snails keep dying?

[ttu rob]

Everytime I try to establish a cleaning crew, my snails keep dying (last about a 2 weeks). I acclimate them very slowly...(one time I actually took 4 hours with a slow continuous drip). Temp is 79. sal 1.025, nitrates very low and no detectable nitrites. This tank was purchased from an aquantance (over a year now whith steady decline in crew). I'm trying to establish a reef but I'd like to establish the clean up crew first. I have a few corals which are doing well (pagoda, mushrooms, leather). What gives? I have even took out all the LR and substrate in search of any metal. Possibly cooper or something?

thanks
rob

 

[dc]

Was copper used in the tank previously? I've heard it can leach out and kill invertabrates. Have you tried shrimp in the tank? What kind of snails are you getting?

 

[ttu rob]

i don't know if cooper was ever used. hermits do well. had an anemone for quite some time before i had a lighting failure while i was out of town. i've been buying astrea and turbos with no avail. Very frustrating.

 

[dc]

The only thing I can think of is they are falling over? Astreas cannot right themselves if they fall over. No idea about the turbos.

 

[iceman5]

could you list what you all have in your tank? turboscan right themselves. are you always buying the snails from the same dealer? do you have a triggerfish or some type of animal that is eating them? please list whats in your tank. what type of substrate do you have?

 

[ttu rob]

tank is 90 gallon with vho lighiting runs 9 hours a day. asm g3 skimmer. I believe it's crushed coral substrate approx 3" in depth. Don't know how much LR (enought to fill 90 respectively). I have a maroon clown and a false percula. My flow is a little low but I'm working on that problem with a CL soon to be implemented. Tons of shrooms. Some kind of Pink leather coral, pagoda.

If the tank was exposed to cooper, wouldn't all of the coral suffer as well. With so much other things that could go wrong, keeping snails alive was the least of my worries.

Water change 15 gallon q 2 wk.

 

[Sm0kin]

got worms?

 

[ttu rob]

I hadn't seen and bristle worms. There are very few small translucent things in coral that look like worms. Various small feather filter worms. Nothing I would suspect to kill snails.

 

[Sm0kin]

check it at night. I was reading earlier there are worms that will kill snails. A type of bristworm or just a nasty worm.

 

[iceman5]

iwould start by buying them from somewhere else. possibly isolating a couple in something/ trying another invert that is not copper tolerant/ triple check your test kits? i really dont know.i have heard that if its a glass tank that was treated with copper the silicone seals change color? anyone? hope this helps? andrew

 

[ttu rob]

I have (like all reef geeks on more than one occasion) looked at night with a flash light. Nothing but a few copapods.

 

[iceman5]

do you have spare shells for your hermits? maybe they are killing the snails for the shells ? i doubt it but its possible?

 

[iceman5]

do you have a brass check valve or any metal running on your plumbing?

 

[ttu rob]

I have a few. I thought about that with the astrea snails. Then I bought "mexican turbo" snails. Those suckers were huge. The minute I put them in afeter aclimation, they started going to town. I would suspect problems in parameters if the snails would not do well right off. I don't know If I should just assume it was treated with copper and nix the whole tank or make it a FOWLR tank or what. I will say this, I'm tired of buying these suckers just to watch them die.

 

[ttu rob]

no brass. all plastic ties. I've gutted the whole system in search for the problem.

 

[dc]

yeah, they're not cheap. I would think the hermits would be dieing also if there was copper there. I'd test for it myself just to be sure. The hermits could be candidates, or maybe a hitchiker crab? How many are you actually losing, and are they all dieng within days of each other, or spread out?

 

[ttu rob]

They're spread out over a couple of weeks. I buy 20 or so at a time (astrea). Tried my luck this last time with just a few turbos (6). Let them all RIP.

 

[dchao]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6699470#post6699470 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ttu rob
I have (like all reef geeks on more than one occasion) looked at night with a flash light. Nothing but a few copapods.

wait one-two hours after lights are out, in complete darkness, use a red lens flashlight and try to catch this hitchhiker.

I bet it is either a hitchhiker worm or shrimp or crab. Good luck!

 

[dc]

Well I'm out of ideas, but I would think they would all die closer together if it was copper. Something may be killing them. Do you use a red lens when you look at night? A lot of critters can't see that color and don't run to hide quite so quick. 20 snails seems like a lot for hermits to be killing, unless you have a ton of them.

 

[ttu rob]

Just about 12 or so hermits. I'll try the red lens. I hope I do have a hitchhiker. At least then I would know the reason.