Zebra Turbo Snails dying

[mojojones]

I know they are not marine fish, but it is health, care and disease treatment. So I have had three large turbo snails since I started my tank, about 5 months ago. A week ago, I noticed one on the sand upside down, I have read that they can not right themselves once this happens, I put him back up on a rock and he was fine, the next day, same thing. After a few days of this it was clear he was dead as he was upside down, and not fully retracted into the shell. He died. This was a week ago. Last night my largest of the three, about the size of a quarter, maybe larger, was upside down as well. I noticed this one staying in the same spot on the front glass for 2 days without moving an inch, then saw it upside down last night, put him back on a rock, and he seems ok now, but I suspect the same thing will happen. Tested water, last night's test was the best I have ever had. Nitrate 0, nitrite 0, amonia 0, (usually I get at least some trace of nitrate) ph 8.4, sp. g. 1.0225, temp has been a steady 81.5 for a month. Any ideas?

[mojojones]

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[leebca]

My particular area of expertise is with ornamental marine fishes. So you will not likely get a full perspective from posting in this Forum. Feel free to post in the Reef Forum for others to review.

Many of our snails come from temperate waters instead of true tropical waters. They are cheap. LFSs and Wholesalers buy them for pennies and sell them for $. Where they come from and how long they will live is usually not their concern.

What I mean by the above is this: The snails could have been living in waters of about 65 to 70 and in 82F water they will slowly cook. It takes about 5 to 10 months for them to die if they came from temperature waters and are put into a tropical water environment.

Snails from Mexico and Florida are often snails of temperate waters -- if you can get a straight answer of where yours came from, from those you acquired them from.

The above is quite common, however there are diseases and other conditions which snails can't handle. For instance, like most invertebrates, snails can't handle changes in specific gravity. If there have been fluctuations from maybe letting too much water evaporate then a lot of source water added at one time, or other such occurrences, this can also cause their demise.

[mojojones]

Thanks Lee, that is what I suspected. I had original advice on the water temp to mainly keep it steady, and I have been, I do not have a chiller but I do have a small fan pointed at two sides (at the corner) of the tank to move the air on the glass outer surface whenever the lights are on, but it is still peaking as high as 82.3. I think this peak (two days ago) is to blame. usually it sits steady between 81.2 and 81.5. I was just about to start thinking about getting an anemone, and this is causing me some concern. I welcome any other advice, thanks. By the way, the big guy finally bit the dust. One lef (MIA, probably behind some LR or in a crevace)

[leebca]

Ornamental marine fishes can tolerate a fairly large range of temperatures and even some 'excursions' with no apparent damage (although I believe when kept outside their normal temperatures, their lifespan will likely be altered).

With summer approaching in So. CA many will have concerns about temperatures. The higher the temperature the faster the metabolism of marine life forms in general. They eat more; they breath more (take up more oxygen) and in warm water, the oxygen content goes down with rising temps. For fishes I recommend no higher than 78F. I don't know what corals, anemones, etc. can handle. Always best is to find out the temperature of the water it comes from and then strive to match that.