Snail acclimaion question

[Everyones Hero]

I just received an order of snails for my 55g. They came in Priority Mail, so a total of 2 days bagged/boxed up. The shipper sent them with heat packs & had them double bagged. The inner bag sprung a leak so most of the water was in the outer bag.

They're all in my acclimation bucket now & I've got a drip line going. They were all inactive at first but it seems like at least 2/3 of them are moving around now.

My question is this- Since there wasn't much water to add to the bucket (maybe 1 cup total) do I just do the normal drip line for 2 hours or is there another way I'm supposed to do this?

 

[drparker]

After about an hour I'd pour half of it out and then continue to drip.

 

[MeuserReef]

I just received a snail order this week and my snails (Astrae Turbos) came without any water intentionally. There was a little note telling me not to be alarmed because the bag was without water.

My acclimation insrtuctions said to add 1oz of tank water to the bag every 5 min or so. So far, all 64 snails are doing fine, however some did take a day or so to start moving.

 

[kraze3]

Snails can seal off their shells, keeping water inside. I agree with pouring out half and contioning the drip.

 

[Everyones Hero]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up just doing a 2 hour drip.

I added them all to the same general area in my tank so I can see which ones didn't make it after a few days. So far it looks like 3/4 of them have moved around. The other 1/4 seem to be in the same area but I can't tell if they've moved or not yet.

It seems like the juveniles may have survived better than the adults.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

sniff test--they stink when they die

 

[Mopar Reefer]

I've never dripped my snails and had great success. Guess I've been lucky??

 

[freddy4130]

I agree with Mopar. I just float them for about thirty and then drop them in.

 

[wrott]

I've heard that it's best to place the snail at the top of the glass(half out of water) in the aquarium and the snail will slowly acclimate itself.

 

[freddy4130]

^^^That's a great idea actually. My snails get out of the water for long periods of time. I caught one all the way at the bottom of the outside of my tank once. and I always catch them on my HOB chilling like turtles sunbathing.

 

[OwenInAZ]

Shoot, I just take them out of the water in the bag and drop them straight in. Not the textbook way of doing it, but I've never lost a snail to shock

 

[darkdruid]

Open and drop. If they are shipped without water, what are you acclimating them to, the air? A drip or a cupful, still the same, no water to water. Might as well just dump them in.

 

[Everyones Hero]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14709926#post14709926 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wrott
I've heard that it's best to place the snail at the top of the glass(half out of water) in the aquarium and the snail will slowly acclimate itself.

I've done that in the past, but there were so many of them it would have taken me all day to do that. It was easier just to put them all in the bucket & drip line them.

And I did the smell test when I first opened the bags. I was expecting the smell of death but it just smelled like salt water.

It looks like there's maybe a total of 10 that haven't moved yet. Ones in the same area I put them all yesterday, but he's moving around so I'll give them a few days to disperse then I'll remove the left-overs (if there are any.) So far I haven't seen any of my Nass snails going after any of them so I'm assuming they're all alive & well.

 

[cloak]

I used to float the bag for about 20 minutes or so, take a razor blade and make a 2" slice in the bag without letting all the oxygen out. Leave it there as long as you like. What you want to see is them crawling out of the bag.

 

[Rich D]

Im the same with a couple of guys above me, just chuck em in. Its a little unorthodox but I do the same with corals and havnt had much acclimation failures

 

[ctenophors rule]

2 hours!!!

i've read studies that say acclimating most aquariums organisms (those that can control their internal osmoregulatrity) shouldn't be acclimated for more than 15 mintues, unless extreme conditions present themselves. (temp, 20 degree difference, etc)

once the temperatrure is equal, just throw them in. they have an operculum for two reasons, to prevent predation, and to prevent drieng out. if they have the ability to spend 2+ days out of water, then they have the ability to self acclimate themselves to a change in osmoregularity, say the tide returning, or a sudden rain storm forming a fresh water puddle around them until the tide returns. they survive, by staying closed, when the salinity becomes normal again they open up.

 

[ctenophors rule]

not sure if my 2cnd example actualy occurs in the wild in the same way, i was just over exagerating to prove a point.

(no need to yell at me for my incompetence now!!! lol)

 

[Everyones Hero]

Then what is all the talk of acclimating new organisms for 2 hours before adding them to the tank?

 

[iamwrasseman]

a regular acclimation period will certainly not hurt . i would think thats the best way but there are no studies i bet

 

[darkdruid]

As long as the temperature and ph are fairly close, dump 'em. Corals, fish, snails...you'll rarely have a problem. Alot of people take the extra time and acclimate for up to 2 hours, but it's because they want to, not because they have to. What's better for the animal, sitting in dirty shipping water, slowly being adjusted, or getting into a clean stable enviroment as fast as possible?

Think of it this way...imagine your house caught on fire and you were trapped in a room full of dirty, polluted, smoke filled air. The fire department gets there and puts out the fire. What would you rather they do, stick an airhose in the window and gradually over the next 30 minutes to an hour pump in fresh air until the room was cleared? Or would you rather have them open the window and take you outside into the fresh air as fast as it could safely be done? Shipping water is like that room, full of waste and pollutants. A clean tank is a much better option.