snail ate my shrimp?

[Luke]

so my tank just finished the cycle, and i went to LFS today to get my CUC.. i got 5 turbo snails 3 nautilus(the ones that bury themselves?) snails and 1 cleaner shrimp... i put their bags in the tank for 15 minutes then scooped them out w/a net... everyone was seeming like they were happy.. the shrimp was on a picking at a piece of live rock... i watched them for about 45 minutes... i went away, came back and the shrimp was in the snd behind a rock and 2 of the nautilus snails were ontop of the shrimp.. i think they were laying eggs on him cause he's covered in white balls... and he's pretty much dead i think.. question is was it the snails? or was it me? my water should be okay... the snails are running around fine... the fish are fine.... i dont know what to do.. any chance the lfs will take it back? kinda sucks to lose $20.00 like that

[lvsuckerfish]

sure it is not a molt? and one problem with your aclimation process seems like you floated the bag and then placed in the tank. that was just step one in acclimation process. being that said the LFS will probly not take them back as if he died it was due to acclimation. other then that he may of lived...... I am just reading off your post. I will see if an aclimation thread is done if not I will wrtie something up tonight.

[Luke]

sure it is not a molt? and one problem with your aclimation process seems like you floated the bag and then placed in the tank. that was just step one in acclimation process. being that said the LFS will probly not take them back as if he died it was due to acclimation. other then that he may of lived...... I am just reading off your post. I will see if an aclimation thread is done if not I will wrtie something up tonight.

molt in like an hour?

pretty sure he's dead... :(

[TheGreatAukSociety]

The shrimp are fragile, and those snails calle Nassarius are scavengers who eat meat. Rarely, some of them are allegedly predatory too. It depends on which one you got.

[Luke]

The shrimp are fragile, and those snails calle Nassarius are scavengers who eat meat. Rarely, some of them are allegedly predatory too. It depends on which one you got.

definitely got the serial killer species... haha..

[lvsuckerfish]

I seen weirder things happen in tanks lol but i am guessing it was the acclimation process as Shrimp and sensitive to changes in any fourm.

[tbone74]

My cleaner shrimp molted the first day in the tank. I think stress is a factor that can cause a molt. The shell left behind looks identical to the shrimp except dead looking. Maybe you got lucky and he is just hiding in the rocks for a few days until his new shell hardens up. Inverts are also very sensitive to sudden changes in salinity. It's alyays a good idea to drip tank water into the LFS water slowly so they can get used to the new water density. Saltwaterfish.com has a good viedo on acclimation of fish and inverts.

[tbone74]

Hey, LVSUCKERFISH just posted about acclimation, I do it this way as in step #1 and has worked out very well for me

[Narazbad]

With saltwater I always do a minimum of a thirty minute to one hour acclimation process. One temp period of fifteen minutes, then two water switches with five to fifteen minutes in between them. Salt, especially sensitive things like shrimp and gentle fish, I take extra special care with the process.

[Justintaylor62]

Wow if you guys only knew how some people acclimate fish, you'd be amazed lol

[lvsuckerfish]

I am never amazed in this hobby lol

[tomgl]

I seen weirder things happen in tanks lol but i am guessing it was the acclimation process as Shrimp and sensitive to changes in any fourm.

I agree with Justin. Shrimp need a long acclimation with a drip. They are very sensitive to PH changes. Equalizing the temp is not enough, a slow drip in a bucket from the tank and then remove some of the water and keep dripping.

[Luke]

I agree with Justin. Shrimp need a long acclimation with a drip. They are very sensitive to PH changes. Equalizing the temp is not enough, a slow drip in a bucket from the tank and then remove some of the water and keep dripping.

going to try again today... ill be sure to go through ALL the steps of acclimation..(now that im aware of them!)

side question... anyone have any experience with a fire shrimp? are they as good as the cleaner shrimp?

[tomgl]

They will clean any fish that will let them but are not as aggressive about it as the cleaner. You still need to feed them a meaty diet. Fire shrimp tend to stay in the shaded areas of the tank were cleaner shrimp will get right out in the open.

[Luke]

bought my 2nd cleaner shrimp today.. currently doing the drip acclimation.. hopefully it works out better this time around!

[tomgl]

Good luck

[Luke]

got the new shrimp today.. floated the bag for 20 minutes dripped it for 45 minutes put it in the tank lights off.. walked around for a bit... found a spot on the backside of the rocks... checked on him every half hour.. 4 hours after going into the tank he's dead.. snail by his side again..... checked water levels.. salinity: 1.022 Nitrate nitrite and ammonia 0 and ph 8.4... everything else in my tank is doing fine... i dont know what im doing wrong... taking the shrimp back tomorrow... along with some of my water..

[Luke]

how much water should i take for them to test? should i just take my testing viles? or a larger amount?

[kentlighting]

better to have more than not enough, i usually fill i small tupperware container

[Luke]

also... how exactly do i tank the thing back... its in the bag it came in now with some water in it... should i freeze it?

[chuck robbins]

I wouldn't freeze it, what kind of fish do you have in the tank? I keep my salinity at 1.025 and i know some of the local stores don't keep salinity levels that high. so longer acclimation is usually necessary when buying fish or verts anyway, if you have a separate tank, try a lil experiment, put some cycled water from your tank into the extra tank, put those snails you suspect in it, then buy a new shrimp and put it in yer reef, assuming there's nothing wrong with your water. if the snails arent in there with the shrimp you'll see if your snails are actually the culprits. I personally have never seen a snail kill a shrimp, but you never know, i have seen fish attack cleaner shrimp, even lil mean damsels and clowns when putting a shrimp into a tank where the fish have been established, you combine the shock of transport,acclimation and a sudden attack by established tankmates to a newcomer and thats a recipe for death sometimes. most fish respect cleaners and recognize them and leave em alone but...theres always that one lil bugger.....

[tomgl]

Yes the salinity is low as Chuck stated. You will find mist if us keep ours set at 1.025 or 1.026. Also 45 minutes us short for drip. A normal drip for an invert is 2 1/2 to 3 hour while watching for ph and salinity to
Equalize I'll see if I can find a good article on the subject. I believe the last Coral Magazine had on in the back. As chuck said pull the snails in question even is you have to pit them in a bucket with an air stone. I'm still not convinced they are killers as they can smell food as soon as it hits the water and a dead meal would attract them quickly.

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[tomgl]

Here is a decent article on acclamation. http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=19

[five O]

At least the rest of your clean up crew works. Now you just need to figure out if they were responsible for your shrimps murder, or if your shrimp was on Hospice and was on its way out.

[sakeating]

Also, you could always ask the lfs where they keep their salinity at, or you could bring your measuring device to find out. Are you using a hydrometer or a refractometer? If you are using a hydrometer, consider the possibility that maybe it is inaccurate. I try to keep my salinity at approximately the same as my lfs, it makes it easier to acclimate new purchases. I find that often times snails and other cuc critters are creatures of opportunity, and if something is at deaths door or already dead, they will take care of business so to speak. They can often times be mistaken for killing something that may already be dead or on it's way out. Another question to ask is how long has the lfs had the shrimp? Maybe they recently arrived and are already severely stressed from whatever trip they had to take. Perhaps the extra trip to your tank pushed them over the edge. I don't mean to point the finger at the lfs or anyone in particular, but I believe you can't ask too many questions. Just my thoughts.

[bigronbo]

most things i read say don't buy stuff the day the store gets it but wait a couple of days (not saying i always follow that advice). I keep my salinity at 1.026 as i was told the fish don't mind it but the pulsing zenia like it high and everything seems to be doing ok at 1.026 1 selenity shift from evaporation to top off at the most. I'd say try another stores shrimp and pick the biggest one. I have had no problem with my 2 cleaners 3 pepermint and 1 fire shrimp. Also my fire has been seen cleaning a fish from time to time but as stated he doesn't go out of his way to do it.

[Narazbad]

I guess I'm the odd bird, I keep my salinity low. I don't like it to get up above 1.023, but will let it get as high as 1.026 on occasion. I prefer to keep it down near 1.019-1.021.

[bigronbo]

wow really and did you get the xenia? or have it? i've never heard of keeping it below 23. If everything is still living i guess it cant be that bad. i guess it is a matter of them getting used to it.

[Narazbad]

Yeah, I have the xenia, just put it in the fuge after a several hour acclimation. As I say, maybe I am the odd bird. If I notice the xenia not plumping up tomorrow I'll bump the salinity a few points.

[Narazbad]

And I've heard of people keeping FOWLRs at 1.009 before. I think thats insanity.