Nerite Snails questions & Cracked Snail Shell

BaylorPerez

Fishaholic
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
558
Reaction score
13
Location
US
i had noticed when i put my new snails in that there was a crack in their shell. how can i fix this if not what can i do?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2274.JPG
    IMG_2274.JPG
    102.6 KB · Views: 145
So my 2 snails have died today(i know that because they floated to the surface instead of staying on the gravel bed). so i was wondering, should i go for another algae eater(pleco) or 2 more snails?
 
Are you sure they're dead? Some snails, and I'm not entirely sure if this applies to mystery snails, but I've seen many pond, ramshorn, nerite and assassin snails float to the top and continue grazing the glass once they've gotten close enough to attach themselves. They can fill their shell with air and float around for a bit. Usually with dead snails, they're at the bottom of the tank on the substrate laying motionless,usually indicating something is wrong such as illness or dying. That's why at my job, I only pick off snails on the glass or actively moving around when a customer asks for snails.
 
hmmm, yea im sure they are all dead, as they are (bloating) and their trapdoor is nearly off its hinges, i dont know why as my water levels are fine and i feed them blanched lettuce and algae wafers
 
BaylorPerez said:
So my 2 snails have died today(i know that because they floated to the surface instead of staying on the gravel bed). so i was wondering, should i go for another algae eater(pleco) or 2 more snails?
You should try and find out why they died before introducing more.
 
Take Munroco's advice on this. There could be something in your tank poisoning them.

Baylor, what do you mean by "trapdoor"? I've never heard of a snail having a trapdoor, I've only heard this with crabs when they're molting their shell.
 
No you should not get a BN, If your snails died Your water is anything but fine.
 
 
Baylor, what do you mean by "trapdoor"?
I think he means the Operculum
 
operculum.jpg
 
i call it a trap door as that is what i really looks like from a human perspective. and i did find out why they were dying. So it does seem that the way i had moved my tank(yesteday i moved it to a place without any sunlight) the water became to murky and filled with fish(leftovers), so having to do several water changes caused abit to much stress for the fish and snails. As well as the water i put in was 68* F, way to cold for snails to be living in. So they had died from stress and abit of water shock
 
No that did not kill them, I had snails sent to me by mail, It took 48 hours and they did not die.
 
 
moved my tank(yesteday i moved it to a place without any sunlight) the water became to murky
Snails do not need light.
 
 
and filled with fish(leftovers)
Ammonia build up?
 
Ah, I've always referred to the the Operculum as a "saddle".

68° F is okay for the mystery snail, it is a bit on the low side, but it won't be a death sentence for the snail.
Do you add any fertilizers to your tank? You could invest in a copper testing solution to see if your copper levels are high from maybe the tap water or any ferts.
Fish leftovers sounds like a lead to ammonia and possibly Nitrite spikes. And a big water change could indeed have a change in the parameters as you had mentioned.
 
 
should i go for another algae eater(pleco) or 2 more snails?
Your snails died so will the BN plec,
 
Contrary to popular belief BN's are omnivores and cant survive on algae, A BN needs a lot of Veg in its diet and some bog wood or they get sick.
I have several BN's 2 adults and 2 babies while I sometimes see the fry on the glass, I never see the adults hanging on the glass eating algae. I guess they are to well fed.
 
I feed mine
Omega One Veggie Rounds
Hikari Algae Wafers
Kens veggie sticks.
Blood worm
Brine shrimp
Every now and again a tiny bit of OX heart
New Life Spectrum Thera Plus pellets.


This is a list of vegetables and fruit that are popular with most plecs.

    Zucchini/Courgette
    Cucumber
    Peas (deshelled)
    Sweet Potato
    Green Beans
    Melon/Melon rind

    Aubergine/Egg plant
    Avocado
    Broad Beans
    Broccoli/Stalk
    Butternut Squash+ other squash
    Capsicum/Bell pepper(not the hot ones)
    Cauliflower/Stalk
    Carrot
    Coconut
    Grapes
    Kale/Collard Greens
    Kiwi Fruit
    Lettuce
    Lima Beans
    Mango
    Mushroom (common plecs and goldspots love mushroom)let it float,they will reach it.
    Papaya
    Potato
    Pumpkin
    Spinach
    Sprouts
    Swede
    Tomato
    Yam
 
i feed mine lettuce as well as algae wafers(calcium enriched), and i may start feeding them potatoes from my garden 
 
Im sorry but what part of balanced diet don't you understand?
If you are going to keep fish you must provide them with the correct food and lots of clean water to live in, If you can't or wont then fish keeping is not for you.
 
and also, the only fert i add is Plant food from Aqueon(adds calcium) but not copper for my plants and snails
 
It could be a case of copper entering the system through your tap water. What dechlorinator are you using? It could be expired and not removing the heavy metals such as copper, as it should be.

Invertebrates are very sensitive to copper. And Aqueon Plant Food does contain a small amount of copper, however, it's a very small trace amount of copper and shouldn't have an effect on the snail unless you might be overdosing the plant food.
I should also ask, are you dosing Excel or another carbon supplement? As I've only heard, that carbon supplements may be harmful to invertebrates as well. Especially, if overdosed.
It's always recommended to under dose than what the manufacturor advises.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top