HELP 3 Turbo Snails Dead!!!

I have recently had 3 turbo snails die in the past 3 days. Could the problem be the heat? I dont have a chiller and i live in east texas where it has gotten to over 100 degrees 50 days in a row, and when i came in today my tank thermometer read 86!!! Im sure this was the problem, but could it be something else? my nitrates are at about 20 ppm, and the test strips that i have dont test for ammonia. any tips on how to keep the tank cool?

 

both the heat and nitrate levels could be culprits. there are honestly a lot of factors that play into something like this, but a 86F temp sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

Turbos tend to be collected from cooler water than most of our inhabitants. They therefore tend to be more sensitive. It depends where they are collected from, but I would tend to play it safe with them and assume they will not do well much over 80-82. Some don't even do well at those temps, but most of the ones collected these days are from warmer water than they once were collected from.

 

I think its 34 days over 100 degrees to be more exact! I definitely think it is the temp!

 

Its prob the heat,but I was loosing snails left and right with no answer...till I found a hitch hicker crab that was killing my snails..it turned out to be hairy and the size of a silver dollar..

 

Good point, you should never assume an answer is true just because it's logical. Probably better to always stay vigilant.

 

+1 to this, I have lost too many turbos (while my astreas live for a very long time) to believe they are well suited for our tanks... I believe they are better off in cooler waters, and I like to run my tank anywhere from 76-82.

 

You should build an open algae scrubber, it will have two effects on your tank.

1. Increase evaporation, which in turn will cool the tank. If you point a fan at the screen it will provide additional cooling.

(kind of like the affect those big fan/ water misting things they have in hotter areas like where you live, found outside shopping strips, etc)

2. It will drop your N and P to unreadable levels.

 

got to love this Dallas weather I had to get a chiller for my tank, all my snails were crawling off the tank