snails lying dormant

[ReefCheif]

Never seen this before.
My snails are all at the bottim of the tank halfway burrowed in the sand, but still stuck to the glass. Seems to just be the turbo snails. I can see them breathing, but ive never seen tjis behavior, expecially with all of them at once.

Checked perams, nothing abnormal, temp us good too.

Any ideas, should i be looking for something else? Should I even be conerned? Just want to make sure this is not a sign of something to come. Mevet sern this before so Im slightly concerned

 

[ReefCheif]

Sorry for the spelling, posting from my phone

 

[Smuddyjeep]

Me as well my nitrates are high so I'm taking care of that all my turbos are dormant if I change some water out they all start moving around again

 

[bigfoot610]

Too much magnesium can have a negative effect on snails in that it works as a muscle relaxant. The main symptom is usually the inability to hang onto the glass

 

[bigfoot610]

Re: Some Inputs on Dying Snails Query 12/30/06 Hi everyone! I just want to comment on the problem of the dying snails (original query attached below). I had this problem before in my fully stocked reef tank, everything was ok, except for the gastropods, who seemed to lose grip and balance, fall down to the gravel, unable to right themselves and dying after a few days. I teach undergraduate invertebrate zoology, and I soon made a connection between one additive and the gastropod deaths: Magnesium sulfate and Magnesium chloride. In the lab, either of these compounds is used to slowly anesthetize and 'relax' aquatic invertebrates to allow for easy dissection. In my case, magnesium overdose was traced to the poor quality sea salt I was using at the time ( I know better now). I shifted to natural seawater for a time, and then used a quality sea salt, and my snail problems have stopped. Magnesium toxicity may also be brought about by dosing (or overdosing) on magnesium supplements. It just may be that certain gastropods are more sensitive to this compound, become anesthetized, and become so relaxed that they asphyxiate, or otherwise become vulnerable to predators in the tank. I never did any full scale experimentation to prove or isolate Magnesium as the culprit, all I'm saying that it's worth looking into. Hope this little info helps! Best regards, Richard (Manila, Philippines) jacked from wetwebmedia might be worth a shot?

 

[freedominco]

I have seen my snails do some strange things before too, I have a mix of common snails in my tank and it seems some days they are all on the glass other days they are all on the rocks and sometimes I have seen what you are talking about and they are all in the sand. Sometimes they are all on the top half of the tank too I have no clue what case their behavior but they do act strange at times.

 

[ReefCheif]

As soon as my lights went off its like they all came back to life. ZOMBIE SNAILS!

 

[JuanGutz]

As soon as my lights went off its like they all came back to life. ZOMBIE SNAILS!

Lol

 

[Smuddyjeep]

im having same issue with hermits in the same tank as the snails im checking my ro filters tonight

 

[ReefCheif]

My mag is a bit higher than usuall. Whats a good way to drop this?

 

[codeman01]

I don't know if this may be a possibility, but I have been having a similar problem lately. Some of my snails will bury themselves in the same manor while the other half are all the way up at the water line. This has been going on for a few weeks now and a couple of days ago I noticed a turbo crawling across the sand bed, and one of my big hermits runs up from behind it, tackles it, and starts ripping the flesh out of the shell. Do you think this behavior could cause snails to try to hide? My first guess would be mag levels, but who knows?

 

[codeman01]

My mag is a bit higher than usuall. Whats a good way to drop this?

Water changes.......and it might sound crazy, but I swear that if I just add calcium it helps drop my mag. Maybe it helps even out the relationship between calc, alk, and mag?