RIP Mr.Snail. Who's next?

[kjr928]

Ok, so I need some help. I've got a 5.5g tank with one male betta & now 4 apple snails. The other day I noticed that one of my snails was tucked really far back into his shell. I picked him up to get a closer look, and he had all these little brown/green dots running all over him. It seemed like he was hiding. My other snails and my fish seemed undisturbed.

I glanced all around the tank and saw that these microdots were infesting my tank! They were particularly attracted to the small piece of coral and the small piece of cuttlebone that was in there. They were skimming along the surface of the water and swimming up and down the sides of the tank.

I didn't know what they were or what to do. I took my betta out of the tank and put him in clean water. I also took my snails out, rinsed them, and also put them in clean water.

Today, I changed half my water (only using the water as it came out of the filter so as to avoid keeping the buggies). I also dumped all of my gravel and cleaned my rock and pagoda. My fish was happy, but one of my snails was dead! The one that was hiding in his shell!

I hope that doing a big water change with be the end of the problem, but I guess only time will tell. Below is a picture of some of the buggies on a piece of cuttlebone (the quarter is just for size comparison). Any opinions or advice is welcomed and appreciated.

 

[tmtpowers]

How much are you feeding and how long are you leaving the food in the tank? If I remember correctly, you feed your snails a balanced diet of high calcium fruits and veggies. If so, you may want to think about getting an extra tank to place your snails in at night time for feeding. Don't have any substrate so you know when food is left behind. Every morning, place your snails back into their main tank and clean out all old food from the feeding tank. In my feeding tank I have to do PWC every day to every other day.
Feeding in your main tank could be leaving excess food in your substrate which is what is feeding your mini critters. Cutting back on there food supply should cut back on them. Do frequent water changes will also help cut them back.
Sorry you lost a snail

 

[kjr928]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, getting another tank is not an option at this point for me. Do you think keeping them ovenight in a vase with their food would be satisfactory, and then placing them back in the tank in the morning?

I threw out all my substrate (god only knows how many of those buggies were living in that). I want to keep it empty for now so I can see if they reappear easier. As of now there doesn't appear to be any bugs/parasites left, but I'm sure it's not possible I got rid of every last one.

Also, before I did a water change, I'd like to mention that my nitrates were at about 40. Someone said that this is like heaven for parasites, and if I keep doing water changes it will go down. What is a good level for my nitrates to be at?

Thanks again.

 

[tmtpowers]

I never let my nitrates get above 40. Yes, with PWC that will bring the levels down. Anything under 40 is usually fine but in your situation, try to keep them below 20 until you get things back in order.
As for the vase or even a large bowl, as long as it is clean, you use tank water, and completely empty it daily, that should be fine. Just make sure its plenty big and keep something on top to prevent anyone from climbing out. Also keep in mind that if it isn't filled to whatever you use as a cover, you very well may have snails start to lay clutches. If that does happen, you can discard the eggs/clutch but if you want to keep them, you will need a homemade incubator.

 

[kjr928]

I will start keeping my snails in a separate container tonight. No, I do not want any snail babies, I will keep an eye out for clutches of eggs and chuck them if I see them. I have had these snails for quite a while and never a clutch before, so I'm not overly concerned (but I would be VERY surprised).

Someone suggested that the little brown dots might be 'ostrocods' or mites. Does that sound accurate to anyone else? Why is my snail dead?!?!