Turbos Dying Off

[skiffalope]

Howdy,

Over the last two weeks, I've lost two of my new Turbos. One died (possibly) before I purchased him because he never ever moved. The second one cleaned up my rocks and then moved down to the sand bed and hasn't moved in three days. Keep in mind that I just bought these guys two weeks ago.

3rd turbo has been hanging out at the top of the tank and really doing nothing but laps at night. My water quality is good (78F, 8.1 pH, 0 Nitrate, 0 Ammonia and density is 1.021). Doing a water change tomorrow morning.

Any thoughts on this? I've also got 1 Blue Damsel, 3 crabs and they're doing fine. Maybe the snail number 2 isn't dead; just not moving? Does this happen?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[edikpok]

It can happen that a snail won't move for a day or ttwo.... you should smell it. Live snails don't smell bad :). Also, you sould be able to see the snail sitting in the shell. If it smells / you can't see it, then it is dead...

As for why? Did you check the nitrites? snails cannot really tolerate any excessive nitrites! And because you had your tank set up for only 2 weeks, I would guess your nitrites should be really high

Note that hermits cannot really tolerate nitrites either...

[skiffalope]

It can happen that a snail won't move for a day or ttwo.... you should smell it. Live snails don't smell bad :). Also, you sould be able to see the snail sitting in the shell. If it smells / you can't see it, then it is dead...

As for why? Did you check the nitrites? snails cannot really tolerate any excessive nitrites! And because you had your tank set up for only 2 weeks, I would guess your nitrites should be really high

Note that hermits cannot really tolerate nitrites either...


OK, but if I can see the snail (ie, I see the it inside the shell) and it doesn't smell, it is OK.

Also, Nitrites should be at less then 0.3 mg/l. I test regularly and this hasn't changed. I've also had it tested by my fish store and they said the water looks great too.

The hermits appear to be OK. They're running around doing their thing. What would be a sign that they're not happy???

And actually, the tank has been up 4 weeks. I ran it two weeks with LR and LS before I added the fish. I added the snails and hermits at the same time due to some algae growth. I was planning on adding some more because now some hair algae is growing.

Appreciate your advice. Please do not hesitate to provide more.

[OrionGirl]

Did you acclimate the snails at all?

You might want to increase the salinity a tad--closer to 1.025 would be better.

[skiffalope]

Did you acclimate the snails at all?

You might want to increase the salinity a tad--closer to 1.025 would be better.


Will do. I acclimated the snails using the floating method, not the drip. Should I use the drip in the future?

Thanks.

[edikpok]

I have a sea urchin that eats hair algae. He eats it soooooooo well!!! I would really recommend getting one of those. I have the colorfull one and without the needles. I am not sure about the species name.

[skiffalope]

I have a sea urchin that eats hair algae. He eats it soooooooo well!!! I would really recommend getting one of those. I have the colorfull one and without the needles. I am not sure about the species name.


Sounds great. However, I'm still concerned about the die off. I'd hate to add an urchin just to have it go belly up..., or spines down!

Thanks.

[OrionGirl]

Yes, the drip method is better. Floating the snails in a bag doesn't actually acclimate them your water conditions. At best, it gets them near the temp, but more often, it actual gets them much warmer, especially if the lights are turned on.

[skiffalope]

Yes, the drip method is better. Floating the snails in a bag doesn't actually acclimate them your water conditions. At best, it gets them near the temp, but more often, it actual gets them much warmer, especially if the lights are turned on.

Thanks again. I really appreciate the help you've given me. I will use the drip method for all my new acquisitions.