snails dying

phishy2

phishy2

New member
i have read hermit crabs will kill snails for there shell, could this be what is killing alot of my snails? i have had them in the tank for about 2 weeks now. the water quality is perfect. 1.024 salinty, 8.2ph, 0 nitrates and ammonia. 82degrees.

i am in the algae period of the tank now and am disappointed most of the snails are ending up dead....

i had 20 snails and 20 hermits. i have left a few of the snail shells in the tank to curb the aggression of the hermits but it doesnt seem to help. is there anything else i can do? i dont notice any single aggressor.
 
1.024 might be a tad low, but probably is okay. I target 1.026, though.

I suspect your hermit crabs are hungry and are eating the snails. That's common. You could try feeding more, and adding more extra shells. That might reduce the death rate. In the end, I got rid of all my hermit crabs.
 
i was under the impression that you didnt really need to feed extra for the hermits... they are scavengers no? dont they just eat what the fish dont, and some algae too? like i said i am in the algae period of my tank (1month setup) plenty for them to eat. please tell me if i am wrong
 
i am getting a cpr hang on tank refugium to grow some good algae.... what would be more benifitial to add in there? a few hermits of some snails? i plan on adding some live sand and live rock with the good algae....
 
no i dont have any shrimp... i dont think there is any copper, i havent used any chemicals, and i use 0ppm ro/di water to fill the tank.

i was planning on getting 2 pepperment shrimp sometime though. would it be dangerous to add them?
 
By any chance did you get your live rock from someone else who may have treated their tank with copper? Or, could you have bought dry/dead rock from someone who used a medication that it was in a tank with?

Have you heard any loud clicks in your tank? Could something other than crabs be attacking them?
 
i bought the live rock fully cured at the lfs they are really good, i dont think they have used copper in the tanks. there havent been any clicks, i made sure of that before adding any critters. the tank seems to be really healthy other then the snails dying off.

i do have an emerald crab a tomato clown and an algae blenny also, i dont think any of them are the problem though
 
I have not been active lately with my aquarium trying to get it back in shape.

However, I did have a buch on snails, a pepermint shrimp a couple of emerald crabs, re scarlet crabs, and hermit crabs.

I had a couple of large snails that died off, so I stayed up one night after the lights went off. And watched as the perpermint shrimp attack my last large snail. The shrimp turned it over so fast and the other crabs attcked it, nothing I could do at that point. I also had a serpent star fish I placed in the tank, and it lasted one day.

So now I only have 1 red scarlet crab left and about to take it to the lfs and I think I am staying with nothing but snails :rollface:

So stay up one night with a flashligh and you might catch the culprit....
 
im almost certain it is the hermit crabs, because even during the day i see them check out the empty shells i left in the tank, the emerald crab has been in there since the cleaner crew, and he doesnt do anything but scrounge around on the rocks.

how many snails would be enough when you dont have any hermits in the tank? i was reading that the blue legged hermits are the ones that may attack snails could i just take them out? keep the others?
 
Update, its definitly the emerald crab, i checked tonight and found him feasting on a defensless snail... i still dont count out the hermit crabs, but its obvious the emerald is the main aggressor.
 
Kinda like kids left alone you never know what they will get into..

AS far as how many snails I don't think I could answer that, I am looking to get the right number for my tank as well.


Yea, I think my shrimp learned form the emeralds....:)
 
I was actually thinking that if the Emerald has been alive in there for a few weeks, it's not copper poisoning that's killing the snails. I really wasn't thinking that he'd be your snail eater. I was under the impression that Emeralds much prefer herbivourious menus.
If you caught him red handed though, he's gotta go. I don't like hermit crabs as part of a clean up crew because they are known to kill snails. I believe that snails are far superior to hermits anyway. I have a few hermits in my refugium, but none in my main tank. A good mix of snails is what you want. Turbos, Margharitas, Ceriths....
 
I believe the snails are better to. I had several crabs in my tank and the alea was out of control.


I bought 2 large snails from the lhs, and in a short time the had wiped a rock cear of hair algea. I don't believe they actually ate it, I think it was more or less them just crossing the rock that knocked it loose.

Anyway, tank is cleaner for me with the snails...
 
Hermits are very low risk and great cleaners, IMO.

True crabs, like the Emerald, are far greater risk. You always have to keep a close eye on them, IMO.

Also, it could be that you got a weak batch of snails. They are quite susceptible and the law of the jungle is a powerful thing.
 
I've got the reverse problem, I keep finding dead hermits on my sand bed but with no shells.

So someone/something is yanking my hermits out of their shells and killing them and taking the shells away. I can't find the shells anywhere. All I have is 10 snails and 3 hermits. And none of the 3 hermits have upgraded their shells. So I don't know where the shells for my previous hermits went.

And what eats hermit carcass? They are just lying on the sand bed. Poor little hermits.

I have a sailfin tang, 6 line wrasse,brittle star, sand star, and maybe a purple firefish, (haven't seen him in 7 days).



Josh
 
heres my 2cents and my situation

i was glad when i finally was able to get the emerald out of my tank, i would watch that sucker in plain day rip hermits from their shells.

I think my big boss man red hermit, he is huge, is overly aggressive with other hermits, and may kill them

i have a leopard wrasse that dive bombs my inverts...

so these are the main reasons for dying inverts in my tank, i just purchased "the trap" to catch the wrasse to bring to a LFS before i invest in additional inverts... my onter fishes are 2 true perks.

but i love seeing my turbos eat the growth in the tank, doing what they are supposed to do...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6615397#post6615397 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fmellish
I've got the reverse problem, I keep finding dead hermits on my sand bed but with no shells.

So someone/something is yanking my hermits out of their shells and killing them and taking the shells away. I can't find the shells anywhere. All I have is 10 snails and 3 hermits. And none of the 3 hermits have upgraded their shells. So I don't know where the shells for my previous hermits went.

And what eats hermit carcass? They are just lying on the sand bed. Poor little hermits.

I have a sailfin tang, 6 line wrasse,brittle star, sand star, and maybe a purple firefish, (haven't seen him in 7 days).



Josh
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that your hermits are just molting, and you're finding the discarded molts.
 
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