Brand New Snail Floating?

[Esmerelda]

I picked up some new supplies for my aquarium last night, along with a new mystery snail. I'm trying to start incorporating live plants into my beginner tank. The snail is living with an ADF in a 5.5 gallon. When I dropped him in, he sank right to the bottom. Now, this morning, he won't stop floating! Also, I'm seeing some stringy/slime-like things poking out of the shell. What can I do to stop the floating? I realized my ph is at 6.5, which is too low for the snail. I will bring that number up, but is that the reason it's floating?

On a different note: is it okay to take the snail out of the tank to feed it? It would still be wet. My hungry frog would get in the way of feeding.

By the way, I do have sufficient lighting. The light will come on in a few minutes.

 

[IzzBizz]

In my experience, snails usually just floating because of air pocket in their shell. (I am in no way an expert, but this was my experience) I usually just gently would grab it's shell and gently push it into the water and turn it around a couple times. This would usually get the air pocket out and then, when I let go, he would go to the bottom.
I am really not sure about the stringy thing. It may be just waste. It looks like a strange consistency tho. I'm not sure, so someone more experienced then me can answer that.
As for feeding, you do not need to take him out of the water. You can just blanch some carrots or put a couple algae wafers if you are worried about him.
How old is the tank?

 

[Esmerelda]

In my experience, snails usually just floating because of air pocket in their shell. (I am in no way an expert, but this was my experience) I usually just gently would grab it's shell and gently push it into the water and turn it around a couple times. This would usually get the air pocket out and then, when I let go, he would go to the bottom.
I am really not sure about the stringy thing. It may be just waste. It looks like a strange consistency tho. I'm not sure, so someone more experienced then me can answer that.
As for feeding, you do not need to take him out of the water. You can just blanch some carrots or put a couple algae wafers if you are worried about him.
How old is the tank?

Thank you! I will try that with his shell. The tank is seven months old.
I think I really need to change the ph. It's way too low.

Okay, Petco. You have reached a new low.
I think they sold me a dead snail. He hasn't stuck to anything, he's floating, not eating, and there's a smell coming from him.

 

[IzzBizz]

Thank you! I will try that with his shell. The tank is seven months old.
I think I really need to change the ph. It's way too low.

Okay, Petco. You have reached a new low.
I think they sold me a dead snail. He hasn't stuck to anything, he's floating, not eating, and there's a smell coming from him.

Oh no!! That stinks! If you still have the receipt you can return the snail and get another one. You just have to make sure you have the snail in a bag for proof... Yuck... It's pretty gross, so it may not be worth it for you. At least that's what my local Petco/PetSmart does. I'm so sorry about that!!

 

[Fishfur]

It is too bad you were sold a deceased snail but what is your pH and also GH?

Snail shells slowly dissolve in water that’s acidic & without at least moderate GH they tend not to fare very well.

 

[Esmerelda]

It is too bad you were sold a deceased snail but what is your pH and also GH?

Snail shells slowly dissolve in water that’s acidic & without at least moderate GH they tend not to fare very well.

My ph is extremely low. It's a 6.5, and I just learned that's unacceptable for a snail. But I highly doubt the snail could have died this quickly from my tank. I did some research before purchasing the snail, but I hadn't realized the pH needed to be higher than what I have for the ADF. I've been searching for safe ways to raise the ph, but then I realized the snail was dead. I haven't tested GH.

The snail wasn't really moving when I bought it either.

I'm having a hard week with aquatics this week, so I'm going to give it a rest for a while. In a few months I will buy a new ADF to be a companion for my other one.

 

[Fishfur]

My ph is extremely low. It's a 6.5, and I just learned that's unacceptable for a snail. But I highly doubt the snail could have died this quickly from my tank. I've been searching for safe ways to raise the ph, but then I realized the snail was dead. I haven't tested GH.

The snail wasn't really moving when I bought it either.

I'm having a hard week with aquatics this week, so I'm going to give it a rest for a while. In a few months I will buy a new ADF to be a companion for my other one.

My rule of thumb for buying snails is that they must be showing obvious signs of life - preferably they’ll be on the glass or else moving across the bottom.

If they’re just sitting on the bottom, even if they react to touch, I leave them where they are.

It isn’t a 100% foolproof method, nothing is, but it has increased my success rate substantially.

 

[Esmerelda]

My rule of thumb for buying snails is that they must be showing obvious signs of life - preferably they’ll be on the glass or else moving across the bottom.

If they’re just sitting on the bottom, even if they react to touch, I leave them where they are.

It isn’t a 100% foolproof method, nothing is, but it has increased my success rate substantially.

That would rule out all petco snails.

My favorite locally owned aquarium store will be my only stop for aquatic life from now on. Being an aquarium beginner comes with some hard lessons, but I guess that's just the reality of being new at something.

 

[Fishfur]

That would rule out all petco snails.

My favorite locally owned aquarium store will be my only stop for aquatic life from now on.

I know what you mean. I have purchased a few snails online and the only ones that arrived alive were the ramshorns so now I’m very leery of getting any snail I can’t see in person to be sure that at least right then it is alive & active.

 

[Esmerelda]

Yeah, no more snails for a while. On the way to the store, the snail oozed out of the shell... definitely not.

I'm going to focus on my algae eater research instead. My lps keeps them with ADFs, so I'll be trying to get one.

 

[Fishfur]

Yeah, no more snails for a while. On the way to the store, the snail oozed out of the shell... definitely not.

I'm going to focus on my algae eater research instead. My lps keeps them with ADFs, so I'll be trying to get one.

What kind of algae eater?

 

[Esmerelda]

What kind of algae eater?

I'm looking into it. Research comes before a purchase .
Something smaller than a pleco for sure so it can thrive in a 5.5 gallon with my ADF. If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it! Thank you again.

 

[Fishfur]

There are no algae eating fish that small which would be ok living alone. Otos are small enough but like groups of their own kind.

A 5G would have difficulty keeping even one Oto well
lol fed, never mind several. Not to mention they have a distressing habit of dying within weeks of purchase. Their issues are not much different from those that nerite snails have & for the same reasons.

Neither Otos nor nerites seem to be able to learn to eat anything other than growing fresh algae.

The sheer amount of algae required to feed these critters is astonishing.

You might do better with some other snail species - Piano or maybe a Rabbit snail, but no guarantees for success exist.

 

[sweetsoda]

"Pest" snails such as ramshorn snails, bladder snails, and MTS would all be small enough for your tank. They will breed pretty fast, but as long as you don't overfeed their population will manage itself. I wouldn't recommend rabbit snails for a 5 gallon. They are adorable and fun to watch but they also have pretty long shells. I had one in a 15 gallon cube for a while and sometimes I felt that there wasn't enough space for it to move. Nerite snails are fine as far as size goes but as said above they only will eat algae and will likely not have enough to eat.

I wouldn't recommend any algae-eating fish for a 5 gallon. All of the ones that can be kept solo get to big, and all of the small ones like large groups. A lot of fish labeled as algae-eaters don't eat very much algae anyway, invertebrates usually do a better job.

You could maybe consider shrimp, but I don't have much experience with them.

If you want to control algae, I'd try and find the source. Do you have bright lights? Does the water have too many nutrients? Small amounts of algae isn't usually a problem in a non-planted tank, though, apart from potentially looking unsightly.

 

[Esmerelda]

Thank you! I have been wanting to add fish to my tank, but the petstores always say, "You can put up to 12 small fish in your tank" or "ADFs can't live with any fish except algae eaters." I'm lucky to have reputable stores nearby, but I don't know if adding anything else is a good idea anymore. Maybe I'll just get my single ADF a new froggy friend down the line and keep it a species tank.

 

[sweetsoda]

Thank you! I have been wanting to add fish to my tank, but the petstores always say, "You can put up to 12 small fish in your tank" or "ADFs can't live with any fish except algae eaters." I'm lucky to have reputable stores nearby, but I don't know if adding anything else is a good idea anymore. Maybe I'll just get my single ADF a new froggy friend down the line and keep it a species tank.

Yeah, I'd probably go with another ADF instead of fish. ADFs are social and like being with other frogs. There aren't any fish that I can think of that would be ideal with an ADF in a 5 gallon.