Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping => Invertebrates - Shrimps and Snails => Topic started by: Sanjo on June 18, 2015, 02:09:06 PM
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Well, having mislaid my little nerite from the shrimp tank I have just found her. Since I noticed she was gone on Saturday and today is Thursday she didn't stand a chance and that's assuming she only left the tank on Thursday.
She must have crawled out (or maybe she was in/on something I remove from the tank during cleaning on Saturday) and was down behind the sewing machine on the carpet.
Poor little thing and so pretty too.
These damned tanks with the gaps round the top are such a stupid design. I have sponge all along the back edge, and I had previously changed the glass tops around as the front one has such a large hole in it so I don't know how she got out.
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Have you disposed of the snail yet? If not, put it in a tub with some tank water and see if it really is dead. They can seal themselves inside the shell. I once had an apple snail survive a few days outside the tank.
If it doesn't come out in a few hours, have a careful sniff. Dead snails stink, it's a smell you won't forget in a hurry :sick:
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Funnily enough Sue, I did put her in tank water. It was just the shell and what appeared to be the "foot" but something prompted me to do it.
I don't think she is viable but I was very surprised after 1/2 hour to see the foot had opened a bit and a feeler was sticking out. It did appear to be "waving" but I think that was just the vibration.
Other bits are floating out of the shell but I haven't given up yet. There is no awful smell (yet!) Although I'm not brave enough to stick my nose in the jar. I wonder whether I could persuade the other half to do it for me!
I have just looked at her and, well I still think there's no chance but still.....
I have transferred her to another jar that had been storing some elodea and had a bit of algae on the glass. I put her in some fresh conditioned water and I'll leave it now until tomorrow. There is a lid on the jar this time !!
Fingers crossed
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Fingers crossed
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SHE'A ALIVE !!!! ;D :D ;D
I can't believe it. I'm stunned. I only transferred her to the new jar 20 minutes ago.
I have been studying her with a magnifying glass and the feelers were waving but I thought it was just water movement, even though occasionally they looked like the were curling.
It was almost as if she sensed the algae
She was on her back and my husband asked how I'd know if she was alive as she wouldn't be able to move so I carefully turned her so that she was sort of "propped" up against the glass. In the last few minutes she has started to climb the glass.
There is a sort of streamer coming from her and it is still attached. Would this be old poo?
I don't have an airline in with her (it's only a jam jar) will she need the airline?
I have put a lid on and made a hole in it for air.
Should I risk putting her back in the shrimp tank or leave it until tomorrow.
She went missing Saturday. At least it was Saturday after I'd put the tank back together following cleaning that I realised she wasn't active or on show. That means she has been on carpet for 5 days!!!!!!
I had though she had climbed out of the tank but perhaps she climbed out of the water bucket that I put everything in while I was cleaning. Still a long time to be on a carpet though.
Indeed EO, fingers crossed.
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I think I would put the jar inside the tank on the bottom, upright, without the lid. If the snail has enough life in her to climb out of the jar, she should be OK. If not, you'll find her in the jar tomorrow. If she's weakened by her ordeal, any ammonia build up in the jar could finish her off, but if the jar is in the tank water the filter will take care of any ammonia.
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Brilliant idea. Thanks Sue.
She has now climbed to the top of the jar although she isn't completely out of the water. It's almost like she's taking a breather.
Ammonia in the shrimp tank is zero as I checked them all this morning.
What an ordeal for her and what a survivor.
I am so excited. From death to life in 6 hours
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Best of luck!
[Must be something in the air at the moment. My big pygmy cory, one of two with missing tails - I witnessed another cory biting the remainder of the other - seemed to have died overnight a couple of days ago. I went to fish him out with a net yesterday morning and he torpedoed across the tank. Last night, he lay on his side, seemingly dead, on a leaf - and I couldn't decide whether to leave him in peace but risk him becoming a midnight feast for his tankmates or whether to remove him but possibly find he was actually alive after all. Still alive - touchwood.]
Keep us posted tomorrow on how she is.
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That's pretty incredible Sanjo! Great news!
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Well, it's still fingers crossed time. I was just about to reply to fcm's post when I looked again at the tank, having put the jar in there a while ago with the snail in it .
First of all three shrimp jumped straight in and were all over the snail, one in particular would not leave the "trailing" bit alone but backwards and forwards and appeared to be eating it. At one stage there were 10 shrimp in the jam jar and even the two left outside were all very active.
Humanising like one does, I'm sitting there thinking ah! bless they're really pleased to see their mate back. Then I got to thinking they all seemed a little frantic and by this time the snail had made it to the top of the jam jar and was almost out but the shrimp in ones and twos were all over him.
First I thought they were encouraging him!! Honestly, I think I need to see somebody, possibly wearing a white coat!!
Anyway, long story short, I suddenly thought I'd better check the water again. It was zero at 2.30 today. I deliberately took the water from inside the jar and I didn't even have to wait for the full five minutes to see that it was green instead of yellow. So there I was at 10pm doing a quick water change. Took me 5+ litres to get it back to yellow. The test was showing between 0.50-1.00
I realise it could have been that it was the same water the snail had been in plus by this time a lot of shrimp but better safe than sorry.
Rather than risk my shrimp overnight, I've found a 2litre glass jug that has java moss and algae in and I popped miss snail back into that. If the shrimp were tormenting her for some reason at least she'll have a bit of peace.
I shall wait with trepidation for the morning.
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My little Miracle still seems to be with us.
She was transferred last night to a 2+ litre glass jug with moss, fern, stones and algae
The fern is attached to a little mesh tent I have been trying to grow on and this morning Miracle is attached to the top of it and there is still slight movement of her feelers and the front of her.
I have changed a litre of water and will continue to watch.
The shrimp also survived last nights late night water change and seem active again today
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I currently have 5 nerites in a bucket with 7 litres of water (that's the volume of my filling-up bucket and the water comes less than half way up the bucket they are in). In 12 hours the ammonia level gets to 0.25 - or to be precise, the merest hint of green on the tester. I change the entire bucketful every 12 hours. There is nothing in the bucket with them, it's just snails and water. Just to give you an idea of how fast ammonia builds up. Your one snail in 2+ litres should be slower in theory especially with moss in there too.
The snails go in the 50 litre tank tomorrow. That'll be 10 days since they were in a whitespot tank so all the bugs should have encysted, hatched and died from lack of fish to infect by then.
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Thanks for that Sue. Makes me feel better. She is still attached to the mesh. I assume that is she doesn't survive she will fall off the mesh?
I placed her right side up on the floor of the jug last night so she has at least made the effort to climb up onto the mesh frame.
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I'm pretty sure a nerite would fall to the bottom if dead. I sometimes find my nerites on their backs on the bottom of the tank desperately trying to turn over, which they find hard with sand as there's nothing to grip onto. So they do fall off things even when they aren't dead.
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Miracle has been on the same bit of mesh all day.
I have looked with a magnifying glass a couple of times and the feelers are still moving and doing a bit of curling but she doesn't appear to have moved at all.
I'm going to freshen the water a bit every day to avoid as much stress for her as I can and then just see what happens.
Thanks for your help Sue. Much appreciated.
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Update:
All day yesterday I kept an eye on her.
First she was ON the tent, then I found her INSIDE so she was obviously moving though you wouldn't know it to look at her .
Late yesterday afternoon I checked her and she was again on the mesh tent but this time she looked like all her squidgy bits were escaping the shell, some of it seemed to have a gap where the shell is.
I thought that was it then, she's a gonner.
The foot underneath was very deep, deeper than I have ever seen it and I could see the layers of striping but apart from the feelers you can barely see her move. There seemed to be masses of body in a funny shape hanging round the shell.
By bedtime last night (mine - not hers) she had made it to the glass and was just at the edge of the water, and by now she appeared to be mostly back in the shell and more snail like - which she certainly wasn't earlier, very gross!
Since I changed nearly all of it yesterday morning I'm sure it can't be water quality, although it has occurred to me that being stuck in the shell for that length of time there may have been a build up of toxins.
I decided to leave her and see what was what this morning.
Checked again first thing today and she was in the same position, right at the waters edge, this time with a feeler out of it.
I have now changed most of the water, taking it to just over the top of her so that the feeler is covered.
She is still there, with the feeblest of feeler curling but still seems attached to the glass.
What a saga.
My husband started off by saying for goodness sake, it's a snail and it wasn't that expensive, stop fretting.
Not the point though is it.
I thoroughly dislike snails in my garden but this little one was chosen to go in my tank and I have the power of life and death over her and her fishy friends, depending on my ability to look after them.
To just not bother isn't in my nature.
Other half is now showing interest in her well being, or at the least has stopped teasing me about her which is something I suppose.
Another day gone , maybe she'll make it.
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Keep trying Sanjo. As each day passes I am sure it will improve.
Skittler
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Ohh good luck with Miracle, nerites are real Houdinis at times. I so hope she makes it.
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Thank you both. She is still in the same place on the glass jug and I can't even see any feelers now.
I'm just going to continue to change the water until something permanent happens.
I've got another air pump somewhere I think I'll pop that in with a reduce flow.
It can't hurt under the circumstances
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A while ago I posted about a nerite of mine which stayed in the same place for 6 weeks without moving. Since it "woke up" it has been behaving normally and I can see it gliding across the front glass now.
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Thanks Richard. I had a recollection of somebody saying that.
The jug is over 2 litres. I don't have a spare tank for now as I have two baby corys in the quarantine tank waiting to go in the big tank.
I'm going away for a week soon and dare not risk putting her back in either of the tanks in case she doesn't make it and dies while I'm away and fouls the water. I'm assuming the ordeal she has been through has taken its toll and she has to regain her strength.
I do feel guilty for not spotting her sooner but what's done is done and I can now only do my best.
Thanks again