snails in salt water tank
- Thread starter shjuho
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Smonkey15
Aquarium Advice Freak
i know two things about snails. one, you dont have to feed them or anything because they just eat algae and stuff in your tank. two, i have astrea snails, or i should i say i used to, and they suck. theyf all off the glass and can't get up so my crabs ate them. i know there is some other kind of snails that can right themselves if they fall over and are less likely to get eaten by crabs. i started with 12 snails and now have 0!! they were all eaten. i'm sure someone else will know what the better kind of snails are that can avoid getting eaten. but just keep that in mind so you dont make the same mistake i did!
steve
steve
Biggen
Aquarium Advice Addict
Snails are pretty easy to take care of. Some feed off detritus that falls to the substrate when you feed the fish. Others are herbivorous and eat "bad" algae within the tank. You normally don't have to do anything specific to keep snails. Just need to make sure you have the proper pH, temp, and SG that you would keep fish at. This is basically all most snails need. You should make sure that you actually have algae for the herbivores to eat before buying them. If you don't, then they may starve to death. This is only a problem with newly setup tanks. There isn't an established tank out there that doesn't have enough algae to support a normal sized snail population.
If you are talking about diatoms and algae, there are a few snails that can take care of your problem. These include:
Haliotis sp. - Abalone
Trochus sp. - Trochus
Astrea tecta - Astrae Conhead
Turbo fluctuosa - Turbo
If you want some snails that will eat detritus then here are some more choices:
Nassarius vibex - Nassarius Snail
Cerithium sp. - Cerith Snail
Thelionfishman
Aquarium Advice Regular
Hi,
I know what you mean . Get four Turbo Snails (Turbo Fluctuosa) for every 20 gallons you have. This will help keep your glass and other goodies clean. Snails eat what ever they can eat so don't worry about them dying, but you must make sure you have the proper water levels!
PH 8.2-8.4
GRAVITY 1.023-1.024
AMMONIA 0
NITRITE 0
NITRATE 0
Having a good environment will keep your snail alive for a long time. Hermit crabs tend to pick on your snails until they kill them. Just have two small hermit crabs at first and see what happens. If you snail stop moving check you gravity level!
I know what you mean . Get four Turbo Snails (Turbo Fluctuosa) for every 20 gallons you have. This will help keep your glass and other goodies clean. Snails eat what ever they can eat so don't worry about them dying, but you must make sure you have the proper water levels!
PH 8.2-8.4
GRAVITY 1.023-1.024
AMMONIA 0
NITRITE 0
NITRATE 0
Having a good environment will keep your snail alive for a long time. Hermit crabs tend to pick on your snails until they kill them. Just have two small hermit crabs at first and see what happens. If you snail stop moving check you gravity level!
Thelionfishman
Aquarium Advice Regular
Hi,
I noticed that when the salt level drops a great deal snail do not move at all. When I add salt slowly to bring up the gravity, snails starts to move. If your gravity is 1.023 and it drops down to 1.020 or below in such a short time, the snail will react to this. I check all my tank every week for gravity and water levels. I always have all my tanks at 1.024 and they stay this way even when I make water changes. I have snails as old as two years old in most of my tank. I'm not saying I don't lose any I do, but it's rare to see one dead on the ground. I place a small non-toxic dot on the snail to know how long it's been in the tank.
In all my tank I must have at least over 100 snails, I just brought five the other day to be place in a new aquarium for dwarf seahorses.
Good Luck!
I noticed that when the salt level drops a great deal snail do not move at all. When I add salt slowly to bring up the gravity, snails starts to move. If your gravity is 1.023 and it drops down to 1.020 or below in such a short time, the snail will react to this. I check all my tank every week for gravity and water levels. I always have all my tanks at 1.024 and they stay this way even when I make water changes. I have snails as old as two years old in most of my tank. I'm not saying I don't lose any I do, but it's rare to see one dead on the ground. I place a small non-toxic dot on the snail to know how long it's been in the tank.
In all my tank I must have at least over 100 snails, I just brought five the other day to be place in a new aquarium for dwarf seahorses.
Good Luck!
Thelionfishman
Aquarium Advice Regular
Hi,
I only put small hermit crabs in my tank and I do not see them going after the snails. Sometimes the hermit crabs needs a larger shell and this may be the reason it's attacking the snail to get it's shell. But if you put some larger shells in the tank I know you will have snails that will be picked on. You can get small empty shell from any pet store.
Good Luck!
I only put small hermit crabs in my tank and I do not see them going after the snails. Sometimes the hermit crabs needs a larger shell and this may be the reason it's attacking the snail to get it's shell. But if you put some larger shells in the tank I know you will have snails that will be picked on. You can get small empty shell from any pet store.
Good Luck!
Biggen
Aquarium Advice Addict
Shjuho wrote:
Yes, that is way too low. In fact, that is too low for anything in the tank to survive. The SG needs to be in the area of 1.023-1.025.
Yes, that is way too low. In fact, that is too low for anything in the tank to survive. The SG needs to be in the area of 1.023-1.025.
Your Lfs was wrong id say, i heard that its is god for fiishes to have a low SG, like 1.021, looks like its better for them and keeps them from having deceases, but 1.017 is definetly too low for anything to live long...
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