Snails

[C24IaHawks1]

I had a snail die last week and removed it from my tank. Now i have noticed that i have a few empty shells in my tank. These are turbo snails and i was wondering what might be causing them to die. All my parameters are normal. I had a shell in my tank that was closed, and last week i noticed it was open and empty also.

 

[montoya]

Do you have any crabs? I haven't lost any turbos but I do seem to lose my Nassarius snails fairly often. I'm pretty sure it is my hermit crabs that get to them. I've read where hermits will kill snails for their shells.

Do you have a lot of turbos in your tank? It might be nothing more than snails dying off of natural causes. I have never researched the topic but I'm guessing snails in general - especially smaller ones - have a high natural mortality rate and are probably not all that long-lived except for some individuals that reach a certain size.

 

[C24IaHawks1]

I do have a few hermit crabs and a emerald crab. I have about a dozen turbos in my tank also. Just was wondering if it could be anything else killing them. All fish and coral are doing great.

 

[stagofdoom]

For a 90 Gal thats a lot of turbos.

 

[C24IaHawks1]

HMM...i was told i could have alot more by my lfs...guess i won't add more

 

[stagofdoom]

for my 125 ive got 3 maybe...I think im going to add 1 or two more.

 

[fishsticks]

i have 4 for my 30gallon, no prom at all. actually were at the same pace 4 snails per 30 gallons. :bounce:
yea might be those hermits i seen one of my hermits picking at one, i think he wants his shell cuz he does look like he needs a new1 i went and bought some at the lfs (empty shells) and picked all my hermits and put them in the middle of my tank right where i dropped the new larger shells and they went crazy swopping shells it was a mad dash kinda funny any movement made them scared to switch. not wise to stick hands in tank on purpose but only when u need to. but yea they do hunt for shells alot.

 

[wontonflip]

I've heard some hermit crabs develop a taste for snails when they eat a dead one...so they get bold and attack live snails...hehehe. My lfs dubbed one of their hermits "terminator" because it kept attacking the turbos and eating them.

 

[Reefrookie]

Sometimes they just fall off rocks, or for what ever reason, wind up on their shell, which makes them fair game to their tank mates

 

[yote]

You only need enough snails to keep up with the algae.To many and some of them are going to starve to death.

 

[Smitty]

Agreed...either the crabs are sniping them off, or they are falling upside down, causing them to die.

 

[C24IaHawks1]

I have seen for myself last night that its the Hermit Crabs that are knocking off my snails. So good call by all!!!! Thanks

 

[Bifferwine]

Turbo snails are voracious eaters. In my 240, I have 4 of them. That's really all you need. The rest of your snail population should consist of a mix of smaller snails.

But yeah, pretty sure it's the hermits. They kill snails; that's what they do. You end up having to pick which is more important to you: having crabs to keep the tank clean and having to re-buy snails every so often since they get murdered on a regular basis, or just doing away with the crabs altogether.