:thud: Help me out here. I have a 75gal FOLWR tank with 6 fish, 1 yellow tang, 1 coral beauty, 1 yellowtail damsel and 3 common clowns. I also have a few hermits and snails. Is there someting that inverts need to be fed specifically? I have a little trouble keeping snails especially the larger ones.
Snails
- Thread starter lebloom
- Start date
I am having a problem with snails as well, they don't seem to last to long in the tank. It They last usually about a month or so then they die. Is this what you are finding as well? I read an article about snails recently and it said that most snails you can buy from the LFS or anyone are not the proper snail. Most are temperate water snails, and they can't take the heat of our tanks. I'll try and find the article and post it here.
Ok here is a few links. the first 3 are about snails and the last is for the whole website. It has a ton of info!! part 1part 2part 3Dr. R. Shimek's site.
Ok here is a few links. the first 3 are about snails and the last is for the whole website. It has a ton of info!! part 1part 2part 3Dr. R. Shimek's site.
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It can also depend on how its acclimated, snails are VERY sensitive to rapid changes in water chemistry.
The last time I purchased any I acclimated them for quite a long time, probably 90 minutes or even longer. My water qualities according to my LFS are fine. I remember seeing this one snail one day and no problems the next day he was gone. When I found his shell it as if he just vanished. There is plenty of algea in my tank to feed on. I don't even clean my back glass on my tank.
Here's a quote from one of the links.
"A large number of Trochoideans are sold to reef aquarists despite having little or no chance of long-term survival in a reef tank. Most of these are collected from the northern shores of Baja California. Although it's south of the United States, the marine environment of the northern part of this peninsula is anything but tropical. Its Pacific side is bathed in waters that are quite cool, and is the home of several Trochoideans that are collected for the reef aquarium hobby. These animals typically have a tolerance for warm conditions, and they are often intertidal animals and can withstand quite hot water - for a while. Prolonged exposure to warm conditions, however, kills them.
Among their many interesting attributes, many marine snails have impressively long life spans. I have counted over 120 annual growth rings on some specimens of Tegula funebralis, a temperate water species. This species is one of the three or four species of Trochoideans collected from cool water areas of Baja California and unethically sold to gullible, or informed, aquarists as a reef aquarium animal under the delightfully ambiguous name of "margarite or margarita snail. Tegula funebralis has a high thermal tolerance for an animal that lives in cold water areas (it ranges northward from Baja and is common in the British Columbian and Alaskan intertidal zones). They normally live a small fraction of one percent of their normal life span, or only a few months, in reef aquaria. Putting these animals in a reef aquarium is both unethical and immoral.
This confusion is complicated by various distributors and dealers who just can't seem to grasp "The Phenomenon of a Name," and blissfully attach names seemingly at random to their livestock. A good example of this is in the common name, "Margarite snail." Well folks, I have been studying snails for a long time, and to me a "Margarite snail" is a snail in the genus Margarites. These are small snails, similar in many regards to the grazers we put into our tanks. They are even found in the tropics. However, when they are found in the tropics, they live several thousand feet down in water whose temperature is 39° F. or lower. In other words, there are no snails of the genus Margarites that are found in warm tropical waters. One finds examples of the common North Pacific species, Margarites pupillus (Figure 13), offered for sale and this invariably leads to a quick death for this species if kept in reef aquaria. As with the species of Tegula, with which they share the common name "margarite" snail, they have no place in reef tanks. Still vendors persist in selling them. Go figure..."
"A large number of Trochoideans are sold to reef aquarists despite having little or no chance of long-term survival in a reef tank. Most of these are collected from the northern shores of Baja California. Although it's south of the United States, the marine environment of the northern part of this peninsula is anything but tropical. Its Pacific side is bathed in waters that are quite cool, and is the home of several Trochoideans that are collected for the reef aquarium hobby. These animals typically have a tolerance for warm conditions, and they are often intertidal animals and can withstand quite hot water - for a while. Prolonged exposure to warm conditions, however, kills them.
Among their many interesting attributes, many marine snails have impressively long life spans. I have counted over 120 annual growth rings on some specimens of Tegula funebralis, a temperate water species. This species is one of the three or four species of Trochoideans collected from cool water areas of Baja California and unethically sold to gullible, or informed, aquarists as a reef aquarium animal under the delightfully ambiguous name of "margarite or margarita snail. Tegula funebralis has a high thermal tolerance for an animal that lives in cold water areas (it ranges northward from Baja and is common in the British Columbian and Alaskan intertidal zones). They normally live a small fraction of one percent of their normal life span, or only a few months, in reef aquaria. Putting these animals in a reef aquarium is both unethical and immoral.
This confusion is complicated by various distributors and dealers who just can't seem to grasp "The Phenomenon of a Name," and blissfully attach names seemingly at random to their livestock. A good example of this is in the common name, "Margarite snail." Well folks, I have been studying snails for a long time, and to me a "Margarite snail" is a snail in the genus Margarites. These are small snails, similar in many regards to the grazers we put into our tanks. They are even found in the tropics. However, when they are found in the tropics, they live several thousand feet down in water whose temperature is 39° F. or lower. In other words, there are no snails of the genus Margarites that are found in warm tropical waters. One finds examples of the common North Pacific species, Margarites pupillus (Figure 13), offered for sale and this invariably leads to a quick death for this species if kept in reef aquaria. As with the species of Tegula, with which they share the common name "margarite" snail, they have no place in reef tanks. Still vendors persist in selling them. Go figure..."
A couple of notes.
First, 90 minutes is not really a long acclimation for a snail. Dr Mac recommends 5-6 hours, and I do at least 2 hours and often still lose a few in the first weeks. I figure most of the snails lost in the first few months are probably killed by hasty acclimation. It might not have been you, either. The LFS could have been the culprit when they received the snails.
Before having read various authors discussions of how inappropriate "margarita" snails are for tropical tanks, I had bought several of a few species. They lasted at least a year. No, it's not a good idea to buy them, but they won't die in a week if you do. I would look elsewhere for the problem.
There are some excellent choices for reef tank snails. Astraeas are the mainstay, and have always done well for me. Turbos are great algae eaters, but get really big. They also don't seem to acclimate as easily, and I tend to lose a few in the first weeks. Trochus are great eaters, if you can find them. I got mine online, but I have never seem them in the LFS.
First, 90 minutes is not really a long acclimation for a snail. Dr Mac recommends 5-6 hours, and I do at least 2 hours and often still lose a few in the first weeks. I figure most of the snails lost in the first few months are probably killed by hasty acclimation. It might not have been you, either. The LFS could have been the culprit when they received the snails.
Before having read various authors discussions of how inappropriate "margarita" snails are for tropical tanks, I had bought several of a few species. They lasted at least a year. No, it's not a good idea to buy them, but they won't die in a week if you do. I would look elsewhere for the problem.
There are some excellent choices for reef tank snails. Astraeas are the mainstay, and have always done well for me. Turbos are great algae eaters, but get really big. They also don't seem to acclimate as easily, and I tend to lose a few in the first weeks. Trochus are great eaters, if you can find them. I got mine online, but I have never seem them in the LFS.
I have astreas, turbos, ceirth and nacariuos(sp) snails in my tank. I only acclimate to temperature. I have not lost a snail yet except for 4 astreas I know happened because of my tank move. I also have a hermit crab who is only doing what comes naturally.
Yeah, I have nerites, turbos, and nassarius' as well. I only acclimate them to temperature and pour some of my tanks water in the bag before putting them in the tank. I have only lost two nassarius' to one of my hermits. Yet my friend had three of them die off by this same method; I also know of someone who lost a handful of them by acclimating to a few hours.
It's insane.
It's insane.