Bumble bee snails

[taryn2185]

I was looking for what I've come to see reffered to as "A clean up crew" and I found bumble bee snails...are they a bad idea? I have a 55 gal. tank so how many of any kind would I need?

[kidafius]

bumblebees are some of my favorite snails. if you get a good deal on them, they are fantastic.

[taryn2185]

I thought they were sort of cute...well for a snail. I just don't want them or the fish to get hurt...if that is possible.

How many should I get? I have a 55 gal. tank with 8 small fish. Do they need a deep sand bed?

[clownin around]

I love these little snails I have two. I have a 58 gal tank with 14 snails of various parentage. IMO get a variety they all prefer certian algeas and detritus. The bumble bee snails I love because they get in the nooks and crannies of the live rock and dont seem to create as much waste as my Astra snails. Most people have more snails then me though. If I see the need as my tank contiues to mature I will add more as needed. I would say get ten to 15 snails and then see if you still are seeing algea. If so get a few more accordingly. I do not have a DSB and they seem to be doing just fine! HTH

[ddcboys]

Clownin is correct IMO. Diversity is the best. It also depends on how much rock that you have. More live rock the more bumblebees that you should have to get into the crevases. HTH.

[mrmarine]

yes bumblebees are cool but mine are sooo small i want to get like 20of them
but i really like them b/c i never have to pick them up after they fall off something like my stupid turbo snails cuz they never fall and can get int hard to reach places.

Mr. Marine

[utahcutter]

I've been wanting some snails too. Would they do all right on a bed of CC? Future plan is to replace the CC with LS but that won't happen for a bit. And which ones will it that nast hair algae?

Bumblebee snails are mainly for detritus/carion and more of a predator than a beneficial tank cleaner. For nuisance maco algaes, a good snail would probabley be a margarita snail. As with all types of algaes, the best method of eradication is removal combined with natural predators and ensuing you use a pure water source. Most will ignore out of control algaes or be ineffective at eliminating them if too long. It is very important to keep it manually cropped as well....

Cheers
Steve