First Tank, snail fail. help?

W

wowvalanex

AC Members
Apr 13, 2009
19
0
0
36
West Virginia
So me and my fiancee were out last saturday (day before easter) and i decided i would start a small version of her big hobby, i got some fish and a mystery snail.

she has a bigger tank, sumthing like 2 or 3 ottos, 2 mystery snails, 3 danios, a beta, and a bunch of guppies, and she LOVES it. So i decided i really have no hobbies other then some MMOs, and i figured it was time for sumthing new because when college comes back around MMOs are out of the question.

anyways point being. I got 3 black skirted tetras and a mystery snail. Well i followed all her advice on setting up the tank and even did my own homework for caring and cleaning. But no less then 24 hours later my snail was just crawling around the tank and then fell...it was on its back for over 24 hours...and it had some stringy stuff coming off it and a squishy white substance on its shell.

the snail died and it wasnt mistreatment or poor care on my part i followed everything my fiancee recomended and that my research told. but it died(and i could tell this from its stench and its failure to react to the "touch test").

So i am wondering? How did i happen to come across this snail fail? and what couldve been that white substance on its shell after it died?

i have water treatment...so i dont think it was acidic and wouldve he died that fast?

i also have a water heater and its a comfortable 70-75 degrees at all times...so i dont think its tempeture issues.

I would like to know before i get my next mystery snails tho, if it was sumthing i did wrong?
 
I'm assuming your tank was cycled since your fiancee keeps fish already and you did your research. For me, with all the research in the world, I can't keep snails alive. I also buy snails from random LFS. It was suggested to me on AC that the LFS that I've bought from probably didn't have the best stock and I just couldn't bring the snail up to full health.

Do you have any water testing equipment? (like ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)
Did you cycle your tank beforehand?
What size tank is it?

It sounds like you have a decent grasp on what you're doing, but I just want to get some basic info from you
 
Yeah it was cycled cleaned all gravel and all equipment and the store we bought from didnt have the testing equipment at the time. so we didnt have that but i do have the water treatment and the heater and a filter. my tetras are just fine no sign of harm to them at all, all of them are chasing and playing. but the snail just died randomly and he was showing no signs other then he didnt eat his algea waffer. only thing i can think of was it was a long ride home, or the pet store didnt take care of them right. unless it was sumthing to do with my tank.
 
:welcome: to AC!

To be honest, I never like buying snails from the stores. Get your snails from local breeders most prominently the AC members here. They can be trusted to the quality of your pets unlike the LFS where it is possible they starved the snail halfway to death. The white slime is an indication of stress. Get API liquid test kit to determine your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
 
I have never had an issue with snails TBH-- but I have pristine water for them in my city as well

sorry for the loss... try again
 
Did you use media from your gf's tank to cycle your tank? This to me sounds like ammonia poisoning, but unhealthy stock is also a very real possibility. I would guess teh white stuff was slime. Snails produce excess slime when the water irritates them (like when ammonia or nitrite are present). How are the tetras doing? Are they well?
 
Did you acclimate them before adding them to the tank? What are your water parameters?

Sorry you lost your snail :(

I agree w/Lupin you'd have better luck buying from local breeders or someone here on AC. There are lots of members who sell brig check out the classifieds.
 
tetras are perfect they are playing and gliding around the tank like they have always been there, and ive only had them for like 72 hours, and my snail died in less then 48...
 
probably weak stock or it may have gotten a lung collapsed/mantle collapse from how it was handled at the pet store. Did you notice if the employee pulled it off teh glass or was it on the tank bottom?
 
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