Turbo Snails

[Altohombre]

I thought that turbos were supposed to go crazy all over the rock and glass. There are days when I barely see my turbos move from behind this one rock where they like to congregate. I see my 6 dwarf blue legged hermits do a lot more work on algae than these lazy turbos do.

 

[Bifferwine]

Like any animals, turbos can be hit or miss. I've never had a turbo snail that will eat algae, but others on here swear by them.

 

[reeffreak]

Mine did a number on all the hair algae in my tank.They are GREAT!

 

[yote]

All I've found turbos good for,is knocking my corals off the rocks.If they have ever touched any algae,I've not noticed it.

 

[RoyalT]

Mine seem to do fine, but I only catch those lazy bleeps working at night once the lights go off.

 

[RoyalT]

Wait until your lights have been completely off for a few hours then check again with a red hazed flash light. You will see them creeping around like a gangster.

 

[Altohombre]

would they come out when my 2 blue actinics are on or do you think just when its dark. I do see them from time to time, but I just don't see them nearly as active as my hermits.

 

[Piggy]

Mine are on the go all the time. Are you sure you got turbos? One of my LFS listed astreas as turbos.

 

[Altohombre]

Astreas have cone shaped shells right? These are roundish and black with some silver on them. The snail itself is kinda blackish. It isn't a Mexican Turbo, those were .20 cents extra, that I couldn't seem to manage at the time.

 

[reeffreak]

I hope you didn't get Margarita Snails.Those are sometimes sold as turbos.Its a cold water snail that usually fry to death slowly over time.

 

[UnderwaterWorld]

according to Biff :)

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, it sounds like you may have bought margarita snails, which are usually collected off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. So yeah, they usually are really lazy in reef tanks and slowly cook to death. Rarely do they live longer than a few weeks. Unless they are in UWW's tank :).

 

[Altohombre]

I am not saying your wrong but my LFS is very knowledgeable and has a larger freshwater section that has snails and these were clearly in the saltwater section. The guy who sold me them is actually the guy who sets up peoples tanks for them and is on the road doing maintenance to tanks.

 

[Piggy]

Can you post a pic?

 

[Bifferwine]

Margarita snails are saltwater, not freshwater. They are just found in cold water, which is why they don't survive in our tanks.

Do they look like this:
Saltwater Aquarium Snails for Marine Reef Aquariums: Margarita Snail

Or this:
Saltwater Aquarium Snails for Marine Aquariums: Zebra Turbo Snail

 

[Altohombre]

neither one, the shell is black with a streak of silver on it.

 

[Altohombre]

hmm they kinda look like the margaritas on this site Saltwater aquarium snail page: Astrea , Trochus, Mexican Turbo, Nassarius, Bumble Bee, Cerith, Nerite, Abalone, Queen Conch I guess you guys were right. One of them did die within the first couple of days. The others have lasted 16 days so far. My temp is about 77 degrees.

 

[Bifferwine]

That would explain why they are being sluggish and lazy. They are just slowly cooking. I have no idea why stores sell margarita snails. Most do not come from a reef environment and cannot survive water temperatures that our fish and corals demand.

 

[RyanG]

Alto its time for escargo! Eat them they're gonna die anyway!

 

[Altohombre]

what do you suggest that I do with them? Do you think the store would buy them back?

Unfortunately the guy who I always deal with just left the store because of differing opinions on how things should be done. Otherwise I would have had no problem returning them. Should I just wait and see if they die or not. They actually seem to be active today. However, now that I think of it they do like to go to the top of the tank where they can be slightly out of the water.