Snails die but nothing else.

[Jarhead-CO]

So my tank is young around 2 months but it's 29g with 2 clowns a strawberry blasset and a scooter blenny (I'm adding tisbe pods to feed because he is awesome) I know I'm slightly over what people would recommend for fish in this size tank but the boss put her foot down and wanted a pink fish. My cuc is 1 emerald crab 5 crimson leg hermits 3 margarita snails 1 turbo snail and 1 cleaner shrimp. I had 5 margarita snails but 2 died and a 3rd is falling off the glass non stop like the first 2 that died. My parameters are good.
Salinity 1.024
Ph 8.0
Nitrites/ammonia 0
Nitrates 10 ppm
Alkalinity is like 200
I forget the number but my calcium was good for FOWLR.
there is still algae all over the tank and rocks. My copepods are thriving after seeding so am I just starving the snails? Also no copper was ever used and everything I bought was brand new.

 

[RickG]

I have the same problem. My first batch of snails died on me. Just got the second batch and have had some falling off glass and my Mexican turbo just died today. Temp acclimated then for like 40 mins. My parameters are good, fish are doing well, and my other cuc are fine. Only thing that I haven't tested for is copper. But I have a cleaner shrimp, blue and red legs, and 2 emeralds. I would think that if it was copper killing my snails then the rest of me cuc would have gone too. I really want to figure out what it is so if anybody has any ideas please let me know as well lol

 

[40B Knasty]

A clean up crew should be looked at like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. They start painting on one side of the bridge. By the time they reach the other side. It is time to start painting all over again from the beginning. So if there isn't a enough algae for them to do their job over again. They grow weak. Then they fall off the glass and LR. Die and add more nutrients to your tank. If your tank is young. Then there really isn't much of a job for them to do to keep them alive. Turbo snails need to graze. With grazing requires a lot of algae but they are picky on the height of what they are grazing on. Always start small and build the cuc. Snails are the LFS joke of the hobby. Say 1 person spends $40 a year on snails. The LFS has 50 people come in and spends $40. That is $2k. When the LFS spends $100. $1900 profit is great business.

 

[reef lover]

I think those particular snails come from cooler waters and don't last long in our reefs...if I'm thinking of the right one...lol

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

@Lionfish Lair may have some helpful ideas. She wrote our article on clean up crew and is a wealth of knowledge on these critters.

 

[AlexG]

I would consider a couple of trochus snails. I always liked these snails for the cleanup crew as they are hardy and can flip themselves over on their own. What is the temp you are maintaining in your tank? When the snails die are the bodies still in the shell, are the crabs having a feast on the dead snail, or are the shells empty and covered in a clear slime?

 

[Jarhead-CO]

I think those particular snails come from cooler waters and don't last long in our reefs...if I'm thinking of the right one...lol

Yes they do but from what I was told and read the should last longer than a few weeks.

 

[Jarhead-CO]

I would consider a couple of trochus snails. I always liked these snails for the cleanup crew as they are hardy and can flip themselves over on their own. What is the temp you are maintaining in your tank? When the snails die are the bodies still in the shell, are the crabs having a feast on the dead snail, or are the shells empty and covered in a clear slime?

Still in shell and I've caught them before any cuc can get to them. 78 degrees

 

[mtraylor]

Did you acclimate them slowly to your aquarium or did you just throw them in? YOu will have much better success if you acclimate them in a young reef. Just the change of NItrates to your aquarium can kill them.

 

[Reef Ryder]

So my tank is young around 2 months but it's 29g with 2 clowns a strawberry blasset and a scooter blenny (I'm adding tisbe pods to feed because he is awesome) I know I'm slightly over what people would recommend for fish in this size tank but the boss put her foot down and wanted a pink fish. My cuc is 1 emerald crab 5 crimson leg hermits 3 margarita snails 1 turbo snail and 1 cleaner shrimp. I had 5 margarita snails but 2 died and a 3rd is falling off the glass non stop like the first 2 that died. My parameters are good.
Salinity 1.024
Ph 8.0
Nitrites/ammonia 0
Nitrates 10 ppm
Alkalinity is like 200
I forget the number but my calcium was good for FOWLR.
there is still algae all over the tank and rocks. My copepods are thriving after seeding so am I just starving the snails? Also no copper was ever used and everything I bought was brand new.

Happens to all of us. I guess that's why they are only like one or two bucks per snail.

 

[AlexG]

Still in shell and I've caught them before any cuc can get to them. 78 degrees

On the positive side it does not sound like you have a predator killing the snails. I would consider lowering the temp slightly to 76-77 degrees. If you do decide to lower the temp I would do it over a couple of days. How are you measuring your temp? Separate thermometer in the tank, digital thermometer, or the heater thermostat?

Following the advice of others and acclimating the snails is also a good idea if you are not already performing some kind of acclimation process.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Sometimes this happens even with the best acclimation and the best choice in snails. It's not only about how you treat them, but how they've been treated the whole chain since collection. Snails take a lot of hits along the way before they reach our tanks and it's often too much.

BUT... Margaritas are a cold water snail. They never do well in our tanks, even if they survive. These naturally long-lived snails fade over a few weeks to months. Some manage to acclimate and do OK, but their lives are abbreviated versions of what it should be.

I would get different types of snails.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I haven't looked in awhile, but was curious what a vendor was saying about the Margaritas they were selling. I don't like this at all....

"Description: Though they are excellent algae eaters, the Margarita Snail lives a short life in most reef aquaria. Margarita snails are intertidal snails that live in the cooler waters of the Pacific coast (off Mexico and California). They will live for 6 months on average in warmer reefs."

So basically they're saying "Yeah, we know they're coldwater and your tank will likely kill them, but you'll get 6 months out of them before you have to come back for more!". That's just wrong. These are snails that live a loooooong time :-/ that's very sad of them. For shame.

 

[Robink]

I have some that are doing well. I do keep my tank cooler than most, 72-74 degrees. And I have plenty of algae for them.
when the algae gets low I put some nori for them.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I used to keep them in a seahorse tank where the temp was lower like yours. They did better than the ones I placed in the reef in the long run. I collected them myself, so I knew they hadn't taken any "hits" from collection to my tank.

 

[Jarhead-CO]

Did you acclimate them slowly to your aquarium or did you just throw them in? YOu will have much better success if you acclimate them in a young reef. Just the change of NItrates to your aquarium can kill them.

Slow acclimation

 

[Jarhead-CO]

On the positive side it does not sound like you have a predator killing the snails. I would consider lowering the temp slightly to 76-77 degrees. If you do decide to lower the temp I would do it over a couple of days. How are you measuring your temp? Separate thermometer in the tank, digital thermometer, or the heater thermostat?

Following the advice of others and acclimating the snails is also a good idea if you are not already performing some kind of acclimation process.

I'm acclimating them slowly and I have a thermometer in the aquarium. I'll try backing the temp down.

 

[Jarhead-CO]

Sometimes this happens even with the best acclimation and the best choice in snails. It's not only about how you treat them, but how they've been treated the whole chain since collection. Snails take a lot of hits along the way before they reach our tanks and it's often too much.

BUT... Margaritas are a cold water snail. They never do well in our tanks, even if they survive. These naturally long-lived snails fade over a few weeks to months. Some manage to acclimate and do OK, but their lives are abbreviated versions of what it should be.

I would get different types of snails.

Ok I'll look into a different type of snail and yeah the 6 month thing is what I read but didn't know they were supposed to live a long time or I wouldn't have bought them just to kill them slowly.

 

[40B Knasty]

I think those particular snails come from cooler waters and don't last long in our reefs...if I'm thinking of the right one...lol

There is two snails that need a cooler temp. I tried finding out which ones they were before I posted. But! This reef2reef. Where we can always count on someone filling in the blanks haha I think the Mexican Turbo is one of them. Margarita being the other.

 

[Jarhead-CO]

2 more snails on their backs as I left for work I flipped them over but I'm not to optimistic.