Something in my water is killing snails but not other invertebrates...?

[TheDukeAnumber1]

ATM I have two tanks, a heavily planted 10 gallon and a nano tank both with aragonite substrate. For the longest time I have kept a decent colony of MTS and ramshorns, I think they are a fun part of the tank so I never minded keeping a lot around. But a few months ago I noticed all the MTS were held up in their shells in both tanks and a month later I had lost every MTS I have and most of the ramshorns had died with no changes in my normal maintenance routine which is a 50% water change and plant trim monthly. All the while my shrimp were acting normally and I didn't notice a die off in detritus worms or seed shrimp in the substrate. As it stands today I have a small population of ramshorns still holding on but I don't see them reproducing, and I got a dozen MTS from a friend a couple weeks ago to see if things had passed but when I put them in the tank they shelled up and never came out.

I am at a complete loss here as to the cause and remedy. I live on a well in IL with off the charts KH and GH and never had an issue in years prior, so I'm left assuming it's a mysterious chemical in my well or a snail pathogen. Please help, I want my MTS back. Thanks...

[Cory]

I'd make sure I check current parameters in the tanks. Do you know if they are using salt around the well to soften the water?

[TheDukeAnumber1]

On 7/15/2020 at 11:37 AM, Cory said:

I'd make sure I check current parameters in the tanks. Do you know if they are using salt around the well to soften the water?

It's my own private well 75ft deep in a rural farm field in IL if that matters. I do soften the water coming into the house using iron out salt but I only use unsoftened well water for water changes. To my embarrassment my nitrates are high. I use the aquarium note app to log my maintenance and although I have been typically reliable on my monthly water changes admittedly it has been 2 months 22 days since my last water change ( ' _ ' ). I have been pretty busy and was hoping the plants would pull it out since they are still growing a lot.

In defense of the issue though the problem started before my lapse in maintenance, my ghost shrimp isn't showing signs of stress, and the fish are being very prolific. This was my MTS colony of 10 years and I'm very sad to have lost them. I still have a remnant of them left when I gave some to a friend to help start his tank so there is still hope in restarting my original colony. I want to see this through so any help will be appreciated. Thanks again.

[Cory]

MTS are super hardy so it's hard to think they are dying out. I'd say just try getting the tank back into shape and see if any snails reappear.