CUC dieing off?

[okiestranger]

Ok any ideas welcome!

Ok my tanks been set up since Aug 10th no fish due to ick 8 week fishless cycle. I had about 10 snails in there for CUC now they are slowly beginning to die off ammonia 0 nitrates 5 or 10 hard to tell because the test I use. Maybe the nitrates are to high for them? Maybe high nitrates are the result of the dead snails any ideas would help thanks

[TimH07]

Did you use copper to try to get rid of the ich? If so that will not only kill your invert population but contaminate the tank and rock to the point of having to discard all of it.

[okiestranger]

Have never treated display tank never added anything found one of the snails upside down today righted him off he went never skipped a beat maybe they are upsetting them selfs in the rocks where I can't see?

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Hey Chris. Sorry to hear your snails are dieing. What kind are they? Are there new additions? How didyou acclimate them? Do you know where they were collected? Are you feeding them? If so, what are you feeding them? Are your nitrites 0? Maybe a predator? Are you finding empty shells or carcasses?

[okiestranger]

Sorry about the lack of detail. Nitrites are at 0. Have not added anything new. Do not feed the snails should I? And found one of my missing snails today seems he was under one of cave rocks and feel off but the strange thing is he was being eaten by several bristle worms could it be possible these guys are murdering my snails for food? Also this is the second time I have seen this the other was not upside down but still stuck to the rock and there was maybe 4 or 5 bristle worms inside the shell with him. Also the snails are astrea I think is the name lfs has them labeled as conehead snails??????? Thanks for any advice not in this hobby to kill animals so this has me frustrated.

Also I do add a little food to the tank every other day only marine flakes.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

It is possible that they are starving if there isn't enough algae to support their appetite. Astrea snails can't right themselves when upside down and starve that way also. Most bristle worms are scavengers but I assume can become predatory if starving. You can try feeding the life in your fallow tank a few grams of meaty foods every couple of days. You may also feed the astrea snails ocean veggies rubber banded to a piece of rock. I have about a hundred astrea snails and have to flip at least one every couple of days. I use a section of fishing rod to flip them . Hopefully it's something as simple as feeding and not poisoning or equipment malfunctions ( like voltage leaking into the water), etc... If you haven't been feeding your tank during the fallow period, you should start now. Even the bacteria need a food source. Ive lost a few snails pinned in the rock work and the scavengers always made quick work of them. If you find worms "attacking" a snail that seems to be alive, pull it out and smell it. If it's dead, you'll know by the stench. If it's not dead, it's possible the worms are not good guys. I thought I had a harmless worm until I caught it eating my xenia. Also, if a good acclimation process wasn't done, or if the snails came from colder waters, they could be slowly dieting off. Hope this helps and let us know how it goes.

[okiestranger]

James thanks

I have thought of that because two rarely leave one rock that is completely coralline encrusted. The other stays strictly on the glass now is on the protein skimmer. Your opinion what would be a good meaty food to feed the tank? I have a few blocks of frozen blood worms would this be ok or do you think I should buy some baby brine shrimp? Never thought you could have a problem with not enough algae. I have very little and what brown algae does grow I clean off once a week. I do this to try to help my base rocks seed with coralline with is coming along nicely most of my base rocks have started to coralline and is progressing at an extreme rate. All my plastic hard ware hoses and what not all are starting to coralline I am taking this as a good sign of clean water only r/o water for top offs and w/c

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Brine shrimp really has no nutritional value. I feed vitamin soaked brine shrimp rarely as a treat because my clowns go crazy for it. Mysis shrimp is probably the food of choice. Squid, clams, etc... Would also work.