little_fish
Moderator
ah, yes I like firefish too
My First Aquarium and DIY Skimmer
- Thread starter hachadwick
- Start date
hachadwick
Pilot
I have a little concern. If you notice in the picture with the fire fish, my rocks are really clean! They used to be covered in the green algae but since I started the refuge and added the turbo snails, it seems to have gone away completely. My refuge has a lot of green algae in it and the C. algae is doing fine also. Will the snails starve with the large amount of algae? I am going to give my dad two of them in about 3 weeks when his tanks finishes cycling. What do you all think?
little_fish
Moderator
do you mean they will starve from the lack of green algae?
Yes, they can starve, I gave away all of my turbos for that reason. So if you feel like there isnt much for them to eat, its fine to give them away or you could move them to fuge that has that algae growing
Yes, they can starve, I gave away all of my turbos for that reason. So if you feel like there isnt much for them to eat, its fine to give them away or you could move them to fuge that has that algae growing
hachadwick
Pilot
Will they eat all the algae in my fuge thus destroying the fuge? I thought I wanted algae to grow in there?
little_fish
Moderator
they wont destroy the fuge, normally you just want your choice of macro algae to grow in there
hachadwick
Pilot
I will move two of them down there then. That way they will have some stuff to eat. Thanks
slwedge71
reef enthusiast
Your fuge will be fine as Little Fish said. I had to move 2 of my mexican turbos down to mine. I believe the rule of thumb for turbo's is 1 for every 5 gallons of water. Now how to figure in your other snails I haven't figured that out. Been giving away some of my CuC to a friend that is starting out. I kind of went nutz with snails, hermits and turbo's when my hair algae problem occurred.
hachadwick
Pilot
Right now I just have 4 turbos. No other kind. I'll move them to the fuge. They are gonna pig out.lol
little_fish
Moderator
1 turbo for every 5 gallons in absurd, they require quite a bit of algae and can easily starve in a tank. Most tanks will be fine with just a few.
slwedge71
reef enthusiast
Took that right off an aquatic website. Will have to go find out which one.
little_fish
Moderator
I very rarely trust place that are trying to sell me things, they are more often than not trying to sell me stuff with their bottom line in mind than my tank and the health of the creature they are selling.
slwedge71
reef enthusiast
I see you have trust issues !!
little_fish
Moderator
I have seen far too many critters being given inadequate care because of bad advice from a store.
slwedge71
reef enthusiast
Turbo Snail (Astrea):
Turbo Snails are the basis of any successful reef aquarium cleaner crew. They move around removing algae and diatoms from your tank and will polish your live rock to pristine condition. If a turbo snail flips over in the aquarium, it will often be unable to turn itself back over and will die unless the aquarium owner assists it in righting itself. These little guys are one of the first inhabitants you should add to a new reef aquarium as they will control the growth of algae as the aquariums Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia levels stabilize.
This is coming from: Reef Safe Snails For The Reef Aquarium
This is coming from: Reef Safe Snails For The Reef Aquarium
little_fish
Moderator
Cools site, but I dont think anyone on this site with any serious amount of experience would recommend having one turbo for every 3 gallons, although having one giant turbo for 10 gallons could be true in a tank that has a serous algae problem but then you probably have bigger issues to figure out and should be worrying about that, not buying snails.
My thoughts on buying snails: buy them to match your algae issues, not a formal
My thoughts on buying snails: buy them to match your algae issues, not a formal
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Not Mexican turbo snails. You must be thinking of nassarius or astraea snails. I'd say for Mexican turbo snails, you should have about 1 per every 25 gallons. They eat a lot and will starve to death quite quickly if they run out of food. If you don't have a lot of algae in your tank, but your clean up crew is large, you are better off taking some of them back to the store before they starve. Then just add more snails as you need them in the future.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Slwedge, you are confusing two completely different types of snails here. Astraea turbo snails and Mexican turbo snails are two different types of snails.
This is an astraea snail, the one referenced in the description you just posted:
They stay small (notice the description calls them little guys) and they tend to stay on the glass. Their shell comes to a point on the top. Your clean up crew should consist of a lot of these - 1 for every 5 gallons is reasonable for ASTRAEA turbo snails.
This is a Mexican turbo snail:
It is much larger than the astraea snail, their shell comes to a point on the side, and you should only have a couple in each tank because they are algae devourers. 1 per 25 gallons is reasonable for MEXICAN turbo snails. These guys get softball sized, and tend to stay on the rocks. They are very different from astraea snails.
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Bifferwine
I am a girl
Here is more info on the two types of snails:
Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Mexican Turbo Snail (Build Your Own)
Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Astraea Turbo Snail (Build Your Own)
Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Mexican Turbo Snail (Build Your Own)
Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Astraea Turbo Snail (Build Your Own)
wontonflip
I failed Kobayashi Maru
Even IF you were to follow their advice of 1 per 3 gallons (which I have to agree w/ fish and biff is not a good idea), it says specifically
A good mix is best, limiting the number of turbos. Nassarius are good to have a lot of. Mine are all beasts! They move rather quickly when food's involved :mrgreen:
Judging by chadwick's tank, those turbos would starve quickly.
hachadwick
Pilot
Wow, I missed all the fun here. I'll add one comment by saying I have a 50 Gallon tank and I have 4 turbo snails in there. I had full algae coverage on my rocks. Now, about 2 weeks into haveing 4 turbo's, I have no algae at all! I just put one turbo in the fuge, but I can tell he'll be done eating in about a day down there. Looks like the pet store may get two of these guys back:)
