My Snails Dont Last.

For the Last 4 months it Seems Like all the snails I Purchase for my tank have Died. I have had my water checked and everything seems to be fine. For the Life of Me I cannot Understand why they are turning Up dead. I do have one Hermit Crab, I think he is a Blue footed one. I was told that they will not eat the snails.

Any Suggestions on what I can check to Find out why my snails are Dieing. It takes them about 2-3 weeks then they Die.

Starving? IDK...just a thought. Plenty of algae for them to feast on?

Have you checked for stray current? Any snail I put into my tank for a couple months just seemed to die off, It turned out to be my heater. Now I have 12 in there and they are doing great!

Here's an article Biff gave me, It kinda saved my tank, the stray current started killing off my fish too. Identifying, Locating and Curing Stray Voltage in a Saltwater Aquarium


Hope this helps

First, blue legged hermits will kill snails. This is because crabs are generally evil.

What kind of snails are you losing? If you suspect that the crab is killing them, my advice is to put some empty snail shells in your tank that are larger than your actual snails. The evil crab will then choose the bigger empty house rather than killing your CUC.

+1 Nav

Just a thought...how are you acclimating them to your tank. If you're not doing it or doing it long enough, that will cause them to die off also.

+1 All inverts need at least a 3hr acclimation. 5 or 6 hrs would be better

Hermits are dangerous only when they get big. Don't give them bigger shells.
Inverts cannot handle high nitrates.
Did you test for copper in your water?

Wow Great Suggestions.

1. I am taking my Multimeter Home to check for a voltage leak. I think that may be the problem.
I have a power head that i think may be the Problem. Let's hope. (it pumps a ton of water. More than I thought it would) even so if the voltage leak is the problem my Other critters are doing fine. I guess snails are the first to go in any case.

2. My Hermit Crab is a Sneaky lil Guy. I dont see him for a while then he is on top of a rock sunning his self. He has plenty of shells tho. I wont get anymore of them if they eat the snails.

3. If the Snails Die after a couple of weeks would that be because they were not acclimated correctly? In the past I have thrown stuff in my tank as soon as i got it home. They looked Shocked but ended up living for quite some time.

Hmm Copper, Were can I get a test for that done at?