Help!! Problems with snails

[Aspen35]

I’m experiencing the most bizarre thing! I’ve recently purchased a bunch of Ramshorn snails, and they are happy in my main tank. I’ve wanted to move them to their own tank for a while, and this is where the problem starts. I haven’t bought the tank itself yet- and so I usually just use a plastic, 7 gallon container for quarantining fish and such. I’ve tried putting snails in this container many times- and they always die. Perfectly fine after being acclimated to any other tank, but they only die in these containers. I fill them 100% with water from the tank they were being moved from. (Good parameters, filter, etc.) What could be causing this, because I am at a total loss!

 

[Byron]

How long is it before they die? What are the "plastic containers" exactly?

 

[Aspen35]

It seems to vary, but it’s hard to tell exactly when they do die. They sometimes just never come out of their shell from the moment they’ve been put in. The containers are Sterilite brand. ( just storage containers purchased specifically for fish.)

 

[Retired Viking]

Sound like something has contaminated your container, have you used copper based medications to treat sick fish in it since you mention it is used for quarantining your fish?

 

[Aspen35]

Sound like something has contaminated your container, have you used copper based medications to treat sick fish in it since you mention it is used for quarantining your fish?

Only new fish have been in it, and none of them have ever been sick, so no medications. I’ve tried multiple different containers as well.

 

[Byron]

Are you giving them anything to eat? One possibility is they are starving. I've no idea how long this would take, and presumably it would depend upon how much they had eaten before. I know that in established tanks that I may have removed all fish from, the snails in several weeks do begin dying off.

Another possibility is something toxic. I've no idea if those containers are safe, I have used similar (different brand I think) but only temporarily to move my fish when I moved houses.

 

[Aspen35]

I always put food in for them, but they seem to die very quickly- so I don’t think it could be starvation.
The only reason I’m not sure why they wouldn’t be safe is because I have had fish living in them for months at a time with no issues. Contamination seems to be the only possibility though.

 

[Retired Viking]

The only other thing I can think of is that the type of plastic the container is made of is releasing a toxin into the water or something was left on the surface during the manufacturing process that is leaching into the water. When they cast plastic they sometimes use an oily substance to help remove it from the mold. I believe it is an oil based solvent.

 

[Retired Viking]

The reason I feel it is something along these line is , Your fish are not affected because they have little if any contact with the surface of the container, The snails have direct contact and eat off the surface.

 

[Aspen35]

The reason I feel it is something along these line is , Your fish are not affected because they have little if any contact with the surface of the container, The snails have direct contact and eat off the surface.

Thank you, that is good to know.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

What do you feed them? I feed mine Tetra Pleco alage wafers. Mine breed like rabbits. Did you make sure you cleaned the plastic container really good before you used it? What used to be in it?

 

[Aspen35]

What do you feed them? I feed mine Tetra Pleco alage wafers. Mine breed like rabbits. Did you make sure you cleaned the plastic container really good before you used it? What used to be in it?

I feed mine the same thing as you, and sometimes homemade food. They breed really well in all my tanks, they just die in the container. Nothing was in the container except fish before I put them in it, and I cleaned it very well.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Hmm.. interesting. What are the water parameters in the container?

 

[Aspen35]

Hmm.. interesting. What are the water parameters in the container?

0 ppm ammonia and nitrate, 20 ppm for nitrate. It’s water from the tank they were moved from.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Very weird. I am honestly very lost. I will keep doing some research, to see if I can find a similar problem on the web.