the isolation box to eat it, something I had assumed it was unable to do since the injury
- Looked like the sting continued to take effect, sadly appearing to incapacitate the snail slowly from the tail forward, since the snail was very active with it’s siphon, eating, cleaning, and even appeared to be pulling on it’s foot (recorded) trying to see what was going on if I were to anthropomorphize.

I did isolate the healthy snail overnight so the rest of the CUC wouldn’t eat it along with the dead one (there was one attempt and i wasn’t about to lose them both in one week lol).

I’m thinking I’ll get a cerinth in thereas a replacement ASAP, and maybe it will help me clear up the algae on the front glass lol

So that’s my sad snail story lol