Hermit Crab and Turbo Snails Dead!! What Happened?

i wouldn't trust the kit. you said you pulled green gunk out of the sand, and that the previous owner regularly treated the tank with copper.

 

You are able to get copper out of a tank I put copper safe in my 30 gal fresh to use it as a feeder tank and 3 month later turned it into a planted freshwater so I did a 60% water change and put some fish in and waited for 1 more month and added fittler crabs and snails they have been doing great for the 6 months. plants are fine too. I would bring a water sample to local shop and have it tested or something is eating them

 

getting copper out of the water isnt a big deal. its whats bound up in the live rock and substrate that will be the problem.

just so you dont think im a quack;D heres a quote from a highly respected chemist/reefer.

 

sounds like a red alert for nothing... just a molt. Don't feel bad... we all have been fooled at some point.

 

We shouldn't all just fold up our tents and go home. Yes, the hermit crab molted. But, something killed the turbo snails. Perhaps it was a toxic substance, like copper, that was the culprit.
--Steve
P.S. You'll eventually need a few empty shells for the crab to move into. After hermit crabs molt a few times, they grow too big for their existing snail shell.

 

Have you treated for red slime algae lately- some of the treatmants are anti-biotic in nature and can wreck a whole eco-system

 

I apologize if this has already been covered but do you have any idea where the turbo snails came from? I ask because there is a species that is commonly sold that comes from cooler waters so they tend to die rather quickly when we add them to our tanks.

 

Very good point. There are alot of snails on the market...like margarita's that require colder temperatures. Also hermit crabs are known to eat snails as well so this may be the cause of their demise. Also no one mentioned how they were acclimated. Snails are sensitive to temp, ph, and salinity changes and need to be acclimated properly. For copper testing I'd get a salifert test, no other. I would also up the salinity to 1.025.

 

Hi

HI,
If you have metal poisioning its gonna be impossiable to get it all out of that live rock and how much has leached out into a salt in the sand if its coming back green alot how much of that Stuff did he use...
It may be released for years, I would dump the sand and rocks and maybe the filters that have subtrate change the subtrate in them too. and start with clean sand a dead rock and cycle that system like its brand new. You may save money, My inverts are 5 times more sensative to just about everything if a Hermit is sulking I start checking my water,something may be off, If I do water change hermits sulk for a day. They are very touchy critters.
Doug

 

karma heading at ya