Turbo Snails Death..

[32Bit_Fish]

Hi guys,

My tank is 8 months old and I had two Turbo Snails in the tank. One of them died two months ago n the other one died couple days ago.

The snails would seemed glued to the tank glass for a long time without moving around or eat. Then they just died.

What would be the cause of their death?

I have other different types of snails, shrimps n one false clown fish in a 20g.
They are seem to be fine.

I do 20% w/c every 2-3 weeks.

[Dentoid]

Unstable water conditions. Temp, salinity, pH etc, etc, etc.

[Woodstock]

Can you post your current water parameters? temp, salinity, ph
How long did you acclimate the snails when you first added them?
Did they ever move/eat at all?
Do you have lots of algae in the tank? Turbos require a lot of algae to live.

Any of the following reasons could cause a snails death:

• Too short of an acclimation period
• traces of copper
• low salinity
• salinity swings
• temp swings
• starvation

[32Bit_Fish]

I bought the snails in Jan or Feb 2007. They have been doing fine for almost 6 months until one day I found one of the Turbo missing. I found the empty shell in a dead corner behind the rocks. So I thought probably it starved to death due to it was upside down sitting at the buttom of the tank.

But the 2nd one started not moving around couple weeks ago. I rarely see it moves, maybe move couple inches every two weeks.

I have been having green hairy algae problems in my tank as well as temp swing I think. It's really hot here in NYC and I unplugged the heater at the beginning of the summer n didn't bother turn it on at night when the A/C is blowing right at the tank in the room.

So I guess the temp flucts widely. But strange thing is my other snails are doing fine, they bare themselves in the sand.

[CATALYST]

Mine turbo snail is a hog. If my tank has been looking algae free, I'll give him a piece of nori to eat.
I did have one die. The other snails liked to eat the algae off his shell and they ganged up on him. There were too many hanging on him and I think it hurt him.

[DrHank]

Mexican turbo snails require a temperature range from 72-78 degrees. They slowly expire at normal reef tank temperatures of around 80 degrees. They often live long enough to do an effective job at algae removal however long term survival generally does not occur.

[32Bit_Fish]

Originally Posted by DrHank

They often live long enough to do an effective job at algae removal however long term survival generally does not occur.

Are you saying the Turbo Snail has a 7-8 months life span in a reef tank?

[DrHank]

I'm saying that a turbo snail doesn't really belong in a reef tank. Most of mine have died (I have a few left) but I started using cerith's instead. If you're getting 7-8 months, you're doing good.