Is something wrong with my mystery snail?

[BigAds]

Over the last two weeks or so, our snail Gary has been spending half his time floating and the rest of it on the gravel, closed up tight and not doing anything. He does seem to be alive as he's completely closed up and every once in a while we find that he's moved some, or he's hanging around on the glass, but it's rare now.

We did have up to .5 nitrites in the tank for 4-5 days, but I did 50% pwc every one of them to keep things under control... now the water's testing at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 8-12 nitrate.

He used to be the fastest racing snail this side of the Mississippi... is something wrong?

 

[msjinkzd]

what is the temp? what are the other inhabitants and what size tank? What are you feeding Gary? Do you know how old he is?

 

[BigAds]

Invert goddess to the rescue!

The temperature is currently at 83*, since I've been fighting off ich for the last week or so... which also has my salt up to 2 tsp/gallon. Before that it was steady at 79*.

It's a 36gallon bowfront that's severely understocked right now, with 5 peppered cories, 3 dwarf platies, and gary... has smooth natural gravel, fake aquarium plants, and 2 pieces of bogwood. We've had him for maybe 2 months... he's only about 1" around.

We've been feeding him (and the cories) mostly hikari sinking algae wafers... with cucumber, peas, or green beans usually once a week.

 

[msjinkzd]

do you have a qt tank at all? they are *supposed* to do fine with ich treatment, but its possible he is reacting to the salt. The feeding sounds good, as do his inhabitants and environment. The temp is a bit high for him as well. I would be tempted to remove him from the tank if at all possible for the rest of the treatment. How much time do you think is left for the ich treatment?

 

[thebullit]

i have had no problem with mine when i have done a salt and temp rise treatment.....but they can be sensitive to salt and high temps. i would, like ms jinz said is isolate while the treatment is on going.

 

[BigAds]

I had planned on starting to lower the temperature Tuesday... going back down to 79-80* over a couple days. As for the salt content, I planned on doing a 50% pwc wednesday, and another on Sunday.

 

[msjinkzd]

I would really try to remove him from the tank if at all possible, he is obviously reacting to something, be it the previous nitrites or the salt and heat, or maybe the combination of the two. One thing I have read that can help, is to take them out of the tank and put them in a shallow container with a small amount of dechlorinated tap water of the appropriate temperature and leave them for 15 minutes. Sometimes this will perk them up. Not sure if it would help Gary or not, but it certainly couldn't hurt. If he is reacting to the salt/heat treatment, he should become active in the container. Of course, once he is put back in the tank, its likely he will feel ill again. However, if he perks up, at least you know he is reacting to the salt/heat treatment.