Astrea snail question/problem????

[Canadian Man]

So As of the past few weeks a big majority of my snails in my tank dont seem to stay upright.
So I flip them all back over again and put some back on the rock work.

Well a few hours later they are all cringed up?? :confused: and either lying upside down on the sand bed or right side up on the rock work but their oval shaped foot is all cinched together.

Sorry I can't explaine it any bette than that but does anyone have any ideas? Please?

[christyf5]

Mine do that too. Its a pain in the butt. I think they are resting (at least I call it that). Eventually they get themselves organized and right themselves, either that or they become new homes for my hermit crabs. Are you having any salinity fluctuations? I heard this is how they respond to that.

Christy smile.gif

[Canadian Man]

No salinity fluctuation here. It always remains stable with my auto top up.

This is becoming very frustrating!

[Aquattro]

Jon, has there ever been copper in contact with any of your equipment/substrate?

[Canadian Man]

Reef_raf
Well I picked up a skimmer from Emily B a few days ago which was, I believe, in contact with copper quite a while ago. This problem with the snails though started happening quite a while before the skimmer was introduced.

No other stuff was in contact with copper products. :confused:

[Aquattro]

The skimmer should pose a problem. I have seen snails exhibit similar behaviour on sand once treated with copper. Was just a thought!

[Canadian Man]

Here are some results,
Nitrate=5 mg/l (have always mesured this amount)
Nitrite=0mg/l
Ammonia=0.1mg/l (could this be the problem?)
ph=8.4
Tested this morning. The ammonia concerns me :confused:

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Do the snails have enough to eat ? These snails eat detris...but not Dino. Also, have you tried a large water change to see if it helps ?

- Victor.

[ 15 August 2002, 11:47: Message edited by: reefburnaby ]

[Aquattro]

Originally posted by EmilyB:
The tank was dosed with cupramine (http://www.seachem.com/seachemframeset.html) well over a year ago, and has housed anemones, coral, and many inverts since that time.
:rolleyes: <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">As I reread my post, it should have said NOT pose a problem. To reiterate, copper from the skimmer is not a concern!

[Delphinus]

The ammonia reading has got to be a sure suspect. Weird, my theory is that you should never have to test for ammonia, you would know about it anyways if it was there (e.g., something died). Very strange! I'd almost be suspecting your test kit on that one .. knowing your tank, I have a hard time beleiving you could get an ammonia spike.

[Aquattro]

Jon, are you using Hagen kits? I had one that always read 0.1ppm, even in RO water.

[Canadian Man]

Dam.... :mad: Yes I am using hagen test kits.
I suppose though that it is reading diffrent than what it used to.
I am using the Saltwater/freshwater one as they also make a freshwater only one that does not work on salt water.
It used to read 0 but now it is reading an amount so I susspect that it may be true that ammonia is present.

Grrr this is frustrating to go look at my tank and see ALL my snails belley up Sleeping :rolleyes: :(

[Canadian Man]

Update!

Well In the afternoon I did a 25g waterchange and aprox, half of the snails perked up and are now cleaning the rock once again.
I just preformed another 25g waterchange about 6 hours later and hopefully that helps even more.

Must be something in the water AMMONIA????

[Canadian Man]

Another update.
All the snails are alive, well and once again eating algae.
So on to the next problem, all my corals are shrivled up cause of the massive water change :rolleyes:

[EmilyB]

The tank was dosed with cupramine (http://www.seachem.com/seachemframeset.html) well over a year ago, and has housed anemones, coral, and many inverts since that time.
:rolleyes:

[ 15 August 2002, 12:31: Message edited by: EmilyB ]

[Canadian Man]

Deb, I dont think the cupamine has anything to do with this as it started a few weeks ago. Any like you said you have had many things in the tank since so lets disregard the copper from the skimmer theory.

Victor, There is alot of stuff(the vague term) for them to eat. If i stir the sand a little the water becomes full of little particles.

Over the past 2 weeks i have done 3 x 25g waterchanges and in the process of preforming another today.

[ 15 August 2002, 12:36: Message edited by: Canadian Man ]