Black racer nerite snail...odd behavior.

I'll try and keep this brief (I never succeed at that lol)

I have a very very large black racer nerite snail. He lived in a 55 cichlid tank with some regular nerites. For some reason, the nerite snails in this tank kept dying. I began to think....ok....I guess snails can't live with cichlids? Only because I have 14 tanks and have nerites in all of them and never had losses like this!

I just saw a thread that says the API algae fix stuff is harmful to snails. I only used it a few times a while back (and only in the cichlid tank)....and that is around the time I gave up on keeping nerites in the cichlid tank. I must have killed the poor fellows!! Slow miserable deaths!! I feel awful!!

Do you guys think it was the algae fix that caused this?

So the one odd thing about the black racer nerite (the only snail from this tank that is still alive)...he would not move for days and then I would find him upside down. I would flip him over and he would never move or come out of his shell for another few days then I found him upside down again. Tried flipping him back over and a day or two later he was upside down again. At this point I decided it was safe to assume the guy was dead. The other snails had died...so it made sense. I finally made a point of taking him out to give him a funeral and noticed he wasn't "empty" . I found that strange. So I decided to give him one more chance and put him in a small 10 gallon with my dwarf crayfish. (not a great set up for a dying snail...I know...but I didn't think there was a chance he was still alive) Within a day in that tank, he was upside down again. I left him there like that for a couple days (I know, horrible of me) But the guy was dead! (I thought) I figured i'd just let the crayfish pick at him (terrible I know) and then I was very confused as to why his insides were not going away. So....I flipped the guy over AGAIN!!!!!

Here's the thing. Every time I flip him back over, I will find him the next day in the same spot...but maybe an inch or two away from that spot... he is clearly not dead because he moves very small distances occasionally.....what blows me away is that he has spent a lot of time on his back. And at one point he was on his back for days in a tank with little dwarf crayfish with claws!! But somehow he has never gotten torn apart. I am also blown away that he didn't starve after being on his back for days at a time.

All of this sounds so heartless doesn't it? The thing is...I didn't get so careless about this guy until I was convinced he was dead. His continued survival despite my carelessness really blows me away. But I don't think he is healthy. The fact that he never moves more than an inch a day tops....his behavior just isn't normal. Do you think he is having long lasting issues from being exposed to algae fix? Or maybe he is just old? He was gigantic when I got him 6 months ago...so....I don't know.

just as I suspected....I didn't keep it brief! SORRY

 

Did he smell when you picked him up? Maybe it seemed like he moved a few inches bc your fish moved him or moved by the current? Just taking some guesses. :/

 

Did he smell when you picked him up? Maybe it seemed like he moved a few inches bc your fish moved him or moved by the current? Just taking some guesses. :/

nope no smell.

I can say for a fact that he is not being moved by a current or any other fish. Because he is usually stuck to the side of whatever he is on. Not resting on top of it. He will be on an ornament when I leave for work. I will get home and he will be on that same ornament, just a different spot an inch or two away. And sometimes that different spot has him upside down (but still attached) or sideways. So HE is definitely holding on to things! LOL

It is just weird. He isn't my only black racer. I have a couple others. I also have zebra nerites and the tiger nerites. They all move around all the time!! So my theory is I made him sick with the algae fix and he managed to survive while the other nerites in that tank did not. Problem is....he hasn't been exposed to that stuff for a couple months and he is not improving. So I don't know. He just keeps on shocking me!!

edit: as I said...the dude is huge for a nerite...even a black racer nerite...so maybe he is just old and there is nothing that I did to cause it....

 

Hopefully he's just wanting to sleep for a while? I know they can stay dormant for some time. I really hope it's nothing too serious but keep us posted!

 

Here he is right now. This morning he was a little higher up on the shrimp flat (technically dwarf crayfish flat for me)

 

Or maybe just old age so he moves a little more slowly now?

 

Or maybe just old age so he moves a little more slowly now?

more slowly is an understatement! LOL

So the pic I just posted was my lunch break. When I get home from work today I will take another pic and we'll see how far he makes it in a few hours. LOL

I shouldn't laugh. I really am worried about the guy and feeling terrible for thinking he was dead when he wasn't. It just didn't seem possible....

And even more so...I feel awful for the nerites that did die. I had no idea the algae fix was bad for invertebrates. I didn't do my research and that must be what killed them.
Unless it really was the cichlids responsible for their deaths! Have people ever had trouble keeping snails with cichlids?

 

I guess the good thing is that he is moving however minimal it may be. Do you think it would be worth keeping him in a floating breeder with a little algae wafer? Just so you can monitor him and your crayfish doesn't have a chance to bother him?

 

I guess the good thing is that he is moving however minimal it may be. Do you think it would be worth keeping him in a floating breeder with a little algae wafer? Just so you can monitor him and your crayfish doesn't have a chance to bother him?

I think you are right I should get him out of there. I have plenty of other peaceful tanks where he would be safe.

This guy is really baffling me!!

Thanks for chatting about it with me!

 

Anytime! Hope he's ok! Keep me posted!

 

I think you are right I should get him out of there. I have plenty of other peaceful tanks where he would be safe.

This guy is really baffling me!!

Thanks for chatting about it with me!

I've had success doing this with a mystery snail I was concerned about. The poor little guy actually barely moved for a few months. Moved him into a calmer tank, and within days he was snailing around and climbing things. I'd definitely recommend either the breeder or moving him to a more peaceful tank so there's less stress while he hopefully recovers.

 

Anytime! Hope he's ok! Keep me posted!

Here he is today. ....see, he didn't move much lol

 

At least he is hanging on to the something instead of just laying lifeless and closed up. Don't give up yet.

 

My littlest one, one of the bumblebee nerites, will actually spend a few days at a time "barely" moving. I say barely because he will suction onto another snail and just ride around, so no real movement on his part, but he makes it all over the tank by riding.

He's at least moved a little bit and is stuck onto something, so hopefully he's starting to recover!

 

He made it to the other side. took him over 24 hours though lol

 

Hehe. At least he's moving.. slowly but surely!

 

Hehe. At least he's moving.. slowly but surely!

yup

I wouldn't call it progress of any kind. He's been this way for at least a month or two. So I guess this is just the way he is.

I want to mention something I just noticed last night about him in comparison to my other nerites.... This guy doesn't appear to have his antennae anymore! Maybe that is the problem??? I don't know how that could have happened. Maybe living with cichlids was a bad idea? No one has really chimed in on that part of it.

Do people have trouble with snails in semi-aggressive fish tanks? Or could the algae fix have damaged his antennae?

 

Hmm... not having antennae may have something to do with it but I would think he would still be moving around a lot more even without them.

I honestly don't know about any issues with cichlids and nerites or what the effects of algae fix are on snails. I really do hope you get some answers though!

 

I'm thinking it might be part of the issue if the loss is new. He doesn't have much way to tell where he's going. If my understanding is correct, they should grow back in time, but I'm not sure. Maybe the chemicals disolved them? Not sure what is in there and can't really look it up right now. I guess the cichlids could have bitten them off too, but I'd think they would go for something bigger. Were any of the others missing their antanae?

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Um, anyone know chemistry to know what this means?

From

Active Ingredient: Poly[oxyethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene dichloride]: 4.50% Other Ingredients: 95.50%