Issues with mystery snails

[k0olmini]

I’m having a lot of trouble keeping them past a certain size/age. I’ve got liquid rock water and in two separate tanks with shrimp and fish they passed away at the same time. I feed the tank not just the fish but it makes me wonder if I’m still not feeding enough. Any thoughts? Both tanks have bristlenose plecos and corys, maybe they’re eating up the leftover food? 

[CoryWithAKatana]

Mystery snails enjoy eating leftover bits of fish food, biofilm and Diatoms aka Brown Algae. If you have an established tank you should have plenty of those, Corydoras like scavenging through your substrate and Plecos enjoy sucking of driftwood for Cellulose (helps em' digest stuff) and sucking on the glass for algae. I live in FL so I understand the Liquid rock water but that shouldn't affect the snails. If you could tell me the age of the snails that pass that would be appreciated.

Some reasons why your snail passed away could be: 

-Lack of Calcium: They need Calcium help maintain their shell hardness

-Poor water quality: Mystery snails are sensitive to water conditions. Build-up of ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates can be harmful. Regular water changes are important for keeping them healthy.

-Inproper Diet: Mystery snails are scavengers but need a balanced diet. Offer them a variety of foods like algae wafers, blanched vegetables, and sinking fish food.

-Temperature Variation: Mystery snails prefer cooler water temperatures, ideally between 68-78 degrees Fahrenheit (20-26 degrees Celsius).Sudden increases in water temperature can stress or shock them. They are cold-blooded but too warm of water could be harmful.

-Old Age: Mystery snails will usually live for about 1-2 years.

Hope this helps!

[k0olmini]

Three of the snails were less than a year old, the oldest one I had was about a year old.

[Tony s]

On 6/26/2024 at 12:18 PM, k0olmini said:

Both tanks have bristlenose plecos and corys, maybe they’re eating up the leftover food? 

Actually, that’s a very good possibility. You can check on the tabs and see how fast they disappear. Mystery snails will eat basically anything organic that’s on the softer side. They usually won’t eat live plants and not wood at all. But green surface algae is a favorite. As well as leftover food. Plecos are good algae eaters, corys are great bottom feeders. So they have direct competition for their food. If your tabs are basically gone in 15 minutes, it’s very likely they didn’t get much. You can try adding extra for them. They are also good at cleaning dead animals from the tank. So, if someone goes missing, it made a great snack. As for adding calcium, they will absorb calcium directly from the water. So if you have the liquid rock hard water, not going to be a problem. But, if not enough water changes are being done, the water can turn acidic and eat at their shell.