Whats up with my snail??

[jo.jacques]

I had a tiger snail for about 8months and it always been very healthy. But these days, it seem to be dead?? Dosent move and it looks like this underneath. At first I tought it was out of its shell (?) but now i just simply think its dead. Am i right? What could have happened?

[angelcraze]

idk if he's dead, but I do know that zebra snails can't turn right-side up on their own, so help him get back up.  I have 3 of these in a heavily planted 5g.  They do a wonderful job of cleaning up algae everywhere, but they need lots of plants to grab onto in case they flip over. 

Make sure your ph is fairly alkaline too, they do not like acidic water, it's bad for their shell.  You might have to feed him x-tra if there is not much algae left in the tank.  I've fed mine blanched zucchini and collard greens.

I know it's gross, but when I've had a dead snail, they fall out all slimy and look a bit fungussy.  They can also smell very bad, I think you'll know if it's dead, but someone else might have more insight here. 

I know that zebra snails are a trap-door snail, that they can close, I've seen it fall off prior to dying.  I think I see the trap door, but I don't see the snail.    I know they cannot survive without their shell.  Hopefully someone will see it better.

[jo.jacques]

Removed

[jo.jacques]

Thanks a lot!

I checked my pH and it is at 6.6... Might be a little low I will try to increase it to 7.0

I have never seen a "door" on my zebra snail, but my Apple snails do have some of these small doors. Yesterday, I found this door laying in the bottom of the tank. OH MY GOD, my Apple Snail lost his door. Something is going on with my snails, that cant be good

I usually put a piece of poached zuchini in the tank once every 4 days, but the snail didnt even move to go feed (my ancistrus ate it all)

WTH is going on

[bergenm]

Typically if the snail can not be seen, it has died. You can always take the shell out, hold it up to a bright light and if you can see through the shell, then the snail is gone.

As for where it went, I suspect your pleco took advantage of a bad situation for a quick meal... Plecos usually won't/can't  touch a healthy snail but a dead or dying one is fair game... Mine have emptied a few shells over the years...

[jo.jacques]

That actually makes lot of sens

Thanks a lot guys

[Dan]

I have over 30 snails so have seen enough behavior to fail miserably at pretending to be an expert...but here goes.

I have on occasion observed a Snail that would look like the picture you have showed, remain at the same spot for a few days and then suddenly start moving again (weird but it more common that I would have expected). So don't flush it yet ! 

Once dead, leave the shell in the tank (but only if empty - if not they stink like crazy), from what I read on the Internet (which NEVER lies) it will slowly release Calcium which is good for the remaining snails. I have also seen snail eat away at the Shells of dead compatriots.

[wrm130]

I have never had a problem with rotting snails...my shrimp clean em up first:)

As for feeding snails, collared greens and dill weed are much higher in calcium and better food for snails.

This is also what the internet has told me.

[jo.jacques]

Darn, thats too bad I flushed it yesterday before seeing this post

I am going to "La Niche" tonight to get some more snails. My tank really needs it since I upgraded my light and added a DIY Co2 system, I can see an increase in algae.

Any ideas how many I should get? I have a "heavily" planted (6plants) 35G.... I was thinking about 4-5 snails? Probably zebra snails since they been so good on plants and algae?

[wrm130]

Diy c02 (sugar/yeast)has been nothing but a pain for me everytime I've tried...

As for snails, I like the horned nerites.  They're smaller and get in more places but still do an amazing job.  I also find with them being smaller they have an easier time and are more likely to climb and clean plants.

4-5 should be good.  Give them time to work though.

Amano shrimp would also be a good addition.

[jo.jacques]

I had my DIY co2 system for a week now so didn't have time to notice anything going wrong (what happened to you?) I am running the tubing into my Eheim 2217 Canister and for now, everything seems fine! The co2 system gives around 1 bubble of co2 every 15-20 seconds (don't know if this is too much?)

Shrimps would be a dream for me, but with my Bloodparott and Red Spotted Severum, they would be eaten in 5 minutes

[angelcraze]

As for snails, I like the horned nerites.  They're smaller and get in more places but still do an amazing job.  I also find with them being smaller they have an easier time and are more likely to climb and clean plants.

Ha,ha. I still like my zebra nerites.  They might be larger, but still cleaned all the green spot algae off my dwarf sword in 1 day!!  I'm sure the smaller nerites might clean the more delicate leaves though.  I still love them!!

[jo.jacques]

Fyi, bought 6 (for the price of 4, thanks La Niche) nerite zebra snails:  2 big and 4 tiny.
That will do the job. Lets hope they last!

(I will raise my pH around 7,2)

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