floating snail?

im new to snails, and after keeping them for several months in my planted tank ive come accrost something i haven't seen yet. one is floating in the center on my tank, is this a good indication that it is dead? or is something else going on here?

I think his dead
None of my snails float, try smelling it dead snails smell really really bad

If its an apple or trapdoor snail, it could possibly have an air bubble trapped in its shell. We have one and when he floats we call him the "LEVATATING SNAILLLLL", just flip it upside down and that should force the bubble out. Or it could be dead, one or the other. (: just my advice

You should also get some saltwater calcium suppliment cause lots of snails shells erode after time and can kill them, was thinkin about our apple snail earlier and thought that could be useful to ya (:

the only time i have snails that float is when they are dead.. Usually it is when i have a tank that has been empty for a while and than i refill it and all the snails that were in the tank float up because they died off and their shell get replaced with air so when i fill the tank again all the snails that were in the tank float up...

My snails are malaysian trumpets...
I have been colecting all the nice sized snails i find... I figure they look good enought for some sort of jewlery..

this mystery snail is more mysterious by the moment, no odor, when manipulated no bubbles. i can definatly pick up some calcium supplements thanks for the tip lars, he seems to come out when i have the lights off for a while but stranded in the center of the tank

Smaller pond and ramshorn snails will crawl upside down on the water surface. It really looks odd........Is it floating mid level or what level in the water column?
I have heard of a mystery snail playing in an airstone, he would crawl up to it and get swept up by the bubbles, land somewhere and do it again..... They can be.... unique sometimes.

its at the waters surface

Upside-down? Looking like hes crawling on the glass but on the water surface? If so thats normal and nothing to be concerned about.
You may want to increase the surface agitation though, if snails can cling to it your probably not getting decent gas exchange.

it is rightside up,, i'll redirect my output nozzles and see where he is at later tonight

Hmm Got me stumped! Keep us posted so we all can learn from this!

how about a picture?

depend on what kinda snail it is.... i have see some let go of the bottom on the tank and rise all the way to the top....trapped air i think in the shell...but if they smell very fowl and you will know when you smell it then they have passed..

Its clung to the glass once more. So no longer floating, if he lets go ill take pictures. But I'll still keep an eye on this one .

Make sure the PH is not low.
Acid erode the shell.

My mystery TRIES to float, but she's too big now. She does do this kind of side float thing when she is on the bottom, or I take her down to feed her, but she will press those bubbles out of her shell eventually. One way I can usually get her to come out of her shell is to hold her in my hand under water, or hold her up against the glass.

Also, if you want a good cheap shell supplement, get some cuttle bone (bird stuff) and use a cheese grater to make it powdery (works better if you get it wet first), and put about 1/2 tsp in every 2 weeks or so. You can also just bury half the cuttle bone in the substrate. I can't believe how much better my snails shells look just because of the extra calcium.

Like stated before, they will smell terrible when they are dead, and you will know.

My malaysian trumpet snails float on the surface ALL THE TIME, and so do my ramshorn quite often. The only ones that never float are the assassin snails.

dkpate wrote:My mystery TRIES to float, but she's too big now. She does do this kind of side float thing when she is on the bottom, or I take her down to feed her, but she will press those bubbles out of her shell eventually. One way I can usually get her to come out of her shell is to hold her in my hand under water, or hold her up against the glass.

Also, if you want a good cheap shell supplement, get some cuttle bone (bird stuff) and use a cheese grater to make it powdery (works better if you get it wet first), and put about 1/2 tsp in every 2 weeks or so. You can also just bury half the cuttle bone in the substrate. I can't believe how much better my snails shells look just because of the extra calcium.

Like stated before, they will smell terrible when they are dead, and you will know.

My malaysian trumpet snails float on the surface ALL THE TIME, and so do my ramshorn quite often. The only ones that never float are the assassin snails.

to add: seashells, CC, even empty snail shells can add calcium to the water.

my snails float often! and eat the floating food, till they reach a wall again and or roll from the filter

coral or shell is much safer to use than cuttle bone. The cuttle bone erodes too switly and can mess with your parameters.

I use cuttle, and have for over a year, and it changes nothing with my parameters. But do as you want, I have never had a problem.

snail update: running around on the glass with no apparent problems, has not floated since the first and only episode, ive add some crushed coral to my canister filter to buff up my calcium, makes me think about keeping africans again.