Turbo snail problem?

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rica5tully

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Feb 15, 2003
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I bought a turbo snail (I've never had one before- new to SW)

My tank has two rock piles and a sandy bottom. Here's the problem:

When I put the snail on the sand he doesn't move for 16 hours and acts like he's dying.

When I put him on the rocks, he moves around for awhile and then falls, upside down, and can't get up. (My rocks have some light sand on them that I haven't been able to get off)

Question #1: Can turbo snails deal with sand?

Question #2: Can snails turn themselves over when they fall upside down?

Thanks!
 
I believe the turbo snails are nocturnal, at least mine only move at night. First thing in the morning thru untill I turn the lights off at night, they will stay in the exact place. They will start rusling around with actinic light only, but they still will not leave their place.

They will do fine in the sand, and they can get back over from being upside down. They can come way out of thier shell. I could not imagine one being upside down, unless it is stuck under the bottom side of rock or something.
 
Yes, turbo snails can right themselves when they turn over. Yes, they can negotiate sand. If your turbo snail is acting strange and falling, then you have other problems.

What are your water parameters? Specifically, how are your nitrate levels? I was losing turbo snails in the same manner for a couple of months. They would act very sluggish and fall off the glass. Some would try again to climb the glass, only to fall once more. Some would just lay upside down and my hermits would eat them. It turned out that my nitrates were out of control, and the snails couldn't deal with it. I have taken stpes to reduce my nitrates, inlcuding the use of RO water, reduced feedings, switching over my substrate to a DSB, and adding some more live rock. Since my nitrates have gone down, my snails act as they did when I first set up the tank.

Another consideration, have you ever treated the tank with copper, or used warm tap water for top offs? Sometimes hot water heaters have copper overflows which can tain your water. Either way, copper is highly toxic to inverts. The snail may have copper poisoning. My first suspicion falls on high nitrates, though.
 
Turbos can trun themselves over...but it is a big feat for them to do so. You will have to trun them over sometimes. I try to do it as often as I see on upside down.

As far as non movement...well what are your water conditions? All of my snails, both turbos and astrea, have died because of the high levels of NO3 (Nitrates) in my tank. I have had a big battle with NO3 in my water and after 3 weeks of fighting I am begining to see a slow drop in the NO3. Test your water to see what your levels are.

As far as the sand goes. I have crushed coral in mine and haven't had a problem. I am sure it isn't a problem though because there is sand in the ocean, there natural enviroment.
 
I am sure it isn't a problem though because there is sand in the ocean, there natural enviroment.
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But archaeogastropods, like turbos and astreas, aren't suited for sand. Their gills will get clogged if they get buried, and they don't get much traction. Astreas are particularly bad at righting themselves on sand. They live in rocky environments normally, leaving the sand to conchs, ceriths and nassarius that can navigate it better.

It's interesting that people are seeing an effect of nitrate on turbos. Usually, the bad side effects of NO3 are listed as difficulty in maintaining alkalinity and inhibition of calcification, but acute effects aren't all that well described. It will be interesting to sit back and see if there is a continued correlation between high NO3 and "turbo syndrome."

If NO3 is the problem, and you can't get it down, switch species. I am not proud of it, but I have had astreas and margarita snails thriving in tanks with 60-80 ppm NO3 for extended periods.
 
I am glad I have some support on them turning over. I ment to say they can come out of their shell futher than you think, not they can come out of their shell. They are kinda contorsionist
 
My nitrates are still pretty high. I have never been able to get to the level suggested by most literature of < 20 ppm. However, I took Dave's advice a while back and switched over to Astrea snails. My Astreas have done well in my tank for the last couple of months. I did lose a few at first during acclimation. They fell off the glass and got eaten by my hermits. At first I thought even they were succumbing to the effects of the nitrate, but I guess it was just different water conditions than they were used to. I lost about 50% in the first three days, and the survivors have done just fine since.
 
But archaeogastropods, like turbos and astreas, aren't suited for sand. Their gills will get clogged if they get buried, and they don't get much traction.
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HUM I learnd something new. Makes sense, just figured that though there is a big lack of traction that they could deal with the sand. Though it is true that they do spend their time on either the glass and rocks.
 
From what I heard, nassarius snails burrow in the sand. You would think that if it did not harm them, it would not harm anything. Unless they really do not burrow in the sand
 
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