I have a 10G tropical tank with a golden snail that we have had for about 6-8 months. He is a fast mover at night and has been very good at eating up the green alge and his alge chips (one a day). This morning we found him floating at the top of the tank getting spun around by the fliter. His foot and antenna were extended and feeling found for something to hold. I tried to hold him against the wall of the tank so he could grab hold but he closed up when I touched him. Is something wrong with him?? I have never seen a snail float before. BTW, just did a PWC yesterday and checked all levels and all are good. I have been reading other posts and no, he doesn't smell bad and yes, he is alive as he is coming out of his shell in the water. When I take him out of the water and put him on a paper towel he closes up tight. Thanks for any help y'all can provide! Posted on Freshwater Invertebrates sometimes snails can float for days just hanging out drifting around in currents alive.

but there may be other reasons he is doing this. He may be hungry so get him some food snails like to eat. fish tank filter renaAnother reason could be an air pocket trapped in his shell. fish tank heater melbourneTo get rid of the air gently(underwater) twist him around a little bit trying to release the air!fish tank gravel bulk i have a golden as well and hes pretty silly. he floats sites on the top of plastic plants with small leaves, hes like 2.5 inches, and ride around on the other snails.it not uncommon for them to float or do something stupid If the snail was caught in filter turbulence, she may be pretty disoriented by now. You may want to slow the filter flow rate. In a way, I envy mystery snails for their ability to crawl into a shell and shut out the world.

I have 2 Mystery snails and one will get some air trapped in it's shell. As a result, it will float. I usually just get it and move to one of the decos within the tank. It will then grab onto the deco side once it gets its oriented again and "pass a little air" to stay down in the water. The apple one likes the top and that is the reason it gets air trapped in the shell. The blue one is all about hanging out in front of the filter outtake for the "stream" of water when not on one of the decos looking for some grub. Well, Gary has finally sank to the bottom...mostly. He is floating just off the bottom of the tank. He has been in his shell now for about a day and a half. I did check yesterday for a bad smell and all seemed OK. He isn't moving and hasn't come out to eat at all (alge chips, one a day) I am a bit nervous that he is sick or worse as he usually is all over the tank at night. Will they stay in their shells for days? Any suggestions to help him? I'm not an expert by any means but both of my snails have taken "naps" for a day or two.

Then all of a sudden, they are all over the tank looking for their next meal. Sounds like your watching over Gary and doing the right steps. Is the rest of the tank look healthy?We just did a PWC on Saturday AM and the other fish are swimming around looking normal. When we did the PWC, he was on the side of the tank near the top. We didn't want him to be out of the water too long so we slid him, gently, down the side of the glass so he would be under the waterline. We did the water change and he seemded fine until about six hours later when he was floating. I will keep an eye on him this week to see if he comes out to eat. Thanks for all your help! I see you have fish in the tank with your snail. The fish may be nipping at the snail's antenna. When this happens on a continual basis, the snail will eventually be afraid to come out of his shell. I would keep an eye on him and see if you can tell if the fish are nipping him we will keep an eye on him. So far he has not come out o his shell since Saturday.

Should we keep dropping in algae tabs near him? Do you offer him any other food, such as spinach, kale, apple, cucumber? You can buy a "no-metal" clip at Petco (they come 2 to a pack) and clip the veggies to the side of the tank. He may show some interest in that. He does need food, so I would try the veggies and also an algae wafer now and then. I'm wondering when you "slid him down the glass" if you may have injured him? Just a note - they should never be pulled off of anything - you can actually pull them loose from their shell inside. As long as you give him the "sniff test" and you don't smell anything like a rotten egg scent, he's still alive. I'm not quite sure why he's not coming out of his shell other than your fish have been nipping him and he's just afraid to come out. Try the veggies - you will know if he has eaten on them as you will see where he has "chewed" the leaves. Keep us up on his condition. We woke up this morning and Gary was at the top of the tank on the glass looking around!

By noon he was back at the bottom of the tank and closed up in his shell. The fish stay away from him. I sat and watched for about 30 minutes. Tonight he is at the bottom and hanging out of his shell. I have left a piece of lettuce stuck to the side of the tank where he usually hangs out at the top. We will see how he does over the next few days. I plan to do a PWC tomorrow so hopefully that will help. Thanks all for your advice! We'll see what happens! well, Gary didn't make the weekend. He was out of his shell and dead on Sunday. We are going to hold off getting another snail as I want to be sure there is no issues with the water. Thanks for all your help and advice. Gary may have been older when you bought him and he just lived out his life naturally. Mystery snails live longer in lower temperatures - ideal temps are between 65-82. The higher the temperature, the faster their metabolism, which shortens their life. Average lifespan is between 1 1/2 years to 4 years.

So you may not have done anything wrong after all. Best of luck with the new one Hi u mentioned about veggies. Just wondering if i put it on my tank, are the fishes be ok with or not affect them? It will not effect the fish. You can peel the cucumber or zucchini if there was a 'waxy' covering on them. If you put the veggie in a small bowl with a little water in the microwave for 30 seconds. it will blanch it but be sure to let is cool before putting it in the tank. Some fish will even eat it too, like plecos and the corys will take a look at it too. thank you for the reply will try this now. Thou my snail seems to be at the bottom of the tank again. Just got worried when it was floating around this morning. Not to worry when they float at the top as it is just an air bubble under their shell. I will sometimes grab them and place them in a deco to strop them from spinning when they get caught up in the filter output. thank u again will try the cucumber nowOne of my snails was floating around and still alive and I did your method and it worked.