More questions about my tank, macroalgae, and snails

[Coluber42]

I have a couple of questions, and I'm wondering if these issues are related. My tank still seems to be a questionable place for snails; I usually see some that are going about their business and the occasional tiny baby snail, but they also seem to have a fairly high attrition rate. Some of the ones that go belly up seem to recover somewhat sometimes, others don't - like the one that is definitely dead and being slowly eaten by shrimp.

The other issue is that my macroalgae (the stuff from Mustafa) is kind of pale and really not growing at all.
My shrimp still seem happy enough though, including several dozen quickly growing youngsters and a fresh batch of new larvae.

I was at my spouse's office last week, and the tank I set up for him looks fantastic - macroalgae is huge, dense, lush; the snails are fat and happy. He has his first batch of larvae floating around now too.

His macroalgae came from a chunk of mine that I pulled out, and his tank has mostly the same decor as mine although it's a little bit smaller. We have the same lamp, and similar lids. Factors that are different are that my tank is in an art/industrial space so there's lots of dust (although the lid covers the whole top pretty well so I don't think dust gets in too much) where his is in a much less dusty office. The temperature is probably different, and my shop gets really warm in the summer but probably hasn't been above 80 all that much in awhile. Neither of us has fed the tank very much at all, and we have fed the same food when we have fed them.
The biggest thing I can think of is that his office has no windows and his tank is on a shelf with another shelf above it, so with the exception of a bit of not-that-bright fluorescent light, the lamp is all it gets. Mine is in a more brightly lit room that has a big window, so it gets a lot more light in general (although not direct sunlight) and a good bit more than 12 hours of light per day.

So what's going on with my snails and macroalgae? Too much light? Something else? Any suggestions?

[Varanus]

I have noticed that when exposed to a lot of light close up the macroalgae does tend to turn pale on the portion most exposed to the light. But why it isn't growing much at all in your case is another question. Mustafa has mentioned that in some tanks the macroalgae just doesn't thrive and for no apparent reason. It may even experience a decline only to bounce back later when conditions improve (though just what was off about the conditions to begin with may never be clear).

As for the snails, I don't know what could be bothering them that wouldn't be bothering larvae or baby shrimp. Do the snails that die appear to be adults? Do keep in mind they don't live all that long, especially compared to the shrimp.

[Coluber42]

As for the snails, some are big, some are small. I have at least one large-ish one that's still active, and assorted smaller ones that are as well. I have at least two large ones that are pushing up daisies and a scattering of little ones that are likewise incapacitated. Spouse's tank is full of fat happy snails of all sizes.

[Mustafa]

As Varanus said, sometimes the macroalgae just don't thrive for a while...before just taking off some day. I've had some tanks that were right next to each other and in one tank the macroalgae would go nuts with growth while in the other nothing would happen...until some day that tank also started thriving.

As i've said before elsewhere...if snails are dying in your tank, then something is wrong and I'd recommend a very large one time water change of 80-90%. But if you're seeing baby snails, then probably things are alright and you're just seeing some weak snails die off.