Hi everyone. More snail questions or concerns. I have a 3/4 gallon tank that has been put together for about 1 month. Ordered snails and macroalgae 2ish weeks ago. My snails dug themselves into the gravel and have not moved since, no matter when in the day or night I checked. I washed my hands just now and rinsed very well and with a plastic unused spoon, dug out 2 dead snails. The others are hard to find. Why did they die? I rinsed everything I put in the tank with gallons of distilled water. Will the other dead snail bodies pollute the tank? Do I need to start over? Any and all advice appreciated. Please advise.
At least the macroalgae seems to be doing fine, nice and green.
Snail Emergency
Moderator: Mustafa
Re: Snail Emergency
I doubt a few tiny dead snails will pollute the water, but you may want to test for ammonia once you think the cycling is done, just to be sure.
As for what could have killed them, that is hard to say, since these snails are in my experience extremely hardy, its why they are known as potential pests in freshwater tanks.
You may want to get more snails after a while though and see if they do better, it'll be better than getting and potentially losing shrimp if there is actually something wrong with the tank.
As for what could have killed them, that is hard to say, since these snails are in my experience extremely hardy, its why they are known as potential pests in freshwater tanks.
You may want to get more snails after a while though and see if they do better, it'll be better than getting and potentially losing shrimp if there is actually something wrong with the tank.
Re: Snail Emergency
Thanks Veranus for your reply. Just to clarify, my tank is a bit less than a gallon, I shouldn't worry about finding the other snails? I can't imagine what happened. I scooped out 2 of them and put them with a bit of tank water in a cup. No movement. I'm a bit discouraged as I know they're hard to kill. I'll just wait till I see green algae growing and then maybe order more snails and the shrimp.
Re: Snail Emergency
If you can't find them then perhaps they are still alive? If not then I can't imagine what happened as snail shells don't exactly break down quickly.
And indeed water quality is more easily messed up in smaller tanks, but still these snails were very small weren't they? I don't think their decay will mean much, especially if you wait a good while before adding shrimp. You can add a tiny bit of water conditioner like Prime if you're worried.
And indeed water quality is more easily messed up in smaller tanks, but still these snails were very small weren't they? I don't think their decay will mean much, especially if you wait a good while before adding shrimp. You can add a tiny bit of water conditioner like Prime if you're worried.