Snail predicament - what would you do?

[UnnamedReef]

I've got a bit of a GHA problem in my 6 months old 55 gallon (20 gallon sump) So I bought some turbo snails from Dr Reefs. Got them in today, and none have moved in my DT since 10 am. At least one is dead and has been removed (hermit crab got to him and opened it up, so I could confirm it was dead. Problem is that there are 9 more that may or may not be alive (Dr Reefs min buy QTY was 10, planning to trade the ones I don't want at the LFS).

I'm very worried that if many of them are dead and decay overnight I'm looking at a huge ammonia spike and I'd lose fish. A smell test of the snails isn't helping much. The dead one hardly smelled since he hadn't been dead long.

I have two 10 gallon QT tanks I could move them to, but even one dead snail in that small of a tank would kill the rest from the ammonia right? Is there any way to confirm they're dead or not, maybe prying the "door" of their shells to see if they pull back? Let the hermit crabs go at them and see who's for sure dead? Ammonia test (API, I don't really trust it) read 0 and all fish are doing just fine at this point.

 

[UnnamedReef]

Let me hermits loose around the snails, they seem to be doing a very good job sorting out the dead ones. Unfortunately, it looks like all of them might be dead

 

[Jekyl]

Reefcleaners.org

 

[MrGisonni]

They take a day or so sometimes to get going. Reef cleaners bags them in wet paper towels and recommends no acclimation. Not sure how your came.

 

[Dom]

I've got a bit of a GHA problem in my 6 months old 55 gallon (20 gallon sump) So I bought some turbo snails from Dr Reefs. Got them in today, and none have moved in my DT since 10 am. At least one is dead and has been removed (hermit crab got to him and opened it up, so I could confirm it was dead. Problem is that there are 9 more that may or may not be alive (Dr Reefs min buy QTY was 10, planning to trade the ones I don't want at the LFS).

I'm very worried that if many of them are dead and decay overnight I'm looking at a huge ammonia spike and I'd lose fish. A smell test of the snails isn't helping much. The dead one hardly smelled since he hadn't been dead long.

I have two 10 gallon QT tanks I could move them to, but even one dead snail in that small of a tank would kill the rest from the ammonia right? Is there any way to confirm they're dead or not, maybe prying the "door" of their shells to see if they pull back? Let the hermit crabs go at them and see who's for sure dead? Ammonia test (API, I don't really trust it) read 0 and all fish are doing just fine at this point.

Did you acclimate them before placing them into the DT?

If the salinity in the bag was lower than what it is in your tank, they will succumb to osmotic shock if you didn't acclimate them.

 

[RSNJReef]

Just curious, but what are your magnesium levels at? Also, the GHA is green under daylight, right? I’m asking the obvious but just making sure.

Under blue lights GHA looks black or brown, so most can’t tell the difference between the green and brown hair algae. And, if it’s a dark brown under white lights, chances are it’s not hair algae you’re dealing with, it’s a form of dinoflagellate that will kill most snails when they eat it (although my sea hare seemed to take to eating it after a few days).

 

[MrGisonni]

Reef Cleaners

Chitons or coat of mail shells are small to large, primitive marine mollusks. Read more general information on Chitons here.

www.reefcleaners.org

Recommendation...do not acclimate.

 

[UnnamedReef]

Dr Reefs came in a sealed bag, said do not acclimate past temp acclimation. Salinity matched at 1.024 which I confirmed before putting them in. So I temp acclimated them and put them right in. It honestly seems like they're all dead, most are completely unresponsive and you can open their "door" without too much trouble. Since they don't close it up I'd say they're dead. Putting the 5 "maybes" in a QT tank overnight to assess.

On the topic of the GHA, mine seems pretty brown under mostly white light, let me snap a picture

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've got a bit of a GHA problem in my 6 months old 55 gallon (20 gallon sump) So I bought some turbo snails from Dr Reefs. Got them in today, and none have moved in my DT since 10 am. At least one is dead and has been removed (hermit crab got to him and opened it up, so I could confirm it was dead. Problem is that there are 9 more that may or may not be alive (Dr Reefs min buy QTY was 10, planning to trade the ones I don't want at the LFS).

I'm very worried that if many of them are dead and decay overnight I'm looking at a huge ammonia spike and I'd lose fish. A smell test of the snails isn't helping much. The dead one hardly smelled since he hadn't been dead long.

I have two 10 gallon QT tanks I could move them to, but even one dead snail in that small of a tank would kill the rest from the ammonia right? Is there any way to confirm they're dead or not, maybe prying the "door" of their shells to see if they pull back? Let the hermit crabs go at them and see who's for sure dead? Ammonia test (API, I don't really trust it) read 0 and all fish are doing just fine at this point.

Did you acclimate them well?
Were they in water and was the bag cold?
Some snails will take 48 to become active

 

[MrGisonni]

Be patient

 

[REEFRIED!]

Dr Reefs has a great reputation. Besides that, snails sometimes take 24 hours before moving around. I recently ordered 40 astreas, about 5-8 died in shipping. The other 30 or so did not move for awhile, then the next morning they all had moved

 

[UnnamedReef]

Thanks everyone, I moved them to a QT tank with tank water and will move them back as they come alive. Either way, I'll update this thread with how it goes. Thanks for the help!

 

[RSNJReef]

Ok so, you definitely have GHA mixed in there, but the brown on the sand looks a little off. What I’d do is instead of snails, get emerald crabs (preferably females cause in my experience they have a lower chance of going rogue).

I’d get a toothbrush , turn off all power heads, and scrub the rocks down really well, then siphon everything out and add at least 4 emerald crabs (add 2 per 10 gallons up to 50 gallons, or 1 per 10 gallons for 50-100 gallon tanks). Then be patient. If the hair algae comes back with reckless abandon, then it’ll be time to get a little more extreme.

And, for the snails, like others said, give it a little time. Give them at least 2 days to start moving unless they stink of sulfur.

 

[UnnamedReef]

Will do on the snails. I have one female emerald crab who works hard, but can't keep up. I've been scrubbing with a toothbrush, glass cleaning, and water changes afterwards + filter socks replacements at least once a week. I can't seem to beat the algae, I was hoping a few snails would put me over the top. I didn't want to add more emeralds since they're a gamble at being reef safe I've heard

 

[RSNJReef]

Will do on the snails. I have one female emerald crab who works hard, but can't keep up. I've been scrubbing with a toothbrush, glass cleaning, and water changes afterwards + filter socks replacements at least once a week. I can't seem to beat the algae, I was hoping a few snails would put me over the top. I didn't want to add more emeralds since they're a gamble at being reef safe I've heard

Yeah agreed, emeralds are a gamble, but from what I’ve seen, I’ve had less issues with the females, what I’ve seen in the past it’s the males (when their claws start getting big) they will take out the other crabs over territory disputes, and will sometimes clip corals if they get too hungry (I’ve only seen them go after lps though, not sps). Turbo snails and trochus I’ve seen as the best for hair, but they will only eat hair that’s a few millimeters in length, anything longer than that and they won’t touch it, unless you get the extra large turbos (I have a couple that are over 2 years old that are around 2 inches, those will go after stuff up to a centimeter, but nothing longer than that).

It’s up to you as to how you want to go. If you get enough of the snails to take to the tank and keep up with the once a week scrubbing, you’ll beat it, but it’ll take time (remember that part of what you’re going through right now is that your tanks eco system is settling out, and you are going through the ugly phase as the bacteria levels in your tank balance out, which is why you’ll rarely see a 3+ year old tank with algae issues unless it goes through a bacterial imbalance for some reason).

One other option you can do is get the number of snails you want, then pull out the coral from the tanks rub them down well and put them in a quarantine system. Once all corals are out, scrub the tank like usual but after cleaning do a 5-7 day blackout (wrap the tank in garbage bags or cardboard to block the light, and only leave enough of an opening to feed the tank (feed sparingly at this time because as the algae dies, your nitrates and phosphate will spike). Monitor your nitrates and phosphate every 2 days during the 7 days, and when it gets high, do a water change and continue the blackout. After the 7 days most of you hair algae should be gone.

Your other option is to turn off all lights to the tank except for blue (only light in the 430-400nm range), and then keep scrubbing and letting the snails do their job. Red, white, green, and yellow light accelerates both coral and algae growth, so if you shut those down for a while, it’ll give your snails a chance to catch up to the short hairs of the algae.

 

[UnnamedReef]

Updating this thread to close it out:

All snails were DOA the first shipment. Dr Reefs not only agreed to send replacements for free, they included some Trochus and Nassarius too. This time around all the snails are healthy and I'm more than happy with the resolution.

+1 for Dr Reefs, excellent customer service and I'll definitely.fow i

 

[Cell]

Did you acclimate them before placing them into the DT?

If the salinity in the bag was lower than what it is in your tank, they will succumb to osmotic shock if you didn't acclimate them.

Drip acclimation of shipped inverts is not typically recommended because they are very sensitive to ammonia and when shipped, ph decreases which in turn decreases ammonia toxicity. Once exposed to air, ph rises back up and ammonia toxicity with it. Snails and other inverts handle osmotic changes better than elevated ammonia.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Let me hermits loose around the snails, they seem to be doing a very good job sorting out the dead ones. Unfortunately, it looks like all of them might be dead

Agree with Jekyl for sure! Reef Cleaners is the best in my opinion. All you should do with snails is temp acclimate them, and put them in. Reef Cleaners guarantees live upon delivery. After that it is up to you to do what they recommend, and the conditions you are putting them in.