Introducing snails

[fireworm]

Hey...Im a couple months into starting off a 7 gallon nano and was wondering what the best way to introduce some astrea snails into the tank would be. Any tips would be appreciated. To make things easier on myself I took my water from a local store and the live rock and two ocellaris clowns that are already in there are doing well (knock on wood). Im just looking into adding a few snails and a cleaner shrimp to finish things off. Thanks for your help!

[dobejazz]

Welcome to TRT!! Snails are sensitive to changes in water parameters it is best to acclimate them using a drip method.

[Petunia]

WELCOME!!! You've found the right place for answers.

I just acclimated my snails like any other critter and they are all still alive after 5 months. The same with everything I have in my tank. I acclimated everything for at least a half and hour to an hour. Opps... I lied. I didn't acclimate my hermits, I just threw them all in. None of them died. Good luck!

Any pics? We like pics here.

[pastina]

yes acclimate them the same as anyother critter....but i have a snail abuse story lol
i thought my very large turbo was eating my polyps (he want just cleaning them roughly) so i freaked out and grabbed him to remove him, well the lil bugger wouldnt let go, so im tugging and tugging and hes clinging onto the rock so strong that he actually lifted the rock with his body! finally my husband tried and he got him off. i didnt know what to do with him so i put him in a dixie cup with half full of my tank water. he was in it for a few hours before i realized i had a small one gallon tank in the basement. i mixed up a small batch of saltwater, i didnt even test it, i filled the gallon tank up half way then plopped in the snail. i shut the lights and went to bed.
the next day i saw the polyps opened up beautifully so i then realized it wasnt the snail eating them they just were closed up tightly.
so i went to the one gallon with the turbo snail in it i picked him up and plopped him back into the main tank.
hes alive and well and a fat beast lol, so im guessing they are hardy

[TxTech06]

be sure to acclimate! I did a quick acclimation that took about 15 mins and after i put them in my nano cube they died. I also had a cleaner shrimp die. I had him for atleast 7 months. I have no clue as to why he died. The day before he died i added a loose mushroom and some LR and those turbo snails that died. Any thoughts?

[dobejazz]

TX it's possible there was an ammonia spike when the snails died that killed the shrimp. I also killed my first batch of turbo snails due to poor acclimation so I would say better safe than sorry dead snails really stink

[pastina]

come to think of it i wish my turbo would bite the dust, hes always knocking over my corals
yes amonia has to be zero always, and nitrites
nitrates keep under 10ppm if possible. hign nitrates kill inverts also

[Hondadude2k5]

Snails, shrimp, and crabs should be acclimated slowly. I reccomend the drip system. Turbo snails are hardy after they are acclimated properly. My only real concern is the Pair of ocellaris clowns in a 7Gal tank. That seems way to small for what they are. you will need constant water changes and really good filtration.

[pastina]

there not really that delicate
i have a snail that was a hitchhiker on my live rock. i didnt know about the snail until a few days later when i saw him out
so he survived being in a box for an hours drive, then dunked in my tank, taken out again to rearange etc and hes still with me.
everything should be acclimated properly, but ive seen no ill effects from mistreated snails or hermits. i cycled my tank with 2 scarlet hermits crabs. they are still alive til this day. and this was not the first time ive done this, this is my second sw tank so its not just "luck"
i think we are brain washed into believing these critters are alot more sensitive than they really are
of course im not saying just dump your snails in but i think the drip method is just going over board
its bad water quality that kills not poor acclimation

[dobejazz]

I don't drip acclimate even though it is recommended I do add tank water to the bag slowly every 15 minutes for about an hour. Hermits are much more tolerant than snails and in a nano tank a large dead snail can cause serious problems. I stand by my statement it is better to be safe than sorry

[Doug1]

the acclimation rules dont count for hitch hikers, but snails and sea stars have complicated plumbing systems that allow them to move like they do, they are sensitive to changes in specific gravity as it cant throw their osmoregulation mechanisms out of wack.
Acclimating and quarentine are ALWAY good ideas, just because you got away with not doing it once, don't make it OK amd when you get that spensive dream critter, karma and murphy can be brutal

[pastina]

well if you read my turbo torture story its actually twice lol