Snails Keep Dying

[Gizaroo2]

Hi all,

My mystery snails keep dying...I've lost several black mystery snails after about a month of having them. They get a sinking algae pellet dropped down to them every couple of days. My black mystery snail got lethargic about a week ago, and was still alive a day ago. This morning he looked funny, so I took him out of the tank, and Pee-u! He smelled horrible.

I have attached pics of my 2 golden apple snails. Are they dead or dying? I found them in a really odd position this morning. I have pulled them out and stuck them in a Dip N Pour container I have, and it is hanging on the side of the tank. I am getting ready to go to work so can't do much for them right now.

I am currently in the process of purchasing an API liquid test kit. I had the strips, but misplaced them, and have read that they are inaccurate anyways. I have been doing partial water changes every other day until I can get a kit. Thus, I am unable to provide you with water stats currently. The last test I did with the strips though said everything was fine.

I've only had the apple snails for about a week. They came out to explore their tank the first night I had them, then quickly became lethargic. They share a 2.5 gal tank with a betta. (This was temporary- there was going to be one for each of my bettas tanks, but I had to get them set up first before putting them in those) The tanks are heated and filtered. They stay around 78-80 degrees F.

I lost the 3 original black mystery snails that I had (one for each tank), the current one that I disposed of this morning being the last of the original. I don't know what is going on...The tank that they were in has been up and running for the last 7 months. Should I give up on having apple snails right now and switch to some of the "pest" species?

Any help/suggestions is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Athena]

Well, that's a familiar sight...my poor golden apple snail spent over a week in a position like that, unmoving, just poking a bit of his foot out sometimes and other times with his door closed. I took him out regularly to smell him but it wasn't until last week that I finally found him dead (boy what a stench!) and my tank polluted (I'd been away Fri-Sun so he may have been dead in there some time).

I still don't know what caused it for sure. I did suspect it may have been chemicals on a piece of lettuce I put in there...but who knows? My tank stats had been spot on up until after he died. He spent the first week zooming about, full of life, then he clammed up suddenly!

If you find out what the problem is, I'd be interested to hear as I am still baffled by it all. The only other thing that I can think of is that as he had been kept at highish temps, it shortened his life (apparently they say higher temps make them more active but they then live shorter lives - but cooler temps make them slower but they live longer).

I have no idea how old my snail was when I purchased him but he was an adult size, about 1.5".

Hope yours survive!

Athena

 

[Gizaroo2]

Well, that's a familiar sight...my poor golden apple snail spent over a week in a position like that, unmoving, just poking a bit of his foot out sometimes and other times with his door closed. I took him out regularly to smell him but it wasn't until last week that I finally found him dead (boy what a stench!) and my tank polluted (I'd been away Fri-Sun so he may have been dead in there some time).

I still don't know what caused it for sure. I did suspect it may have been chemicals on a piece of lettuce I put in there...but who knows? My tank stats had been spot on up until after he died. He spent the first week zooming about, full of life, then he clammed up suddenly!

If you find out what the problem is, I'd be interested to hear as I am still baffled by it all. The only other thing that I can think of is that as he had been kept at highish temps, it shortened his life (apparently they say higher temps make them more active but they then live shorter lives - but cooler temps make them slower but they live longer).

I have no idea how old my snail was when I purchased him but he was an adult size, about 1.5".

Hope yours survive!

Athena

These 2 were both quite small. They still look like that.... The water stats for that tank that they were in are:

pH-7.4, Ammonia- 0ppm, Nitrite- 0ppm, Nitrate-40ppm.

I just wish I could figure out what is going on That's the 5th batch of snails I've lost. My black mystery snail I had in the tank for over a month, and he just died the other day.

 

[saltynay]

The bettas have probably attacked them and eaten there stalks making the unable to sense there environment and find food they eventually die.

They also sometimes hibernate for a month or two, to check for that just pick them up every 3-4days and give them a sniff, they reak when dead

 

[Gizaroo2]

The bettas have probably attacked them and eaten there stalks making the unable to sense there environment and find food they eventually die.

They also sometimes hibernate for a month or two, to check for that just pick them up every 3-4days and give them a sniff, they reak when dead

None of the bettas have attacked any of the snails in the aquariums. And they all reeked...very badly.

 

[saltynay]

Copper then no other reason why an apple would die so fast that I can think of its poor water quality they normally just walk away.