Proper snail care

[dragonet123]

Hi, I'm new to SW aquariums, but I am planning to get some snails, so is there any special care for them? Thanks

 

[ErinCahir]

What kind of snails are you looking to get?

 

[dragonet123]

I was thinking about getting Nassarius snail and nerite snail.

 

[bronson]

Ive got cerith snails nassarius and Trochus.The cerith and narcissus bury themselves under the substrate and find stuff to eat within it and not sure wot my trochus eats to be honest but had it 2 years .he grazes on the rocks the glass etc but aint eating algae of any kind as i only have coraline and he aint touching that.i do place pieces of dried seaweed in the tank so could be eating this and whatever it finds on the rocks. in my opinion these are 3 decent snails to have.havent had nerite so cant comment on it

 

[Old Tom]

Nassarius snail will eat small pellets of food off the bottom of the tank, remeber that they will bury themselves in the sand and like t come out at night. As for and nerite snail they will scavenge off the rock and wall of the aquarium, they are famous for crawling out of the tank in search of food and then falling prey to the cold or dryness of room. So having said all of this, only have to worry about feeing the Nassarius if they are not getting enough to eat other wise, you will know as they will come out each tie you feed the fish.

If the Nassarius come out when you feed the fish just drop a few pellets of food in the tank after lights out and they will eat the food during the night, that is if you don't have star serpants-lol that is another issue..

 

[kbuser92]

Merited are worthless in my opinion. They hang out by the waterline in my tank. Nass snails clean the bed like they said. I like astreas and ceriths, too.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

Why would you feed snails? I know it sounds inhumane, but they are there to eat waste that builds up. If they die from staving, then you have the cleanest system. Waste of money and time feeding them

 

[kbuser92]

I don't think anybody suggested feeding, but they will eat leftovers, part of that detritus that you mentioned.

And ps, snails are living organisms, too, just like you and I. A life is a life no matter how large or small. I'm not suggesting we all get heartbroken over copepods or bacteria on live rock, but there's no reason to starve them when you know you could do better.

 

[2XAl]

I order the reefcleaner snail clean up crew for my 125 about once a year, dump 'em in and let the circle of snail-crab-star life begin...

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

Here is the snails I've murdered over the last year. I hope you pray for them. They are a disposable creature who have 1 purpose. To get into the areas I can't between cleaning the dt. :-)
ps, yes it was stated about feeding.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

See the little white things on the glass, asteria stars that are fixing to be ousted. They are up on the sps. When you read this, it will be in the process of disposing (killing) them. ;-)
Ps. Listen to mr. Saltwater tank tv, he actually states to not feed the clean up crew, as do other fourms.

 

[2XAl]

I can't get a gd harlequin shrimp to save my life right now and my asterinas are out of control. Down to 2 different zoa types... Mario come by when youre done with yours would ya?

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

I swear they jacked up prices on those harlequin in the past several months..

 

[kbuser92]

I see it, but nass snails will always come out when they smell food.

Asterinas are little starfish, the red ones can eat calcerous corals (mostly sps), but you probably have the red zoa eating nudis. Astrea snails will not touch corals, they are related to turbo snails (some sources call them astrea turbo snails) that graze on algae only.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

I see it, but nass snails will always come out when they smell food.

Asterinas are little starfish, the red ones can eat calcerous corals (mostly sps), but you probably have the red zoa eating nudis. Astrea snails will not touch corals, they are related to turbo snails (some sources call them astrea turbo snails) that graze on algae only.

I'm not going to waste to much time on this one, Google will asternia starfish eat corals. There's your answer.

 

[2XAl]

i see white asterinas on zoa polyps, next day, no zoas. I disagree with any argument that they dont eat zoas.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

Here is my personal experience with these non eating sps asternias. I thought it was an aefw issue, but I was wrong. This was 4 months ago, I was in disbelief until o pulled the coral out at night to find a star.