# Dead snail smell- GET IT OFF!



## DesmondTheMoonBear (Dec 19, 2011)

erghghghghghhhh.....don't even remind me about my experience with a 4 day old dead baseball sized applesnail...I still get the shivers when I see large aquatic snails.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Can't you use the same trick to get skunk smell off? Try tomato juice, or mouthwash?


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Can you smell the dead snail smell from your tank? Or does the water like mask the smell so you can't tell? I always wondered if a nerite got stuck in the cholla wood and died would I be able to smell it in the water?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Wash your hands with vinegar


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## kurosuto (May 20, 2009)

I had to clean my gfs one month worth of rotting blue mystery snail...when I picked up the shell, some slimy glob slid out of it...it was putrid as hell. Cant and don't want to describe it... 

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

diwu13 said:


> Can you smell the dead snail smell from your tank? Or does the water like mask the smell so you can't tell? I always wondered if a nerite got stuck in the cholla wood and died would I be able to smell it in the water?


I've read that you can smell them from the water, but I never do. I've been trying to rehabilitate the snails by putting them in a floating guppy breeder, but they end up dieing anyway and I can't smell them even if I stick my nose directly over the breeder. Once I take them out of the water and they dry out a bit, though- OOHHH BOY, watch out!

If a snail dies in the tank and you don't notice it, the other snails (especially MTS) will usually eat the body. You usually won't get a serious ammonia spike, but it can bump up your nitrates.


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## Zefrik (Oct 23, 2011)

Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Lemon juice is great for taking the fishy smell off your hands...


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## jone (Nov 27, 2011)

Shout laundry prestain soap..the foam kind..I do not know why it works on many fishy smells but it does work...another choice is rubbing alcohol...


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## splur (Nov 26, 2011)

How big are your ramshorns.... I've got like an infestation in my tank, but they're tiny (1/4 of a cm) and can't really grow big because of the soft acidic water.


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## jedimasterben (Aug 21, 2011)

Ever smelled a dead anemone?






















Don't.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

i once got in an order of 4000 nerites, all dead. Imagine that stench


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

jedimasterben said:


> Ever smelled a dead anemone?
> ...
> 
> Don't.





msjinkzd said:


> i once got in an order of 4000 nerites, all dead. Imagine that stench


I'm good, thanks.


The ramshorns were purchased two or three weeks ago, and they are all breeder-sized at over 3/4" in diameter. Which makes seeing these giant beauties die even worse. :icon_frow


Here's my list of destinkifiers so far:
Tomato juice
Mouthwash
Vinegar
Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda (mixed?)
Lemon juice
Shout laundry prestain soap

Lemon juice, mouthwash, and Shout sound best to me because I like the way they smell, so maybe they'll cover up the stink even if they don't actually neutralize it.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

I just washed my hands with some Shout "Triple Action" stuff. I rubbed/scrubbed my hands together like I was putting on hand lotion. It wasn't oily _per se_, but it did have a thick, slipperyish texture. After a minute or two, it seemed to have absorbed into my hands, so I washed it off twice with regular handsoap. Now my hands are nice and soft and don't smell nearly as bad. I can still smell snail on one or two fingers, though.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Fishly said:


> I've read that you can smell them from the water, but I never do. I've been trying to rehabilitate the snails by putting them in a floating guppy breeder, but they end up dieing anyway and I can't smell them even if I stick my nose directly over the breeder. Once I take them out of the water and they dry out a bit, though- OOHHH BOY, watch out!
> 
> If a snail dies in the tank and you don't notice it, the other snails (especially MTS) will usually eat the body. You usually won't get a serious ammonia spike, but it can bump up your nitrates.


Ok that's good then. I was afraid I would come back from school one day and smell like rotting corpse smell in my apartment. Glad you can't really smell anything due to the water! Whew! The shrimp will make quick work of the dead snail then so no worries ! Thanks for your help!



Fishly said:


> I just washed my hands with some Shout "Triple Action" stuff. I rubbed/scrubbed my hands together like I was putting on hand lotion. It wasn't oily _per se_, but it did have a thick, slipperyish texture. After a minute or two, it seemed to have absorbed into my hands, so I washed it off twice with regular handsoap. Now my hands are nice and soft and don't smell nearly as bad. I can still smell snail on one or two fingers, though.


Haha, you should cut your nails and wash your hands next time!

So what was it that stunk your hands up? Contact with the water? Or because there was a dead snail on the underside of the leaf and you brushed that.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Yeah, as long as they're in the water, they don't smell that bad, but once they come out, it's unbearable. If a snail ever crawls out of the tank and dies you might come back to a condemned apartment.

By the time I got to the Shout wash, I had already washed my hands 5-6 times. And when I put the snail in my hand, I placed it on the "palm" of my middle finger, on the bone between the last two joints. The body of the snail was long enough to reach the cracks between my middle finger and the two fingers next to it, which made it kind of drip between my two fingers. I don't think it got under my fingernails, although I certainly washed there. I like letting my nails grow out, and they didn't really smell, so I didn't think it was necessary to cut them.

Thankfully, the smell seems to be gone now.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Luckily they'll have a hard time climbing out since I have a canopy !

Ok, so contact with the water won't stink up your hands if there's a dead large snail in the tank? Only contact with the actual dead snail will?


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Contact with the water might make your hands smell, but washing once or twice with regular soap should take care of it. It's the oil-based smells that really seep in that you need to worry about, and you won't get much oil on your hands just from putting them in the water. 

There are other things that will stink up your tank, though. Algae usually smells pretty bad. So does anaerobic substrate. And I don't know if it's just me, but aquatic plants in general don't smell very nice. Anything water-based that rots in the tank will probably make the water smell.


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## Redflame (Dec 4, 2011)

Fishly said:


> For those of you who have never smelled a dead ramshorn, think Fiber-One bar farts


Thank you for the laugh.


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## ucantimagine (Jan 8, 2012)

ewww yall make me not want to have any snails. lol


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

I just had a huge blue mystery die on me, I tried getting it out with tongs, dropped it. Snail particles EVERYWHERE. Took a while to turkey baster it all out, the whole room started to smell. It smells similar to a rotting plant bulb with white fungus/bacteria growing on it, but with something else added...


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## Vancat2 (Jun 23, 2010)

i live lakeside, and now and then big snails die and wash up on the beach. WORST SMELL EVER!! Our friend's dog rolled in it- hahahaha


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## ucantimagine (Jan 8, 2012)

lol just when you wonder why they call em dogs! My Pomeranian rolled on a dead squirrel once.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Redflame said:


> Thank you for the laugh.


Yeah, Fiber One does some bad things to the atmosphere. Kind of like Mexican food- it tastes great, but it hurts you later.


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## anh (Jul 20, 2009)

lol it remind me of a time when one of my buddy grab a dead ramshorn snail thinking it was empty and the same thing happen to him, the smell would not come off for the whole day.


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## Lucille (Jun 15, 2010)

Fishly said:


> Here's my list of destinkifiers so far:
> Tomato juice
> Mouthwash
> Vinegar
> ...


Lots of good bourbon.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Why would I wash my hands with good Bourbon? I'd rather drink it and forget the smell entirely.


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## ValMM (Feb 22, 2011)

Tomato juice alone doesn't destinkify anything. Vinegar is what is used by people who keep skunks for pets, but don't remove the glands.


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## Lucille (Jun 15, 2010)

Fishly said:


> Why would I wash my hands with good Bourbon? I'd rather drink it and forget the smell entirely.


Wash your HANDS with bourbon?


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## beginragnarok (Dec 19, 2011)

jedimasterben said:


> Ever smelled a dead anemone?
> 
> 
> 
> Don't.


LOL.
I tried to eat one at a sushi bar once, it didn't stink at the time but the consistency was totally discuting!

*y U no serve pulledporkburgers!*
*[insert appropriate troll meme....here]*




Seriously though I lost a Zebra Nerite Friday night/Saturday morning and when I removed it Saturday... I set it's corpse on a paper towel. the water/guts seeped through the towel onto my table and I had to use vinegar water (poor people Windex) three times to nullify the stench somewhat. AAAAWWWWFFFUUUULLLL! Gag.


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## Laura (Nov 18, 2010)

Lucille said:


> Wash your HANDS with bourbon?


oh no no! never wash your hands with bourbon! you drink the bourbon until you forget about the smell! I've used hydrogen Peroxide and vinegar to get most organic smells and stains out... It should work pretty well.

ETA: Also used the liquid that comes in the home dry cleaning kits with good results. Removed RED lipstick out of my very light carpet before. a whole tube met a 2 year old.... nuff said


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## jreich (Feb 11, 2009)

Craigthor said:


> Lemon juice is great for taking the fishy smell off your hands...


 +1 on that. use that after fishing all the time.


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