Snails dead?

[anheezy]

Hi all, I just recently purchased an order for a quick cleanup crew suggested for a 50g tank for my rsm. When it arrived i placed the entire box into my car while i was running errands and unfortunately even with tinted windows the weather got pretty warm. It was probably sitting in my car for a little over 3 hours and when i went to open the box, a rotting smelled smacked went straight up my nose. I acclimated the whole lot for 30 mins and placed them all in the tank. Some started moving right away and others stayed put. After an hour or so my peppermint shrimps instead of working on the aiptasia i put them in there for, started snatching and dragging some of the smaller snails. I was wondering after waiting 2 days is it safe to say all that is still sitting in the same spot the are laying should be considered dead? I've smacked myself in the head already when i felt the water that was left in the shipment bags uncomfortably warm and i think im about to smack myself in the head again for unintentionally killing more than half of my CUC. Should i just scoop up all the "dead" shells because it might spike another cycle? My tank has been running for a little over a month. Or should i just leave them be.

 

[redneckgearhead]

Do a water test for ammonia, see if you got a spike, if not leave them in there for a couple more days.

 

[dmatt88]

Some take a while to get to moving.

.............I'm feeling salty.

 

[sk8rdn]

As long as there are only inverts in the tank, you could just leave them. Worst case scenario is that you just gave your bacteria a big dinner.

....Insert Funny Signoff Here....

 

[GREYBOLT03]

I have a ton of snails that will only move around after the lights go out... So like the others said I would wait a couple of days before pulling them out

 

[fishguy4]

honestly, do a smell test. If they smell rotten, then take em out. If not (and they should like retract when u prod them) then just plop em back in right side up because sometimes certain species have trouble flippin themselves over

 

[Doogle]

Lol, oh ya they stink! I've heard that ordering cuc online that tends too happen anyways, could be just bad weather etc. So I'm not sure. I always try to boogy home as fast as I can and match the temp inside my car as much as possible to what's comfortable to most of our reef species.

 

[anheezy]

Thanks for the help guys, some eventually started moving and others were probably dead when i before i even dropped them in. My gang of peppermint shrimps were happy though, they were just picking through the shells like it was a buffet line. Dont know if they went after the alive ones too but i just removed probably more than half of the small ones already.

 

[dmatt88]

Darwin at his finest.

.............I'm feeling salty.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Thanks for the help guys, some eventually started moving and others were probably dead when i before i even dropped them in. My gang of peppermint shrimps were happy though, they were just picking through the shells like it was a buffet line. Dont know if they went after the alive ones too but i just removed probably more than half of the small ones already.

You would know if they were dead before you put them in..... at least your nose would :-/


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[anheezy]

There were so many little ones it would take forever to smell each one. I took a big whiff of nastiness when i opened the box though....

 

[Choff]

How did you acclimate them? I got this email from John at reefcleaners when I put in my first order with how to acclimate snails. I followed his directions, but still lost the bulk of the ceriths. Worst smell ever.

1. Float the bag in your tank to get the snail used to the temperature in your aquarium.

2. Wait 15 minutes.

3. Add contents to tank. Discard Water and Paper towels if any.

Important: Snails may go through shock during shipping, and be closed when they arrive. You should give them plenty of time to come out of their shells and move around before deciding they didn't make the trip. Ceriths may go dormant for up to 3 days.

You may find this to be different than the acclimation procedure you are used to carrying out. The reason we now ask our customers to use this procedure is because our snails and crabs live intertidally, and can handle drastic swings in ph/salinity without a problem. However, what they can't handle is toxic levels of ammonia. During the shipping process, ammonia levels in the shipping bags build, while the ph level goes down. As the ph goes down the toxicity of ammonia also goes down. However, when your tank water with normal ph is introduced to the shipping bags, and the ph rises, so does the toxicity of the ammonia, and you will be poisoning the livestock. Please don't do this. Any other method of acclimation voids the Alive Arrival Guarantee. If you are a pro and know how to deal with these issues with ammonia neutralizing drips that may be a good idea for urchins, porcelains and true crabs. (If you are however unsure how to carry out this acclimation procedure please do not practice it with our livestock)