My snail died!

[Kourtneyy]

I got a snail maybe a week ago and today I came home from school and it was dead on the bottom of the tank. I removed it and put it in a bag and in the bin. It had enough food coz there is alway a bit of leftover fish food on the floor. After I got it out I checked the pH levels and they were 7.4 and I put stuff in to make it go back to 6.8, would that have been why it died. I want to know why it died because I want another one.

[Sursion]

How long has your fish tank been set up?

[Cliff]

A PH of 7.4 is not that bad. I have a PH of 7.6 and I do not even try to adjust it. I stable PH is a lot better than the perfect PH. large swings in your PH can stress out the animals in your tank.

Is there a lot of food left-over on the bottom of the tank from feeding the fish? If there is, you might be over-feeding the fish which can lead to other problems with your water parameters. You might want to cut back a little on the fish food and put one or two algea pellets or freash veggies in the tank to feed a snail should you get another one.

Have you also been testing for ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates ?

[Fisharefriends27]

The ph swing probably killed it. NEVER USE ANY CHEMICALS!
They destroy more than it cures. A ph of 7.4 isn't bad at all. Most fish can just adjust.

Good Luck!

[Kourtneyy]

My tank has been set up for 2 weeks

[Cliff]

I would guess that your tank is not cycled.

I would suggest handling this like a fish-in cycle the way it is explained in the below link

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[Xavier]

Was the snail hanging out of its shell, or just not moving? How do you know it was dead?

[Sursion]

Most invertebres need at least a 6 month set up. Your tank is absolutely barren of any of the plankton they need to survive.

Plus, it sounds like it's not even cycled yet. Don't get another one until both of those requirements are met.

[MCools]

Was the snail hanging out of its shell, or just not moving? How do you know it was dead?

Very good question! A lot of the time they look dead when they are resting. One way to know FOR SURE is if they stink when you take them out of the tank. They don't just smell bad- they ABSOLUTELY REEK!!

From what I've heard a snail does need a more established tank, so finish cycling and wait a few months after that at LEAST before getting a new snail.

Oh, and don't mess with your pH- it will only make matters worse!