Did I just murder my snails?

[YiatzOfEden]

So silly newb that I am, I added API marine melafix to my tank to help out my live rock and hoping to revive some of the pretty corals that were on it (to no avail). And while I was at it, I forgot that when I had freshwater and dosed with melafix I had to remove my snails.

Well my newly added cleaner crew wasn't so happy. I lost one astrea snail before all of this happened, the day I added them (dosed the next day /facepalm, but realized the next day and didnt dose again). then lost another 2 days later, at this point did a 25-30% water change. Then another one bites the dust a couple days after along with one of my 3 nassarius snails... In order to save my remaining 2 astreas and 2 nassarius (at this point missing and i was hoping they were buried in the sand somewhere) I did another water change.

Found my smallest blue hermit crab yesterday wearing one of my nassarius shells...(guess I know what happened there)

My biggest of the 2 astrea survivors (and so far most active) was on the glass yesterday, then suddenly fell onto the sand flipped over. I had watched the whole thing so he wasnt upside down for more than 15 seconds. I go to place him back on the glass, but he just acts lethargic and wont cling to anything I place him near. So I placed him next to the glass and observed him throughout the day. He never moved again.

I took his carcass out this evening. I have one remaining astrea snail that's been so far moving around on the glass. I just added several frags to my tank and stirred it up quite a bit and now he's sitting at the sand bed still clung to the glass.

There is no melafix smell to my tank now, having done several water changes. All of my crabs are very healthy and happy (emerald has molted 2x in 2 weeks). Newly added 6 line wrasse as well, so I'm thinking the only problem with the water has to be the melafix perhaps staying in the sand? I'm afraid to add any more sacrificial snails.

Oh, did I mention its a 15g? Mentioning I have a tiny tank might be a good piece of info ;) as embarrassing as it feels to mention as a newbie to saltwater lol. And I did have a nitrite spike after the first snail died. Went back to 0 after I removed the 3rd snail. And I have a ton of copepods (no idea if this has any effect but they do go after the carcasses pretty fast).

During this entire process I didn't have a QT tank up and running. I do now and I'm not sure if I should risk my last remaining snail to the stress of moving and acclimating, or if i should gamble that the melafix is hopefully, mostly gone.

Thanks for any ideas and any advice is much appreciated ;)

Cliffnotes - 15g melafix + snails = massacre?

[Yogre]

I couldn't say if Melafix is toxic to snails, but if you want to remove it run some carbon. If you're a former freshwater guy, I'll bet you've got either an Aquaclear or a canister filter sitting around that you could load with some carbon, which should remove the Melafix and any of its degredation products fairly quickly.

[IMM3DOORSDOWN]

I believe melafix wouldn't have an affect on snails! It's been awhile since unused it.

[cloak]

I don't think it was the Melafix. Then again, there is something different in the water....

[YiatzOfEden]

Thanks for all the assistance! Went to a different LFS (and much better one) who told me sadly that I probably starved them since I didn't have much algae in my tank when I added them. I told him about the other fish store trying to sell me 10 of each critter at once and he made me feel better by telling me they were probably already starving at the other LFS. So he sold me 5 nassarius to help with my now blossoming algae and they are very happy :)

[Sk8r]

Never ever ever ever treat a display tank with anything (very few exceptions): you can kill your sandbed and live rock. Run carbon and get it out of there, and hope you don't get a second cycle. Do NOT put fish into this tank until it's proved again that it's stable.

[RRaider]

Thanks for all the assistance! Went to a different LFS (and much better one) who told me sadly that I probably starved them since I didn't have much algae in my tank when I added them. I told him about the other fish store trying to sell me 10 of each critter at once and he made me feel better by telling me they were probably already starving at the other LFS. So he sold me 5 nassarius to help with my now blossoming algae and they are very happy :)

Nassarius snails don't eat algae but they will clean up foods that don't get eaten by your fish.

[travis32]

+1 Nassarius snails don't eat algae

Mine come out chasing shrimp when I feed frozen mysis. They must find enough in the sand to eat, because they suck at getting it out of the water column. ;)

[YiatzOfEden]

I did run carbon to get it out, it was a very newb thing i did lol. and now everything is good. thankfully I did this goof up before i added anything that could have been hurt by it (as sad as that sounds for the sacrifice of my snails) and i fixed it and watched all my levels carefully before i did add again.

My astrea snails are the ones i starved for lack of algae. My nassarius, probably the same since i had no fish waste or leftover food at all.
My new nass. and remaining survivor astrea are all eating well now. Remind me to think rationally before listening to my lfs next time ;) Somehow when I go in there my brain turns to jello and i think that they should know everything about my tank and every single livestock they carry.

I'm wondering for the algae on my live rock...my astrea snail won't touch it, my emerald and hermits do a great job but never go to the top of the rocks. anything i can do for the algae and diatoms up there?

[travis32]

Sounds like a new tank algal cycle. This will pass. I had all my rocks and sand covered in about 1/4" layer of algae film for about 1-2 months. After that, it all completely disappeared and hasn't shown up since.

Just stay on top of your water parameters, water changes, and don't overfeed. It's just What is sometimes referred to as "new tank syndrome."

[breiter3]

Nobody mentioned salinity so i'll go ahead and chime in. Inverts are very sensitive to lower salinity levels, and at prolonged low levels do tend to die. Just another little something for you to check lol

[YiatzOfEden]

That is something i struggled with at first and just recently fixed before adding my new snails. I couldn't get it to go up past 32 when these now deceased snails were in my tank. So that could definitely explain why they died so quickly.

And yes this big blossom is undoubtedly new tank syndrome, but I'm glad to know it goes away by itself, ty.

Although on a happy note I found one nassarius snail from the first batch in my rockwork today! (i got light colored ones the first time, new ones are all blue lol)