Help this snail has killed my blenny

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by kiarah, Nov 11, 2008.

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  1. tigermike74

    tigermike74 Panda Puffer

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    I usually temp acclimate the bag for at least an hour before I start water acclimating the fish. I generally will add 2-3cc's of tank water into the bag every 30 mins with my pipettes. Hardy fish usually take me about 2-2.5 hours to acclimate, and more sensitive animals will take the better half of 4 hours. I took almost 6 hours to introduce my anemone into the tank. We can be in a hurry to add them into the tank, but we have to fight that urge and take it slow. Patience is key, especially since their lives are in our hands. Even when our tanks are pristine, it doesn't mean that the tanks they lived in at the LFS are equally as nice. Going from an "ok" tank to a clean tank can be just as big of a shock as going from a clean tank to an "ok" tank.
     
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  3. PackLeader

    PackLeader Giant Squid

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    It could be another pistol, it doesnt have to be a mantis. A pistol shrimp is fully capable of killing a blenny
     
  4. tigermike74

    tigermike74 Panda Puffer

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    I had a powerhead that had a burr on the impeller that made clicking sounds at random. I freaked and thought I had a pistol shrimp. I turned off all the pumps in my tank (figuring it would come out) and the clicking stopped. It happened to be a faulty Maxi-jet that was driving my skimmer.
     
  5. kiarah

    kiarah Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Its funny you should say that about the 'going from a ok tank to a clean tank comment ' because my parm are perfect and just out off interest my husband said to check the parm of the shops tank water and the results were : Ammonia 0
    forgot to do nitite!
    but the nitrate was above 50 ( mine is now 5-10)
    and the shop person said they had just had a delivery so they had lowered there sg to very low, which at the time i thought that would be to combat against diseases?
     
  6. pagojoe

    pagojoe Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    Hi Kiarah,

    The snail is Babylonia spirata, a relative of the whelks.

    Babylonia spirata

    As some others noted, they are primarily scavengers, but always carnivores. There are several documented cases of the species attacking and killing snails after they are added to a tank where the Babylonia has been living, as well as cases of them killing newly-introduced tridacnids, but I don't know of any cases of them killing fish. They will certainly eat dead fish, and it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that they might kill fish that are injured or otherwise less than 100% healthy, particularly if it's some sedentary type of fish like a goby or blenny. About the only snails that can kill active fish are cone snails. I had a Conus striatus kill and eat several different fish species, including damsels, although they usually feed on gobies and blennies and other bottom dwellers.

    Whether a pistol shrimp killed or injured the fish I can't say, but if it did, the Babylonia probably would have sensed the injury immediately, and likely would have taken possession of the prey before the shrimp could eat it. Babylonia snails are beautiful and fun to watch, but aquarists who keep them should be mindful of the fact that they are equipped to function as predators in addition to their advertised roles as scavengers.

    Cheers,



    Don
     
  7. kiarah

    kiarah Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Thanks for your help, i took a water sample to the shop today and they said it was perfect so they gave me a full refund but when i went to veiw the tank that the blennie came out off there was another fish in it looking very stressed!.It was lieing on its side at the bottom of the tank so i called over the staff member and asked if that was normal and he said they had the fish for 2 weeks and it had been fine but 2 days ago it started laying at the bottom of the tank! .:( now im worried about if the blennie was sick and that i put it in my tank!, will it pass on what it had to my 2 clowns? the blennie was in the tank about 12 hours and i have a very good uv ster.............DOH:cry:
     
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  9. johnmaloney

    johnmaloney 3reef Sponsor

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    I think the snail was just cleaning too. With that said, is that a reef safe snail? What kind is it?
     
  10. kiarah

    kiarah Coral Banded Shrimp

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    If you read the comment two above this, someone has id it for me.:) Im not sure if they are reef safe, Pagojoe might no as he was the one who id it for me.
     
  11. ZachB

    ZachB Giant Squid

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    Unless the snail was one of these bad boys.

    Conus textile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    What species exactly is your snail? There are many varieties of cone snails, all colorful, different, and they are predators / venomous.

    Z
     
  12. kiarah

    kiarah Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Na wasnt one of them! i think Pagojoe is spot on as the picture looks just like the snail,
    Thanks anyway:)