Why are all my snails dying???

[jread]

I have a 3-gallon JBJ Picotope at work where I keep a bunch of low light plants and a single betta. The tank began to get algae here and there, as well as other muck from uneaten food, the occasional dead leaf, etc. I figured that in addition to my regular water changes, I would unleash a cleaning crew of pest snails from my 20-gallon planted tank at home to help with the problem. I gathered up an assortment of snails from home, including some Malaysian trumpet snails, some ramshorn snails, and a few common pond snails.

The snails thrived for a few weeks in the little tank and cleaned up every inch of algae, ate any food the betta missed, kept the glass spotless, etc. I noticed that none of them were laying eggs, though, and they slowly began dying off (even the younger ones). As of today, all of the ramshorn and pond snails have died, and I have no idea on the MTS as they stay buried in the substrate (Eco-Complete) during the day. The algae has also begun to come back now that there is nobody around to eat it.

My question now is... why in the hell are they all dying? I've kept aquariums for decades and have never had a problem keeping snails alive (of all things). It makes you feel like a real loser when you can't maintain your pond snail population! What could be the the problem? Is the water too cool (78-degrees)? Is the betta killing them (I've never seen him attack one)? Did they run out of food?

Any advice is most-appreciated!

[hamsterman]

The water at 78 definitely was not too cool. Most likely it was just they ran out of food to eat.

[KC21386]

You may have more success if you solve the cause of your algae problem and your overfeeding. I would try to get those things in balance rather than just keep putting band-aids on it for a temporary fix.

[jread]

Thank you for the replies so far. I apologize for the title of this post... it should be "snails" and not "shrimp". It was really late when I wrote it, lol!

[sewingalot]

Originally Posted by hamsterman

The water at 78 definitely was not too cool. Most likely it was just they ran out of food to eat.

Sounds about right.

[Ariel301]

I've noticed a sudden large die-off of ramshorn snails in my tank also. I know they aren't out of food lol, the tank is covered in algae right now and I always feed enough that some is left on the bottom for my Bolivian ram, who prefers to feed at night off the bottom. I wonder if something decided to eat my snails?

[Wicket_lfe]

could be gh/kh? thats why my snails all die, its cause of my water being too soft.

[jread]

Originally Posted by Wicket_lfe

could be gh/kh? thats why my snails all die, its cause of my water being too soft.

Maybe, but it's the opposite extreme here as all the water comes from a limestone aquifer, so it's very hard.

[Crystalview]

I can keep Mystery snails and olive nerites. Everything else dies on me. It was suggested that the new nerites are not as hardy as the olive nerites. I did try several of them and lost them all. The olives are doing fine.

[kurosuto]

i dont even see snails in my tnak no more. I see the egg patcches but the parents are gone...i need them to clean algae!

[waterfaller1]

If you put three types of snails in a 3 gal tank they will die. Snails put off a lot of waste. They would have also run out of food as suggested. I feed my prized nerites and horned snails. The zebra, red spotted and other nerite snails need a very careful, slow acclimation. The betta may have been helping himself to some as well. Some do it for fun/aggression, some for a snack. They pull them right from the shell .