Zebra Snails

[Guanchy]

I bought two zebra snails and since i bought them at the store they were not moving, i asked if they were alive and te guy told me yes, that he had just put them in that tank and thats why they werent moving.

I brought them home and left the bag floating inside my tank for almost one hour (to acclimate them) i put a bit of water from my tank inse the bag a couple of times (i read that, that's the way to acclimate ur fish and snails)

Its been a while and they havent move at all.
They are in the same place where i placed them, i even put them against the glass to see if they will start crowling and nothing.

Is this normal? Or are they dead?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

From the picture, it looks like empty shells - if you pick it up and look at it, you should see the snail inside. If the shell is empty, the snail is gone (dead). If you see the snail, give him a good sniff - a dead snail will smell like it...

 

[FishDad]

I hope they're not dead. They look awesome. If they are dead, I have to admit that's a pretty good scam that lfs has got goin. Throw some cool looking shells in a tank and sell them as snails.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I *think* I can see their 'safety hatches' tightly closed. That's a good sign. They flop open or fall off if they're dead.

Aren't those Nerite snails? Cool find! Plain'ol mystery snails go for $2-3/ea in my area. I've got a batch of baby gold mystery snails in my 20.

 

[OrangeCones]

You should go into business selling mystery snails

 

[FreshyFresh]

May have to after kid's school shopping and their sports fees. Lord...

 

[Guanchy]

Good news!!! One of them is already moving!! And the other one is still not moving at all! So lets see im just going to give them time! And yeah they look pretty cool i actually bought them for $2 each they had a bunch!!

 

[FreshyFresh]

I've had mystery snails bury themselves in the substrate for a day or two at a time. No worries G-. Given the tank is new, you might have to drop in a small piece of blanched veggie for the snails to munch w/ in the next few days/week. Not a lot of natural goodness for them to eat yet. I've found that they like zucchini. I don't bother blanching zucchini. Just weight it down w/ something stainless steel or the likes. Green beans are another big hit.

 

[arcab4]

that is one clean looking black bottom.

 

[OrangeCones]

that is one clean looking black bottom.

Indeed! I love black gravel substrate. It seems to show off the plants and fish the best. But I do miss buying black Turface at @ $17 for a 50lb bag!

 

[Guanchy]

Thanks Freshly! Ill do that.

And yeah i wanted to get white sand but i went with the black and i love it. When i went to te store to get the white one, they had white in their tanks and it looked so dirty so i decided to go with the black.

I love the look!

 

[FreshyFresh]

What fish did you put in? Make sure to keep an eye on the parameters.

 

[Guanchy]

I got a school of 6 pigmy Cories! Im loving those little guys, really cool and tiny.

Ive done two water changes since then and my nitrite is going down, the Nitrate still high tho, ammonia went up just a little bit still almost 0

 

[FreshyFresh]

You want to make sure you've got zero nitrites now that you've got 6 fish and 2 snails in there. Nitrite is more poisonous than ammonia to fish. Keep doing water changes.

 

[Guanchy]

Sure will, is 40% daily ok?

 

[OrangeCones]

Gaunchy - what do you use to dechlorinate your water? Some can bind ammonia (and nitrite) for a few days until you bio-filter can catch up. See if the label indicates it binds ammonia, and you can use it (as well as water changes) to prevent injury due to nitrite poisoning.

 

[Guanchy]

Tap Water Conditioner

this is what i use, i have to read the level when i get home

 

[OrangeCones]

It doesn't mention binding ammonia (or nitrite) on the link you provided.

 

[Guanchy]

any good one that u recommend? i thought API was a good brand

 

[OrangeCones]

Don't get me wrong, I love API. All of my testing is done with API products.

But for a tank that may have issues with ammonia, I will use Seachem's Prime. There are other brands, but Prime is cheap, and I've used it for years (saltwater tanks then later freshwater). It works, so I have never changed brands.

Whatever brand is available to you, I would recommend one that can bind ammonia also. Chloramine is used commonly in tapwater (ammonia and chlorine combined). When a product like API's water conditioner is used, its breaks the chlorine bond away, and it will evaporate. However, it leaves the ammonia behind. You can ask your local water company if they use chloramine.

Look on the label of the water conditioners for sale in your area. Look for one that says it dechlorinates (handling both chlorine and chloramine), and binds heavy metals, and temporarily binds (may say detoxifies) ammonia and/or nitrite.

This temporary binding keeps it in a safer form for our fish, but still is able to be consumed by the beneficial bacteria and live plants.