Safe algae eaters?

[DJ_Z]

I had a dozen margarita snails, half a dozen astreas, six bumblebees and three mexican turbo snails in my tank along with a couple of larger hermits, one blue and one orange neon knuckles, as the core of my original cleanup crew in my 40 gallon breeder. All of the algae-eating snails in the tank are gone, and I have reason to believe the hermits are responsible. I have bought some sinking invert pellets to feed in an effort to keep them from attacking snails to eat, but I was also curious if the species mattered. Are there any snails I can keep that won't just be seen as new food by them? Or should I just increase my hermit crab population now that there are plenty of empty shells for them to inhabit later >.>

Thanks

Z

 

[Aquarian]

Lots of people remove hermits from their CUC for that reason. I don't think any snail would be safe if your hermits like escargot

 

[salt_for_brains]

I have always ran tanks with hermits. I am sure they have taken advantage of opportunities with a snail meal from time to time. I have never had my whole snail population decimated.

IMO, if I were to do one or the other--- I would run all snails rather than hermits. There are many different types of snails that have different jobs. They just do a better job of cleaning.

 

[ErinCahir]

I only kept the micro ones after a lot of trial and error. I love hermits but they love snails.

 

[BigDeal]

Large turbo snails seem too work for me.