Aqua junky Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I ordered 8 Nerite snails online and they all lasted for a month or so than over the last few days I noticed non of them had been moving. Tested my parameters and my nitrates were through the roof. No fish loss. Not sure why my Nitrates are always elevated? Amonia always 0 along with Nitrites but Nitrates are always high. I'm a weekly to every other week water changer at least 25% to 50%. I live dead in the middle of the country so we have well water and a water softener. I've never lost a fish to water quality. This is in my 55-G which I have the Cichlid sand for substrate 3 amazon swords, 3 anubis and 3 Val's. Running excessive amounts of filtration. I've always used my Marineland Magnum- 220 along with a double sponge filter with aerator. About a month ago I installed an FX6 on the tank as well just to try to get it seeded for my 150G I just finished. I've got both canisters jam packed full of BioMedia along with Aquarium Co-Op's Prefilters on both. Not sure what's going on. Any Ideas? Also I'm using Easy Green tabs and ferts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepy Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I see tiger barbs not sure what else is in there but they'll take out snails or make it so they dont want to come out of their shells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanni Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I think that the cichlids might've tried to take a couple bites at the snails. I'm not sure though, the nitrates were probably caused by the deaths of the snails. You said you have soft water, I think it might've been the cause of the deaths. Snails like hard water so their shells can develop. My best bet is that the snails died because of the soft water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua junky Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 frets. with a water softener I think my water is still hard. I do have a CH&KH liquid test kit and if I'm reading it correctly my water is still hard. When I get off work and home I'll test again and post my results maybe someone can help with the readings cause to be honest I teat but not sure how to convert the drops to PPM. And as far as the fish they always seem to leave them alone. And my Nitrates seem to be relatively high even b4 the death of my snails! I'll do a complete parameter test and post all results here after while. Thanks for the input. Keep it fishy Friends and fellow Nerms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateGoldfish Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 What was the PH? Your tank is also very clean, did they have enough to eat? Nerites are predominately algae eaters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ange Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Are your other invertebrates okay? It's possible that there may be a lethal amount of copper in the water if it's affecting ALL of the inverts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat_Rigel Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 So just a guess, but you might be having issues with nitrate levels in your tap if you live near farmland ("dead in the middle of the country") and any ferts run off into your well water. Not sure what is grown near you but Im assuming SOMETHING is; even runoff from cattle could cause some alterations in your well water. If you know what crop it is you might be able to predict when the ferts are going to be added and start testing your tap water before water changes. 8 hours ago, Yanni said: You said you have soft water, I think it might've been the cause of the deaths. Regarding above: you have a water softener, it still tends to be hard water. Just slightly less hard (hence water *softener*) As always, still requires testing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua junky Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 9 hours ago, GardenStateGoldfish said: What was the PH? Your tank is also very clean, did they have enough to eat? Nerites are predominately algae eaters. My PH is usually high 8.4. Also I do still test my water but I'm not that great at reading the results. I have the liquid Ch and Kh api kits. last time I tested I'm pretty sure it took 5 drops for ch and like 18 drops for kh to get the test tube to change colors. I'm doing a water change once a week to once every two to try to lower the numbers but it hasn't worked that way very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RovingGinger Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 My nitrates come out high, yours may also per @Kat_Rigel's notes above. Test the source and see what you're dealing with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaredL Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 I agree with testing your water source. Also, you said nitrates in your tank are "high". Could you provide exact measurements? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua junky Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 like my nitrates Pegged out on the API liquid test kit. When I found that I instantly did a 50% water change. I'll check again tonight. I was going to do it last night but ended up working super late Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wel-Don Tanks Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Two ideas come to mind. One may be calcium and nutrients the snails need for their shells. I have had nerites in tanks with lots of plants and little plants and all sorts of parameters when it comes to nitrates. But if they do not get the nutrients they need they can suffer. Second part, food for the nerites. Now this is my opinion as I am no expert but in my opinion nerites are not comparable to other snails like ramshorn or pond snails. Ramshorn will eat anything in the tank, left over food, waste, dead fish etc. Nerites mainly munch and graze on algae that occurs in the aquarium and when there is not enough of that they often perish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua junky Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 (edited) If that's the case it makes sense cause my tank is always spotless. I obviously fumbled the ball on these poor guys and starved them due to my lack of research! Anyhow here is my parameters I took tonight along with KH and GH which looking at the chart and converting from drops too PPM is confusing to me. Also included Nitrate testing of our tap water Edited October 23, 2020 by Mclovin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pookies Aquatics Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 If you notice other invertebrates dying, it could be the food. In most algae based foods, there is copper sulfate, which is very harmful to most invertebrates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Algae is your friend, mulm is your friend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua junky Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 only invertebrates were the snails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pookies Aquatics Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Check the ingredients on the food. If you see copper sulfate, it is probably the food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ange Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 3 minutes ago, Pookies Aquatics said: If you notice other invertebrates dying, it could be the food. In most algae based foods, there is copper sulfate, which is very harmful to most invertebrates. Just now, Pookies Aquatics said: Check the ingredients on the food. If you see copper sulfate, it is probably the food. Copper is in many invert-oriented foods because they require trace amounts in their blood (instead of hemoglobin they have hemocyanin). Without this in their diet, the shrimp will die. Copper poisoning as a result of a fertilizer/food is very rare for this reason. I've only seen heavy metal poisoning confirmed twice ever in tanks and the cause was Seachem Cupramine both times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateGoldfish Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 13 hours ago, Mclovin said: I'm pretty sure it took 5 drops for ch and like 18 drops for kh to get the test tube to change colors. I think based on your GH and KH test you have amazing KH (buffering ability for your PH/calcium?) but you do not have hard water, I do not think either way though this is what caused your snails death. PH is high, ammonia is much more deadly at PH of 8.4 but I see that you do not have ammonia in your test. I am thinking they may not have had enough food to eat. Nerites need that seasoned tank time STT (nermin out got to use STT) they could starved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua junky Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 Any ideas to why my Nitrates are always so high even after a water change? Should I do a couple W/C per week until I can get it to that 40 ppm mark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ange Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 3 hours ago, Mclovin said: Any ideas to why my Nitrates are always so high even after a water change? Should I do a couple W/C per week until I can get it to that 40 ppm mark? Was that photo your water out of the tap? If you have high nitrates in the water source it makes things pretty difficult, my best suggestion is more plants or using an alternative source to mix with your well water (rain water is cheap and basically the same as RO water when you collect it in buckets). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua junky Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 I tested my tap. Zero Nitrates, I e come to the conclusion that I starved them. I keep my tank spotless of Alge. I thought the snails were bottom feeders cleaning substrate and dead plants but apparently not the those ki d of snails their diet consists of maintenance ly algae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomCatMatt Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 how much ferts are you dosing after water change? maybe your plants are not using all your putting in there. maybe try smaller dose with water change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua junky Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 I've just been doing reccomend dosage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ange Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 If I'm recalling correctly, the Easy Green dosage is calculated based on how many nitrates the plants consume per week. Your tank may be an edge case that doesn't consume as much nitrate, especially if you don't have a lot of fast growing plants or water column feeders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now