02-24-2011, 08:45 AM
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#1 | | | What Killed My Snail????
This might get long but any help would be most appreciated!!!! I have a 10 g aquarium with a male betta, 4 cories and 3 snails that has been moving along swimmingly for the past 6 months or so. I want to start up a 10 gallon sorority tank. I bought that tank, gravel, heater, filter, driftwood and a couple of decorations new. I used plant trimmings, filter media, and three gallons of water, from my established tank. I then topped off with tap water declorinated with Prime, threw in some food pellets from my cories and let it bake for a couple weeks, doing water test every few days. Ammonia ever spiked to .25, never any nitrites and nitrates stayed right around 5-10. Two days ago, ammonia dropped off to 0 and I assumed the tank was cycled. I did a 1 g water change, and sucked up the leftover food tablets. I moved one of my mystery snails over to the new tank to help me clean it up and get ready for my girls. I was planning to get them tomorrow so I would have all weekend to watch them and make sure there were no big fights. However, when I came home from work yesterday, the snail was lying on the bottom of the tank, half open with some white "goo" floating up from him. I reached into get him out and he closed up so I left him in there but this morning he was in the same place. Half open, resting on the bottom. I picked him up again and he seemed to move a bit but barely. I moved him back to my established tank hoping that by some miracle he'll recover. So what happened? I'm scared to add any bettas to the tank now because I don't know what could have happened to him. Temperature of the tanks are the same. Water parameters are great. What could have caused this? Chemicals? Toxins? From where? Can I test for these things? How can I know the water is safe before adding fish? | 
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02-24-2011, 09:04 AM
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#4 | | | Strange. I do not think that would have been the problem. Was it liquid kit?
Look at this excerpt from Donya about the snail symptoms. Quote: 2. Ammonia/Nitrite Poisoning & Treatment
(originally posted Sat Nov 06, 2004)
Ok folks, I think I have this thing figured out (finally). First off, ammonia and nitrite poisoning only occurs at levels that are well in or above the toxic range for fish. Many types of fish will exhibit symptoms and kick the bucket long before many apple snails will. However, bridgesiis seem to be particularly susceptible out of the species I have dealt with: Pomacea bridgesii, P. canaliculata, Marisa cornaurietis, and P. insularum.
Symptoms: Inactivity, immobility, noticable swelling of the foot and siphon, and unresponsiveness. The snail will lie on the bottom of the tank for days at a time without moving. In most cases, the snail will sink like a rock and sit on its back extended out of the shell with the foot held open. Snails will be oblivious to all but the most sever prodding and jostling. Affected snails will not be able to close up completely or propperly and often have the foot folded awkwardly in half, sticking largely out the front when they try to close up. The tissue in the foot may be swollen evenly or it may be irregularly swollen; the foot is usually hard to the touch. Frequently the siphon is partially extended and inflamed as well, although it is unsusually squishy when poked.
Treatment: Remove the affected snail(s) from the water and place them on a hard, cool surface. Placing them in a dry or moist tub (no standing pools of water, though a film of water accross the bottom is ok to prevent desication) on a countertop at room temperature and leave them for up to 15 minutes. Be sure to mist the tub if you leave it completely dry. By this time, mild cases should have resolved and the snails should be either able to close up completely and normally, or they should be out and walking around normally. Any snails still exhibiting symptoms should be kept most, possibly placed in detoxified water for a few minutes, and then have the treatment repeated. I do not recommend doing this treatment for more than 3 repetitions. If 3 repetitions pass and the snail is still exhibiting symptoms, leave it in shallow (2-4" deep), detoxified water overnight and try again the next day.
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I ended up completely draining it and refilling it. All probably do that a couple more times over the next week and hope it doesn't completely bomb my cycle. Really don't want to start back over from scratch. 
