Suicide Snails

[Biscuit]

About a week ago I came home from work and sat in front of my tank for a few minutes just checking out all the cool things that go on in a reef tank when I look up in the top corner and there sits one of my margarita snails. On the outside of the glass! I was kinda puzzled and wondered why it got on the outside and if it knew how to get back in once it did. I figured I'd help him out and plucked him off the glass and placed him back inside the tank. A minute or so later off he went munchin away so I figured no damage was done. Yesterday, I am checkin out my tank again and what do I see but a snail (not sure if it was the same one) out of the tank! This time though he was on the outside of my PC light housing, so I guess he climed out and decided to scoot up the legs on my lights. Pulled this one off and again, no harm. It's kinda funny to me, but I don't want to miss one of these guys crawlin out one day on the back side of my tank or something then dyin and stinkin up my room. And here I thought I would have more trouble with my sixline wanting to carpet surf, guess its the snails that want out.

[Big Country]

Find Nerite snails doing the same thing crawling on the wall and down the outside of the tank. Have rescued a few off the top of the glass center brace on my Oceanic tank before they get cooked by the MH pendant right above it, snails have no sense. Got a real fright awhile back when I was checking over my sump on my before work check and was checking the drain which had a slow leak when a very large hermit crab crawled out from under the sump and scared me to death, where it was was probably 3 feet from the tank, still don't know how it climbed out.

[davelin315]

Nerite and Margarita snails live in the intertidal zone. Just like the periwinkles you'll find all over the plants in the Chesapeake or on rocks all over the shore, these snails spend a lot of their time out of the water due to rising and falling tides, plus they will crawl out themselves. It's nearly impossible to keep them all in the tank unless you have a eurobraced tank with a wide enough lip, but even then they will still crawl out as they have no problem hanging upside down and crawling up and over the rim.

[bluefunelement]

One large concern of mine going rimless - good news is I can hear them hit the hardwood floor even in my sleep

Found one of my Nass snails hanging upside under the lid drying out a few days ago - he was an inch from the water but hanging in for everything -poor snails - high tide will never come to save you.

[epleeds]

I had some nerite snails do that. I talked with john at reefcleaner.org and he said they can live a few days out of the water, something to do with them keeping water in their bodies. Now i just throw them back in the tank if I see them on the floor.

[Biscuit]

Yeah I noticed when I pulled them off that it was still wet where they were sitting. I figured they would probably be ok for a while had I not found them.

Edited August 26, 2010 by Biscuit

[treesprite]

I don't think snails have ever climbed out of my tank. Usually when my nassarius snails are high up, I find that my temperature is too high. Maybe you should double check temp if a lot of snails are suddenly looking like they want out.

[Biscuit]

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep an eye on it next time. Havent had any problems with temp since it was really earlier this summer and it was never anything serious, but I'll keep that in mind.