Cheap Reef Cleaners

[johnmaloney]

I am currently have the following items for sale or trade:

Snails:

Zig Zag Periwinkles - $.20
Cerith Snails - $.30
Nerite Snails - $.45
Dwarf Planaxis Snail-$.50
Fuzzy Chitons - $.75
Black Ribbed Limpets-$.35

(Not the dangerous key hole limpet. Check Advanced Aquarist for an article on this by searching with the keyword "limpet". These eat algae, and cyano.)

Snail Primer

Name Tank Position (Listed in their preference order)

Cerith Snails --- Substrate, Rocks, Glass
Nerite Snails --- Rocks, Glass, Substrate
Dwarf Planaxis Snail --- Substrate, Rocks
Fuzzy Chitons --- Rocks sometimes glass
Black Ribbed Limpets --- Rocks, sometimes glass

All of the snails eat diatoms, algae and cyano. (I will begin a list snail enthusiasts can work on in the invertebrate section- link coming)

Plants:

Red Mangrove Propagules (approx. 8 inch seed)- $1

Nice Refugium plants, (mangroves are true plants and not macroalgae) that do not "go sexual" and threaten your ph like macroalgae, grows very slowly and can be used as a banzai tree afterwards, or in a display refugium. Both have green leaves despite their name, which refers to their root color.

The snails will be small to medium. I will send extra snails to cover the possible deaths that may occur during shipping- instead of an Arrive Alive Guarantee. Shipping on this one will be through either Express Mail or UPS Next Day, (our choice), because of a delay problem with shipping I recently had. I think its the holidays. The packages did arrive, but it took longer than the 2 days USPS promised so I want to go with guaranteed shipping this time. This is good for you too, because if the package is late, there is a possibility I can get the shipping refund and forward it to you,- especially since shipping is the biggest cost) Local pickup is free if order over $10, otherwise we probably won't do local pickup because of the cost of gas and logistics.

Sorry, but we can not make special shipping arrangements. We are sorry, but the confusion will cause problems.

The cost of shipping is $33.00 and that includes the heat pack. Shipping for Mangroves Only is $6. Depending on where you live Mangroves may or may not come with heat packs.

Trades:

I will trade for macroalgae, rarer marine snails, and breeding snails. Nemastoma will get you far. Livestock trades will have to be in the future, probably in February. (Time enough for some of you to grow out that algae and have some for me...?)I am planning a move in January, and will have to clear out the tank at some point. Unless of course you have an extra powerhead, we can do that right away. Or a protein skimmer....or a wave machine....I am getting in over my head at this point.

If you have any questions about the species, I would love to answer them even if you aren't interested in purchasing them.

[Fly Guy]

if you trade for some decent sized astreas and can give similar good pricing, send me a pM, I could then be intrested in a decent sized order of both them and ceriths.

[johnmaloney]

I will try to do that. Will let you know if I find any astrea snails. If you find anyone looking for ceriths with additional astreas let me know.

[Fly Guy]

to be sure on what I am calling a decent order if you do get them just in case you think im a talking about hundreds..........ill buy 100 astreas and 50 ceriths. Ill give you a preprinted/prepaid fed ex label to ship.

thanks and let me know.

[eliteaqua]

where are you in florida

[johnmaloney]

I am located in sunny south florida.

[scootman]

I sent you a PM. I'd like 25 Cerith & 20 Nerite.

[johnmaloney]

Deleted this message.

[scootman]

Well hopefully I made the cut off. I sent the PayPal payment and then visited this thread.

If so, then great...I'm looking forward to my snails. If not, then I'm also looking for some blue leg hermits and some Mexican Red Leg hermits.... Probably 20 of each.

[boalady]

Are you going to be getting any more? I was wanting about 50 of each, maybe more.

[johnmaloney]

Dont worry Scoot, yours are in the mail, and should have been at your house by now, USPS said guaranteed by 3 today. Let me know.

[johnmaloney]

Found out there are restrictions on blue legs so I have to check that out before I send any. I know you can't collect them without a Marine Life Endorsement from FWC, but I dont know how the buying/trading and selling thing goes. I will have to look into it, I would hate to get in trouble over a few dollars. Also not sure if I can ship them with USPS, the snails were apparently okay, but I dont know about crabs.

[scootman]

Thanks John,

The snails were waiting for me on the front porch. Thanks for putting up with all my questions. Let me know if you get the hermit crab situation resolved.

Thanks again. All arrived alive...

Scoots

[johnmaloney]

It turns out that it is legal to trade for them and sell them under the license. We know a guy who is interested in trading for them, but because we would have to give him so many snails, it wouldn't be worth the trip for us unless the crabs went for $.50, and their was substantial interest. PM me if that sounds like something you would be interested in, (not just scoots), and maybe I will do that. Maybe it will happen in a month or so., depends on interest.

All the Best,
John Maloney

[scootman]

John,

Here is my situation. I have a 75 gallon reef tank which is struggling against hair algae. I've read so many threads and opinions that my head is spinning. I'm convinced that my problem began with an inadequate custodial crew, to work my substrate and Live Rock, so I've been buying extra snails and hermit crabs. My goal is to defeat this hair algae naturally and prevent it from happening again. If you have any critters which would be helpful, then I'm open to suggestions.

By the way, I'm very satisfied with my prior purchase and I appreciated your patience with me.

Thanks,
Scoots

[johnmaloney]

Just a few questions to a get a better idea:

Where is the algae located?
What does the algae look like? (Is it really hair algae....)
What kind and how many (approx.) cleaners do you have?


All the creatures in this post will eat hair algae, the trick is to make sure you get enough of them, and getting at the right spot. Lower light will help, (but don't kill your coral), water changes may also be beneficial depending on your levels.

[johnmaloney]

I checked out your tank specs. You should probably get another 50 snails or so to keep algae away for good. Let me know where the algae stays, and I will figure out the best way to attack it. (Glass, Rocks, Substrate)

All the Best,
John Maloney

[scootman]

I have not visited this thread in a while, so sorry for the delayed response. I seem to have the most problem in the back right hand corner and the front left hand corner. The problem mostly is on a few pieces of the liverock and the substrate surrounding it. I have another thread (with pictures) going. Just do a search with my screen name and look for the one titled "Yet Another Hair Algae Thread". You'll also see the feedback I've been given. I'm working on the mechanical devices (courtesy of Santa Clause) and I'd like to now focus on the natural/biological items. What I'm desperately wishing to avoid is "cooking" the rock. Just doesn't make a lot of sense to me quite yet. Besides, I rely on that rock to help keep the water "in balance", so removing the rock might cause more problems.

Let me know what critters you have which can be beneficial and I'll get some from ya.