I posted this on a snail forum hoping that someone would have an idea but haven't heard anything so I'm going to post it here too. Too long to re-write so I'm copying and pasting.
I get my snails from Pet Smart. They were labeled "Mystery Snails". The first ones I got lasted pretty long even though they were in a cichlid tank - they even laid eggs. This was before I knew that cichlids like snails for lunch. That was several years ago. I never got anymore because I had only cichlids and I'm really not into animal cruelty.
I've now developed a community tank (20G) for my granddaughter that has neons, black neons, one glo light neon (got it by accident), and a new female beta. For some reason every snail I get dies. I love these little guys and it breaks my heart each time.
I thought that it might have been because it was once a cichlid tank (I kept two convicts in it for a while until I got tired of dealing with the hundreds of babies) and I used to keep a little salt in the water to maintain an electrolyte balance. I thought perhaps some of the salt had crusted on the top of the tank and the snails might have gotten into it.
So I cleaned the top of the tank; took the filter out and cleaned it completely as well. Put it back in and bought a couple of blue mystery snails. A few days later, one was dead and the other was floating. I thought it was dead until I touched its "trap door". It retreated into its shell so I let it float. It was doing well for several weeks and today I realized it was dead. It had doubled in size so apparently it had been eating but I have no clue why it died.
Additionally, my other tank (50G) has three parrot fish, several long-finned danios, three emerald corys, and one rubber nose pleco. I had four snails in that tank and they were doing fine. Unfortunately, my oldest parrot developed some kind of parasitic infection that most could only relate to hole in the head so I had to teat the tank. Worried that my babies would get hurt by the treatment, I put them in the other tank thinking it was okay now because the one blue was still living. Today only one snail is still alive and that one barely. (Edit: This was the blue that was the last to die)
I just don't know what's happening in that tank. Strangely, when I had the convicts in there I had had a snail in there as well and it also went so far as to lay eggs. Unfortunately, it had a split in its shell that never mended. I have only just realized (reading through some of the posts) that I can put a cuttle bone in the tank to provide calcium.
Is it possible this was the problem, that they weren't getting enough calcium?
I would like to keep them in the tank because their antics are fun to watch but they also keep the tank clean. However, I don't want to put them into a death trap.
Anyone have any ideas as to what my problem might be? I monitor my water parameters but that's mostly for the fish. The only thing I can think of is that the pH runs acidic. However, I read somewhere that the pH wasn't that important. (If you ask me privately, I can tell you where but don't want to cause any problems for the person responsible)
I get my snails from Pet Smart. They were labeled "Mystery Snails". The first ones I got lasted pretty long even though they were in a cichlid tank - they even laid eggs. This was before I knew that cichlids like snails for lunch. That was several years ago. I never got anymore because I had only cichlids and I'm really not into animal cruelty.
I've now developed a community tank (20G) for my granddaughter that has neons, black neons, one glo light neon (got it by accident), and a new female beta. For some reason every snail I get dies. I love these little guys and it breaks my heart each time.
I thought that it might have been because it was once a cichlid tank (I kept two convicts in it for a while until I got tired of dealing with the hundreds of babies) and I used to keep a little salt in the water to maintain an electrolyte balance. I thought perhaps some of the salt had crusted on the top of the tank and the snails might have gotten into it.
So I cleaned the top of the tank; took the filter out and cleaned it completely as well. Put it back in and bought a couple of blue mystery snails. A few days later, one was dead and the other was floating. I thought it was dead until I touched its "trap door". It retreated into its shell so I let it float. It was doing well for several weeks and today I realized it was dead. It had doubled in size so apparently it had been eating but I have no clue why it died.
Additionally, my other tank (50G) has three parrot fish, several long-finned danios, three emerald corys, and one rubber nose pleco. I had four snails in that tank and they were doing fine. Unfortunately, my oldest parrot developed some kind of parasitic infection that most could only relate to hole in the head so I had to teat the tank. Worried that my babies would get hurt by the treatment, I put them in the other tank thinking it was okay now because the one blue was still living. Today only one snail is still alive and that one barely. (Edit: This was the blue that was the last to die)
I just don't know what's happening in that tank. Strangely, when I had the convicts in there I had had a snail in there as well and it also went so far as to lay eggs. Unfortunately, it had a split in its shell that never mended. I have only just realized (reading through some of the posts) that I can put a cuttle bone in the tank to provide calcium.
Is it possible this was the problem, that they weren't getting enough calcium?
I would like to keep them in the tank because their antics are fun to watch but they also keep the tank clean. However, I don't want to put them into a death trap.
Anyone have any ideas as to what my problem might be? I monitor my water parameters but that's mostly for the fish. The only thing I can think of is that the pH runs acidic. However, I read somewhere that the pH wasn't that important. (If you ask me privately, I can tell you where but don't want to cause any problems for the person responsible)
