Snail Poll

[Anonymous]

I've had turbos, astreas and limpets. The limpets bread more often in my tank. Also, you don't have to worry about them bulldozing any of your corals off their mounting (although this has not been a problem with any other snails I have). I think the astreas and turbos eat more algae.

 

[Anonymous]

I use astreas and margarita snails. I have tried the big ol' mexican turbos but they always die on me.

 

[Anonymous]

I have had Astreas and Turbo's...The Astrea's and sometimes the Turbo's cannot right themselves once they have fallen upside down...if you don't notice and leave them, they perish...so I spend a small amount of time turning over snails! The Astrea's can NOT right themselves at all. The Turbos eat LOTS of algae, but do grow large and your rocks need to be stable. I too lost a lot of snails at first, until the last couple of times I've gotten them. At first I was acclimating them much as I would a new fish...3 to 4 additions of tank water, etc. However, the last two times I've gotten snails, I've acclimated them over a LONG period of time...VERY slowly...and they have all survived. I believe they are as sensitive to salinity change as starfish and that acclimating them extrememly slowly makes a huge difference for survival. FWIW...I also have two Emerald Crabs and a Sally Lightfoot and boy do they LOVE algae...they also seem to do no damage elsewhere. Hope that helps.

 

[Anonymous]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of different hermits?

scarlet/emerald/blue etc.

 

[Anonymous]

In my tank I have found no major differences in the hermits other than color...and that the blue-legged hermits seem to fight on occasion for shell occupancy. Blue hermits will, on occasion, even kill snails for their shell. It is important to always have an assortment of empty shells in your tank for hermits to move into as they grow to decrease the fighting. Hermits kill for shells! For me, blues seem to be the more aggressive, reds/scarletts seems to be the least hardy, and left-handed hermits seem to be the most peaceful.

 

[Anonymous]

As far as advantages I an attest to the bubble algae eating emeralds. Had a nice crop that was mowed down by an emerald. He's a pretty cool guy to watch always picking away at other types of algae on the rocks. A lfs here had a pretty bad valonia problem in their 800 gallon he dropped in over a 100 of the "green troopers"

and they totally cleared out the problem. I have blue legs and astreas as well. Haven't had a problem with turf wars as far as the blue legs taking over snails shells. Although I do have extra shells for them to move in and out of.
Later Cash

 

[Anonymous]

I have had astrea, turbos, cerith and trochus snails... My favorites by far are the trochus. They cleared much more algae off the rocks and glass than the others. The ceriths pretty much stayed in/on the substrate.

SeaMac

 

[Anonymous]

I currently have turbos, nassarius, cerith, nerite (margarita), and astrea.

Different jobs, I think.

You have got to love the nassarius. Small. They live in the substrate most of the time. When you feed the tank, they all come out (looks like a mass raising of the dead...) Busy...good detritivores.

Cerith are good on diatoms, small too.

Astreas are good all around.

Turbos kan be kinda big, and knock things over. (well, sort of.. how much damage can a snail do?)

Nerite are O.K... small, roundish. Some say they try to get out of the tank, but mine have not tried too hard.

Hermits? I hate blueleggs. Way too aggressive, though good algea eaters. I prefer the scarlet hermits, seem much more mild natured.

Black & white hermits - jury is out for me. Had them a few months, and they get bigger than I thought, but so far no problem.

Bumblebee hermits - bluelegg food.

'zebra' hermits. Forget where I got these (I.A.?), but again bigger than I thought, though seem safe.

Sally lightfoot. *the* best algea eater in my tank. (Next to purple tang) This sucker never stops. Picture of it here:
http://people.ne.mediaone.net/strichardson/reef_sally.htm

babling,

Steve


[This message has been edited by Steve Richardson (edited 25 February 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Steve Richardson (edited 25 February 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

Which of the snail species have successfully reproduced in your aquariums?

All feedback welcome.

Joel H

------------------
Castles made of sand fall to the sea, eventually.
---Jimi Hendrix

 

[Anonymous]

I Have heard all of the store's opinions on their snails but I want to know what you guys use. Any favorites, any must have's, any no-nos?

Also interested in anyones personal "rule of thumb" for the species they use.

The time is drawing near and I am starting to think about stocking my tank. I would really like a few of everything and prbably will. I just wanted to know which I should focus on.

One last thing at what point should I add the snails (and hermits etc.)? Is there a telltale way? When the nitrates are almost undetectable?

Thanks again

Matt

 

[Anonymous]

I have astreas and left handed hermits. All snails survived for over a year now. They ocassionally knock over my small prop experiment rocks. Over all moderate efficiency.

Left handed hermits: some die off over year but I suspect intraspecies predation. A couple have gotten about 10X their original size while others have remained small. Eventhough I feed tank moderately, they seem to be feeding on coralline, especially the good dark purple stuff. Added some various sized shells for them to grow into. The 'King' hermit will attack and bully any smaller ones that come near.

No signs of any nuisance algae in main tank due to clean up crew, but plentiful in my ATS/refugium area that is devoid of hermits or snails.

 

[Anonymous]

Any place I can find some pictures of these different type of snails... I am thinking of trying some , but want see what they look like before I buy em. Email me if you can guys cause I probably won't check this post or remember to. Thanks!!!

 

[Anonymous]

For detritus eating I love my Nassarius snails. For algae eating I like the trochus snails. They look just like the astreas but they can turn themselves back over if they fall on their back.

Steve,
Is the sally lightfoot "reef safe"? Does it harm anything in your reef tank (corals, worms, snails, etc)?

 

[Anonymous]

I like nassies but so do my hermits

Mark

------------------
see my tank at
members.xoom.com/golfish1/reef.htm

 

[Anonymous]

For great cleaning i like trochus and keyhole limpets.My 75 has an assortment of janitors such as...about a 100 of the small limpets,and still multiplying..a few astreas and turbos,several cerith snails,a couple of the checker board looking 1s and 1 lonely margirita.Crabs =red,blue,scarlet,and left hand.1 huge red brittle.
The limpets are multiplying faster than any snail i've had so far.Was hopeing to see some new ceriths,but no luck so far.
Tommy

 

[Anonymous]

Tommy,
Where did you get your limpets?

I like the idea that they multiply.

 

[Anonymous]

I have turbos, nassarius, cerith, margarita, abalone, trocus and queen conch and NO hermit crabs. I like my snails and my coraline algae so I leave the hermits to other people. IMHO the trocus are by far the best all around snail but IPSF is the only place that I have found them and they are not cheap. I raised my own from his trocus snail larvae and from my experiance don't try this at home.

I also have had snail survival problems and after reading Dr. Ron's article I now know that it was an acclimation problem so when you get snails go REAL slow.

 

[Anonymous]

Where do you all get your nassarius snails? I've got astreas and ceriths and maybe a turbo or two. I've wanted some nassarius for awhile, but cannot find anyone locally that supplies them...

liquid

 

[Anonymous]

I order my nassarius from www.premiumaquatics.com They are very reliable and the prices are very good. They also carry other kind of snails if you'd like. In my opinion.. if you're gonna order one thing.. might as well order a few other things you might want/need in the future as well.

 

[Anonymous]

MFisher
I got the limpets drom a guy that was getting out of the hobby.Bought 30 lbs of LR,all his crabs,snails,shrooms and 3 trumpet corals for $70,couldn't pass that deal up.He must of had atleast 400 limpets in his 40 gall!