Help! New Snails!

[Aspen35]

I don't know if this qualifies as an emergency, but i just received a box with a bunch of mystery snails. They seemed to be fine while acclimating, but now that they're in the tank they've stopped moving around. (they were when I first put them in. Is something wrong? Some of them are not even out of their shell. I don't want to watch them slowly die, so if anything is wrong, please give me thoughts so I can fix it quickly.

Tank size: 20 gallons (they're put there for breeding currently)
pH: around 8 (on a well, normally don't worry about it)
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 20 ppm
tank temp:74 F

 

[Metalhead88]

How long have they been in the tank? Snails can take a few days to feel comfortable and come out to explore.

If they are in the shells, with the trap door closed they are alive.

The water is good across the board.

 

[Retired Viking]

I agree with @Metalhead88 you tank water sounds fine, give them a little time. You may want to add some food to couch them out of their shells. Good luck.

 

[Aspen35]

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse. At first, they moved around a tiny bit, then almost looked paralyzed. Half are in their shells, but the trapdoor is very far up. Also, they most definitely have that dead snail smell. The rest are hanging out. What went wrong? Parameters are the same as before. I'm still able to get them replaced, but I want to know how to prevent the same thing from happening.

 

[Metalhead88]

It's hard to say.... your water is fine. Maybe just bad luck in the shipping process?

If you touch them, and they go back in.... they are alive. If they don't go back into the shell and hang out they are dead.

Sometimes even live snails are smelly.

The one and only time I ordered snails, they smelled horrible when I opened the package up. All were alive.

 

[Aspen35]

It's hard to say.... your water is fine. Maybe just bad luck in the shipping process?

If you touch them, and they go back in.... they are alive. If they don't go back into the shell and hang out they are dead.

Sometimes even live snails are smelly.

The one and only time I ordered snails, they smelled horrible when I opened the package up. All were alive.

The ones hanging out of their shell don't go back in, so they're definitely dead. The others aren't hanging out, but they're more than smelly. It's like smelling death. I'm just not sure what happened, or if I should order and try again.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

The nitrates is a bit to high for snails IMO. Snails are a good indicator if something is not right in the tank. But in saying that you could of also got duds and between the parameters changes in tanks could have to much for them. As hardy as the little guys are they are also very sensitive