Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Howdy all,

Its getting time for me to snail up my tank. I want to buy some turbo grazers. I have a few places in mind to buy them from, but before I made my purchase I thought I would get some opinions first.

So, where you buy your snails from?

How many snails do you think a 29 Gallon tank needs?

What kind of snails do you recommend?

I think the turbos are on sale right now at etropiclas. Best place by far to order from as far a quality and customer service (check out feedback for Dr Foster&smith, liveaquaria, & etropiclas - all same company) The build-your-own packages has free shipping over $60. These people are the only ones I order livestock online from.

I've always wanted to try http://www.keyscritters.com/

Going in on a bulk order with them is well worth it, but they do not carry the trochus snails. Just compairing etropicaly for instance.

Cerith snails at etropical are 1.20 per snail.
Keyscritters are $.40 in lots of 25 or $.26 in lots of 100

100 Astrea snails for $39 is a good deal also.
Etropical sells them for 1.20.

So for 100 cerith snails and 100 astreas it would cost $39 + 26 = $65 plus shipping from keyscritters.

With Etropicals you are looking at $120 for 100 cerith and $120 for 100 astrea which is $240 and you don't have to pay any extra shipping charges.

I've never ordered from either of these places but have heard good things from the etropicals camp, good customer service. With the price savings I'd be willing to try keycritters though. Too bad they don't have any trochus.

You asked what kind of snails to go with.. IMO the best snails out there are the Trochus snails. There are a few variations of trochus but all seem to be decent. These are the guys that can flip themselves over when they fall which is a big bonus.

I would like to know why snails have such a low mortality rate. It is quite ridiculous why I have purchased hundreds of snails and the only three live ones where not purchased at all.

Oh and hermits are not much better but do seem to live longer overall.

Here is an article that on page 7 says Trochus niloticus can live up to 20 yrs. Obviously our tanks are not the right environment for these snails. I'm sure change of ph, temp, salinity, and many other things shorten their lives. Stray voltage has been known to be a problem also. Some things like cyano and dinoflaggeletts can kill them as well.

The Trochus niloticus looks to be the common red banded trochus that is available to us. I've had the worst luck with those, but the ones who do survive have survived the longest. If I buy 6 of them usually only 1 or 2 lives, but they outlive other snails for me.

http://www.deh.gov.au/coasts/fisheries/ ... ssion.pdfl

I think it is population management that helps. If you buy too many at once, you are almost guaranteed to kill them. Try adding a few at a time. I realize that is more expensive in the short term, but it will save you money in the long run. some of my snails have been living for 8 years. I have about 20 in a 75 that have gotten quite large, too. At normal densities, they won't eliminate algae like the giant 100 packs do, but they can make it manageable.

I was thinking along the same lines. People get tons to take care of an algae problem but when its gone the snails die, causing another spike which leads to more algae. That wouldn't explain why I can never get trochus to live though. In a 135 I would expect 10 of the trochus to do fine, considering I usually only have about 15- 20 snails total.

An example of snails dieing when they run out of a food source is the giant mexican turbos I had. I had some nice red turf algea that only these turbos would eat, and did they do a job on it. The problem was that when it was under control 90% of the snails would die.


Those big packages that I listed are good for people in clubs like this. It doesn't take much to get 3 or 4 people together who could use more snails. I will in about a month and a half.

I have ordered from http://www.reeftopia.com twice and was happy with them. You can get a dozen turbos for $10. I thought I heard that you need at least 1 snail per gallon of water. On my last order I got 200 snails (100 pack of turbos and 100 pack of astreas). And even though I have a 150 it really didn't look like overkill....especially once they start hiding in the rocks. And you will have die off anyway. So I think you would be fine if you get about 50.

See yall at the park this weekend....there may new comer or two....maybe a new puppy!

I bought snails once, only five then. I never had any in my 55 gallon and the 5 I bought for my 125 have all died and never been replaced. I also have maybe 5 hermits in the tank now, I have only bought those once also and I believe I only bought 10 of those. I started to buy some bumble bee snails because of how they looked but didnt get them.

I've only got about 5 Trochus snails, have had them for 4 years or so. I like Ceriths as well, they don't do as well but can get in the smalller areas. And don't forget the Nassarius, the best for detrius on the sand. 3 or 4 of the big ones would be good for your tank. They'll also take care of any snails you lose. The Turbo and Trochus snails will get large if they live for a long time, and can get in the way, depending on what corals you have.

I haven't really ever understood adding so many snails at once, buy them as you need them.

Mine are all Caribbean Astrea spp. snails. I have always had good luck with them. The usual turbos don't live long because they are a temperate water snail. Expect a few months at best. I can't explain the trochus spp., because they usually live very well and even reproduce. We have some trochus in the 240 at work that have been there as long as I can remember and are about 4" across!

I have one Trochus snail that is huge. Where can I get more ???

With being in mobile I think Fat Fish is your best bet. Since I only make it to progressive once every 6 months and have never been to B&B I don't know if they carry them, but I know Fat Fish does. Most places in Pensacola don't carry them either, or often.

We do not get in Trochus spp. snails (though I guess we can). We are pretty much limited to Astraea, Turbo, Stomatella, Nerita, Nassid, Strombid, and (assorted) Cerithiacean snails (occasionally cowries, like Cypraea moneta). We have a few unsuitable ones, as well, including cool water Turbo, and Tegula (margarita snails). I advise against these. If people stop buying them, my superiors will stop ordering them.

Wow... you guys carry nerite snails. Not many people carry those. Not many people want them. I think they are a great fuge snail. Where do yours come from? I could collect locally but I don't think they will survive the temps our tanks run.

I use to work with the ecosystem restoration section of the Florida DEP and we planted emergant salt marsh plants.. Juncus and Spartina. We had to collect the spartina and they were covered with the nerites. I tried them in my fuge at one time but they didn't last too long.