best kind of snails for starboard reef

[Dom]

its all in the topic

i just setup my new tank and realize i need snails, i was wondering what u guys whit barebottom prefere ?

[Spanky]

Greg and I are using a combination of astreas and ceriths. About two ceriths to one astrea.
They both eat different things, but that combination will cover all your bases.

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by Spanky
...but that combination will cover all your bases.

heh! ...no pun intended.


then again, I like to eat mine whole in drawn butter rather than chopped.


a little garlic in the butter as well...


btw, where HAS Don been (Cyberchef) ?

[Spanky]

Disclaimer: Tom's had a rough couple of days. First it was the dark beer, then a late night/early morning emergency. He's just the tiniest bit punchy.

[tdwyatt]

[jesspaul]

He's just the tiniest bit punchy.

You would have to be to eat a dertivior. I had a turbo snail die in the tank. I nearly died when I caught a wiff of it when it hit the air. As far as snails go anything but a turbo snail, they are the bull in the china shop in a tank with rocks less than ten pounds and frags.

[Dom]

tanks gys for ur answer , i think il go whit ceriths ans astreas , cerith are good for detritus ans astreas will do the job at cleaning the rock

[Dom]

hey spanky

after reading a couple of thread about snail , i realize that nassarius and cerith are quite the same , they both omnivor and good for detritus

do u think that nassarius could do a great job for barebottom ?

why are u prefering cerith ?

[Spanky]

I hate nassarius. LOL They are whelks and very few of them are true detritus eaters. They will do it rather than starve though. They are not good at working a sand bed at all either. Tend to bury and sit and wait until the next meal.
Cerith are true detritus eaters.

[DaveJ]

I have always preferred the Tiger Trochus to the Astreas. Just my opinion, but they are a more attractive snail and eat a ton. Astreas are slow movers and can tip over. Trochus can flip back over on their own. They are more expensive but I loved them and I have had them spawn in my tank. I had a bunch of baby trochus about the size of an eraser by the time I noticed them.

[MiddletonMark]

I have primarily Ceriths and Astreas. Do a great job IMO.

I also have the little snails from IPSF, they call them `strombus' genus but they're probably not. Anyway, stay quite small, reproduce readily in the tank, get into lots of nooks and crannies and are often on the glass.

I like them, but would caution to keep them out of the sump/fuge. They're small, seem to enjoy crawling into my skimmer pump [sump pump must crush them, as I don't have a problem there] ... requiring more regular cleaning of the skimmer pump to remove smashed snail pieces.

[icebear]

i have turbos astreas and strombus(the IPSF type)

[Dom]

what about a fighting conch for cleaning the bottom ?

[DaveJ]

Don't quote me on this, but I think a conch eat the sand and then digests it to get its food off it. Thats why you have little pellet sized sand piles behind them. I don't know if they could actually eat off a bare bottom or not.