Turbos don't want to live for me!! HELP

[RDS29REEF]

I have gone through about 10 turbos so far. I have tryed them four times and can not keep them alive for more than a month or so. I keep a close eye on them because at first I thought they were just ending up flipping over and croke. The last three batches I would check at leat three or four times a day and make sure they were up rity. My water is in very good shape
Ph 8.1-8.2
Temp 78-79
No Amonia
Very very little Nitrate if any showes up at all on the test
same for Phosphates.
No nitrates
Mg 1300
Ca 410-420
Alk 10 dkh

I drip aclimate for 2.5-3 hours and yet they still bit the big one

I am at a loss at this point

 

[DNickell]

I know others have had very different experiences, but I've never been able to keep Turbos alive with any consistency--the pattern is that I would add twenty and two would live for a year or more and 18 would die in a week. That's not a viable way to go.

I have had better luck with Margarittas, but I know others can't keep them alive.

My suggestion would be to try a variety and find out what works in your particular set up.

Snails, and other invertebrates seems to be especially harmed by rapid changes in water parameter, especially specific gravity, temp, and other basics. So make sure you do a good drip acclimation. LFS and mail order suppliers often run their specific gravity much lower than the average reef tank, so be sure to check the water that they come in.

I know others will not like this statement, but I think that it just isn't really understood what, precisely, determines what keeps some species of snails alive while others can't survive in a particular tank.

 

[dendro982]

Reefs org had the article about why the turbo snails are not living is some systems, only can't find link.

My turbos are alive and well in the hell of the tank: fed several times a day with insufficient filtration/skimming. The zebra turbo snail is since the first days of my tanks, 2.5 yrs, growing well. Mexican turbos are practically the same. All of them went through some ammonia for a short time, nitrates 80 ppm, 1 ppm phosphates, salinity changes 1.024-1.028, alkalinity 7-15 dKH (not rapid changes, 2 dKH max at the time), red slime and its treatments. Usual parameters are much better, of course.

The only things I could think about, are:
1. Salinity. My SG is 1.026 intentionally, fluctuating rarely from 1.024 to 1.028.
2. Temperature. Online stores, selling turbos, mentioned that Mexican turbos are living at lower temperatures that usual reef tanks, and Belize zebra turbos are more heat tolerant. My tank temperature is 77-83F (summer time).

Likely you have similar salinity and temperature. If you are not using ozone or UV, the only thing left: presence of the food.

If I remember right the mentioned article about turbos, they are feeding on diatoms, growing on the tank surfaces.
I suspect that they are also eating what could be bacterial film, growing inside overflow tube. They were drawn as by magnet there, until coraline had overgrown it.

Puffers may eat them, but bite marks are visible on lids.
They need the hiding hark places for a day, but you likely have them too.
My systems are all bare bottom, but this unlikely to be the issue.
Tanks with turbos are grounded (stray voltage protection).

 

[herpboyben]

turbos are a cold water species. hardly anyone has succes with them for long

 

[VacavilleFC3S]

we're talking about astras right?

 

[dendro982]

Hmm? Topic states "turbos", not "astreas", so all I posted, was about Mexican turbo snails, Turbo fluctuosa, and Zebra turbo snail, unID Turbo sp.

 

[HappySkittles]

is there enough food for them?
the way my brain works:
if everything else as far as parameters and chemistry turns out perfect it must be that they arent eating

 

[wetjet43]

That's strange, mine won't stop eating! They seem to poop 10 times more then they eat too!

 

[bigtex52]

For a pretty good article on these species of snails, check out The Grazing Snails, Part I - Turbo, Trochus, Astraea, and Kin in Reefkeeping.com at http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/index.php

 

[Todd March]

When they're on, when they're working, nothing can come close to Turbos; bryopsis, hair, red--they'll eat it all, and often down to the bare rock. Wonderful...!

I have had very good luck with them--might add a cup or so of tank water to the bag, acclimate them in the bag to tank temperature for a couple of hours, then let 'em loose--they are usually starving from the stores, and almost always dig right in.

My tanks are usually around 77-78F, and I've kept turbos for a couple of years; I often have to trade them back in, as when nutrients are under control and algae growth slows way down, they can often starve. I keep one or two of the smaller ones per 90g's, but that's about it.

But for the initial phase of a new tank (that I'm going through now), when algae comes and goes in cycles and is plentiful, god bless Turbos...!

The best explanation I have heard is that the collection process is brutal on these guys, and many get poisoned in transit, and are pretty sick when they arrive at the stores, it just takes one more big swing in environmental parameters (the move to our tanks) to finally do them in.

I always look for and buy snails that are moving in the tank, and usually look for the ones on the sides of the tank in the stores. If they are just sitting on the bottom, I pass them up. And I never, ever, just let the clerks pick them out randomly. I always hand pick each and every one...

 

[Zegg]

From what I have read most Turbos mostly cold water species and end up havign an appox life of 6 months in our warmer aquariums. There are some others as the Chesnut Turbo Snails(not talking about cowrie snails) which come from Caribbean and the Zebra Turbo coming from Asia. I say try a few different ones.... Ive always had more luck with the chesnuts turbos(not chesnut cowrie snail) and Zebras over the standard "Turbo" that is readily avaiable everywhere in abundance. Or I could just be gettign lucky as I have to order the chesnut and Zebra Turbo from my LFS and pick it up still in the shipping bag and has better chance to live?