Turbo Snail - She/he Aint Well !!!!!

[ak_47]

hello people,

i have 2 turbo snails and one of them has been on the same bit of glass for over 3 days now, i don't think he/she's very well. the other turbo snail is eating well and moving about the tank in his normal way, but the other is retracted back in his shell and some times i see the foot on it all most close up !


he/she keeps looking as though he wants to move and then it seems like he gets a pain and this makes him shoot back in his shell


Please can any one help me here ? i know it's only a little snail but i feel for him/her and wanna help it the best way i can

i have tested my ph and nitrate and nitrite and they all seem fine.

 

[impur]

How long did you acclimate them? Snails are more sensitive to salinity, temp changes. Take the snail out and smell it, if it smells to high heaven, toss it.

 

[ak_47]

they have been in my tank now for well over 2 months it's still alive though. throwing it away whilst alive will probably scar me !

 

[Reefer 4:19:59]

What an odd juxtaposition, the moniker AK 47 not wanting to kill a mollusc. Tho you don't sound like you are in the states unless you are older than I.
There may be a sexy explanation; the snail maybe producing eggs. Or it may be traumatized. Is there a tear or odd looking spot anywhere on the snail? What is it in with? Something maybe picking at it, esp the mantle, the antennae, etc.
Go to Radio Shack if u r in states, they have a great little hand held scope which goes from 60X to 100X and has a built in light for USD $10. You can put the scope on the glass and examine the escargot in detail. Look for tears, leaks, parasites, necrotic areas etc. as well as eggs/egg masses.
You don't have to throw the snail away. If you don't have a quarentine aq, get a 5 gallon bucket or for a snail a gallon container or even 3 liter bottle (CLEAN OF COURSE! no soap _*nothing*_ "bad" ever in it - not even diet soda IMO but reg soda is fine just clean well) with an air hose & line bubbling, no wand or stone needed. Fill with water from tank. You can use a 1 or 2 liter clear bottle & air hose only - NO STONE - put inside of tank (temp control) & obviously keep top so the snail can't go back into aq and you can observe it without risk to tankmates. You can put small holes in the bottle for circulation & cap it if you know where & how for segragation BUT it will still polute the tank if it dies & you don't remove promptly. If snail is too big to go thru the top cut the bottle, use mono filiment (fish line) to sew it back together & Viola! you have a small flow thru sequestered hospital area.
This is a short term fix, but it sounds like a short term problem.
If you do remove the snail from the aq, PLEASE be very gentle & careful as they can be injured easily with abrupt removal.

 

[ak_47]

yeah man i know AK-47, yeah your right how weird it is, but it's not supposed to mean the gun side of things it's a fav strain of plant as to speak.......... errr right, any way dude, i have a good little magnifying glass which I can have a really good close up look at it, I have checked as much as I can with it being on the glass, but I’m not really sure what I’m looking for, !

There doesn’t seem to be any tears or rips on it and I can see that there isn’t or doesn’t seem to be any thing living on it ?

As far as what else I have in the tank here’s go’s ! ( don’t be amazed mind you )


1 x yellow tailed damsel
1 x orange spotted goby
1 x tiny tiny hermit crab
1 x other turbo snail.

And that’s it! Yes it’s a 66 gallon tank Sooo they have plenty of space to do there ting !

Ok ok so when they are making eggs do they tend to look really sick, can’t climb, hasn’t moved, most of it’s foot seems as though it’s turned and closed up, then it keeps wanting to eat and then shooting back in it’s shell. ???

I think I’ll try and put it in it’s own little hospital as soon as poss then?

As far as throwing it away, I just can’t do it unless it was far the best, a snail it is, but hey you can even get attached to a snail! Or maybe I’m smoking farrrrrrrrrrrrr toooooooooo much !

 

[Reefer 4:19:59]

he may be a victim of an un caged heater if you have one in your tank. With that stock rate in that tank leave him be as long as he is on wall. Heaters that are not protected are a serious danger to resting, clinging & big biters. I finally got that thru my thick skull after watching a snail jump off a heater when it came on. Didn't know snails could jump, did ja? Well if their ass isn't on fire they can't.
The hermit could have biten off his eye stalks or nipped mantle, he could have been abraded by substrate, he could've stubbed his shell or... well ok maybe not stubbed his shell but could have tear as it sounds like sore foot, whether due to burn, tear or bite at least he can still "hold on".
Snails can have parasites, the scope allows you to examine for blood, irritation or tears or bumbs or...

 

[ak_47]

he was dead when i got home !!!!



thanks for the help with the heater dude, it's been covered since day one, as for the little hermit crab grrrrrrrrr!!!!! maybe he did pinch his eye's or summit who knows? i'm left with 1 yellow tailed damsel and my goby, and 1 hermit crab, and 1 snail, seems a waste to keep it going for such a large tank 66 gal, but you gotta keep it going!

i,ve noticed that all the brown and green algae is coming back, is this because the snails not been eating or could this be my underlying problem?


well thanks people for your help, once again youv'e been great !

Respect

AK_47

 

[Max]

might wana think about getting another (or should i say bigger...) cleaning crew, at least, at LEAST 30 more snails... and some hermits...

 

[Navarre]

I agree. I would recomend 1 snail or hermit per gallon of tank.

Its possible that if the snail has been decomposing all day then its ben giving off unwanted nutrients in the tank. If you had a larger cleaning crew like hermits they probably would have eaten the snail and no toxins would appear. Wish this extra decomposition, you might find tha tthe algea will feed on it and return.


Get as many cleanup crew as you can get in the tank as the number you have at the moment just wont make a dent.