Turbo Snails Dying?

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BavarianBuilt

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Jul 2, 2008
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I have never had luck with Turbo snails in my tanks. I bought two turbo snails about a month ago. One died within a week of buying it and now the other is lying upside down in the sand tucked up into it's shell. It's been like this all day. What gives? My water params are fine and all my fish are healthy. I have a ton of margarita snails that are very active, as are my hermit crabs. I'm kind of bummed this last turbo snail may be dead, he has an anemone living on his shell. Any way to save the anemone if it is dead? Thanks everyone!
 

cam191919

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Apr 8, 2008
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i read that turbos, those from mexico at least, need warmer water than usual. im not sure if it just means no coldwater tanks but when i got my turbos i was worried about it, and iv had no problems
 

Ace25

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Oct 3, 2005
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Ummm, FLIP IT! Turbos can not flip themselve back over like other snails.. that is their one major drawback. Minor drawback is they get big and bulldoze around your corals knocking them over... if you had corals. I have never had problems with a mexican turbo in a reef tank.. first I heard they like warmer water.. maybe warmer water than room temp.. or warmer than a FW tank.. I can see that since they come from warm water, but I think a reef tank at 78-82 is just fine for them. Nitrates can be a killer to snails though.. seen that happen once when nitrates got too high in someone tank.. killed off the snails.. which in turn really spiked the nitrates.
 

BavarianBuilt

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Alright, I flipped him over just now and hope to see some movement by tomorrow. Is there a definite way of telling if these things are dead for sure. My other one, that I assumed had died, sat on the live rock for days without moving. He popped right off of it so I assumed he had died.
 

snailrider

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Oct 30, 2007
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Acclimation is a big thing for snails. If your lfs did not acclimate proper, and this may be the cause. Think of a diver and the bends. That is what happens to snails with even moderately slow acclimation in salinity. May take awhile to finally kill it.

I have read other people say that when they switched where they bought their snails they could keep them alive. They thought it was something they did such as yourself.

Just one more variable to ponder. But do check for copper.
 

Ace25

www.centralcoastreefclub. com
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Easiest way to tell if a turbo snail is dead is take it out of the tank and smell it. If it smells rotten it is dead, if is just smells like saltwater and slightly fishy it is alive. Also if the foot is a brown disk it is dead. When turbo snails fall over upside down some fish and crabs will go after the meat of the snail and kill it that way so it is important to flip them back over as soon as possible.

Snailrider is absolutely correct, snails need proper acclimation. At the store I work at we take 1 hour to slowly drip acclimate new snail arrivals.
 

BavarianBuilt

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I honestly don't know what kind it is. When I got my turbo snail he was already living on it's shell. It's pretty small, very light brown/pinkish in color. Has a long tube-like body with multiple tentacles at the end.
 

Ace25

www.centralcoastreefclub. com
Oct 3, 2005
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Yup, aiptasia, considered very bad in a tank because they can spread quickly and pack a mean sting. If you don't have any corals though they can be tolerated. I have seen a couple FO tanks were they let the aiptasia spread and the tank went from having 4 to about 400 in a year. They are almost indestructable so you could probably take the shell out and rinse it out in the sink or something to get the dead snail out and put it back in the tank if you want to keep it.. the anemone won't be to happy about that but I can just about guarantee it will survive and be out in full bloom in a day or so. If the normal methods people do like ripping them out and squirting boiling water/lime juice/kalk mix doesn't kill them completely most of the time I doubt a rinse in a little fresh water is going to kill it.
 
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