Snail Dead?

[Guest danilykins]

Hi, its been a LONG time since I have been around here. I no longer have a goldfish. My son has decided on Platties and a Snail. My Tank is a disaster. I changed the filter and it seems that my tank (which is around a year old) is cycling over again. This is causing problems with the fish. I have lost a Swordtail and seem to be losing a sunset platy also. Not sure why the swordtail died, I assume it was due to the tank cycling. My water parameters are fluctuating. The PH is too low (around 6.5-7) and the NitrItes and NitrAtes have been high. I put some PH up in and it brought it up a little. The sunset platy seems ill. I think its got dropsy (raised scales and resting on the bottom, it also has some white fuzzy on it) been putting in Melafix (though I worry this isn't helping the cycling). I added some aquarium salt to help ease the suffering and help with the PH. Well a day after I put the salt in the aquarium, I found that my curious apple snail has decided to check out the salt cup, and has now retreated into its shell. Its door is firmly shut and has shrunk into its shell. He has never been this far up into the shell before. Im worried that it might be dead *sigh*. I put an algae wafer near it to see if I can coax him out. He doesn't smell, but he also doesn't come out.

I just did about a 10% water change (10gal tank) We eventually want to get a larger tank (around 50gal) But if I cant even keep the fish alive in a 10gal why get a larger one. So I need help with both the Snail and the Platy.

Thanks

[Lupin]

Hi,

I would simply advise stopping the use of pH Up and other pH adjusting chemicals. Get crushed corals and place a bowl of it in your tank to help stabilize the pH and hardness levels. pH fluctuations can contribute to your fish's health problems and platies do not do well in acidic waters. A teaspoon per gallon of dissolved salt will be sufficient for now.

As for the snail, move it to a bowl of clean water and watch it closely. Dead snails stink badly. Give it a sniff test. If it doesn't stink at all, then move to the bowl of clean water otherwise you may have to dispose the snail (if it reeks).

[Guest danilykins]

I put the snail in a freshwater bowl and he is still up in his shell He doesn't smell foul. There seems to be "bubbles" (?) formed on the shell itself. I put a algae wafer in with him, hoping it will make him come out. I tested the water in the tank again. The PH is around 7, ammonia .50ppm NitrIte is 0, NitrAte is at 0. Water is cloudy and has been for about 2 weeks, the temp was a bit high (82F) so I lowered it a bit. I have the 10gal filter that came with the tank and a new undergravel 10gal filter installed. Sunny was moved to the tank with the snail, seems to be eating a little bit but still settled on the floor.

[Guest danilykins]

I put the snail in a freshwater bowl and he is still up in his shell He doesn't smell foul. There seems to be "bubbles" (?) formed on the shell itself. I put a algae wafer in with him, hoping it will make him come out. I tested the water in the tank again. The PH is around 7, ammonia .50ppm NitrIte is 0, NitrAte is at 0. Water is cloudy and has been for about 2 weeks, the temp was a bit high (82F) so I lowered it a bit. I have the 10gal filter that came with the tank and a new undergravel 10gal filter installed. Sunny was moved to the tank with the snail, seems to be eating a little bit but still settled on the floor.

Now the snail is floating. still closed up tight, but floating :/

[Guest danilykins]

I put the snail in a freshwater bowl and he is still up in his shell He doesn't smell foul. There seems to be "bubbles" (?) formed on the shell itself. I put a algae wafer in with him, hoping it will make him come out. I tested the water in the tank again. The PH is around 7, ammonia .50ppm NitrIte is 0, NitrAte is at 0. Water is cloudy and has been for about 2 weeks, the temp was a bit high (82F) so I lowered it a bit. I have the 10gal filter that came with the tank and a new undergravel 10gal filter installed. Sunny was moved to the tank with the snail, seems to be eating a little bit but still settled on the floor.

Now the snail is floating. still closed up tight, but floating :/

Oh yeah definitely dead. pressed on the door and it opened a bit to a stench, I easily pulled him right out, and he was blackish color So I guess I have to get a new one.

[Lupin]

I'm sorry to hear that. Check water parameters again before you buy another snail. They're very sensitive to water conditions. You should not have traces of ammonia there. Buy your new snail from local breeders rather than chain stores and make sure ammonia and nitrite are both zero. Keep the live plants to keep water quality under control.