Snails snails snails

[Spotted]

OK so I got my snails in yesterday. 10 XL cerinths, 10 turbos, and 20 nassarius. They were slow dripped for 3 hours then dropped in the tank at about 10pm yesterday.
I watched them for a long time last night. The nassarius critters, most of them took off either digging in or zipping around the tank. A lot faster than I expected for a little snail. Entertaining to say the least. The cerinths slowly came around and dug in. No fun. Haven't seen them since. Of the turbos, I've only seen 3 move at all. 1 moved like 2 inches and 2 others have taken to the top of the tank, half in water half out.
Question time. Are the turbos Ok! Do I have to worry about the snails crawling out of the tank? I do not have a cover on the tank. There was 1 Turbo upside down, will they be OK if flipped or will that kill them? Any and all suggestions and advice greatly welcomed!
Thanks!

[Mpfaff77]

It will vary in all tanks. But I have always had trouble with turbo snails staying alive. Turbos can turn themselves over but if I see a flipped snail I always flip them. Don't worry about snails going out of water. Mine do all the time. If I had to recommend species i Would say Tronchus snails are the snails that work best for me.

[carey]

Thats a good amount of clean up crew! 10 turbos is quite a lot! LOL They should all be fine as long as you have enough food to feed them all. Turbos are algae eating machines but have a tendency to knock things like rocks and corals over since they are just bulldozers. LOL I have a line of snails at the water line in my tanks, perfectly normal. I did find a nerite snail the other day OVER the rim of the tank, but thats pretty rare.

I also flip over any snails that are upside down, just common courtesy LOL!!

[joy13]

Most places don't recommend drip acclimation for snails. I have ordered snails before and followed these guidelines ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Acclimation
How big is your tank? I have one turbo in my 55 that I sometimes have to take out because there isn't enough algae in it for him. Turbo snails shouldn't have a problem flipping themselves back over if they are healthy.

[Spotted]

Really? Good line up? Im confused. Most places you order these things from recommend staggering numbers based on gallons in the tank. For example, they recommend I have 120-240 nass snails for my tank. Are they saying that would be the whole crew or just part of it. Would I not want other critters like hermits and crabs? I was just about to order another 100 nass snails just because of their size.
Oh also, most if the turbos (7) have not moved since they were added. Should I just be patient or is there a problem?
Thanks for the advice everyone.

[carey]

Nassarius snails dont eat algae by the way so if you had that many you would have to feed them. lol

I am a BIG fan of the nassarius snails, I have about 40 in my 125g and that is more than enough. Retailers for some reason always recommend way more cuc than is necessary in my opinion. Just see how the ones you have do and then you can always add more later.

[Spotted]

Oh man I just read that link. I was just following the directions that came with the snails.

[Spotted]

Hey guys my turbos have still not moved should I be concerned. Except for the 3.

[carey]

Doesnt sound good unfortunately. I think they should have moved by now. If you pick them up does the snail stay in the shell? I had a dead turbo once and his body actually fell out of the shell.

[Spotted]

I will check once I get home...

[joy13]

Ok warning you now if they are dead they are really going to smell really REALLY bad. I was really stupid and had to put one up to my nose a second time as if the first time wasn't bad enough.

[Spotted]

LOL!! Thanks for the warning..

[Spotted]

OK so 6 of the 10 are dead. Really bad smell and the foot fell off one as I took it out of the tank. As for the 4 survivors, 2 have been at the water line since the morning after I put hem in the tank and the other 2 have moved nly inches from where they were.
What are they supposed to do? I figured they would go around the tank cleaning up the algae that has grown on the glass or at least on the rocks or something. I got plenty of algae for them.
They are not living up to their name.
The little nassarius booggers are all over the tank, and fast too!
The cerinths are really boring. I catch a glimpse f one every now and then, but for the most part, they live under the sand.
Any suggestions on the turbos and what I should maybe replace them with?

[Mpfaff77]

I say Tronchus. They are fast. Cool looking shells too

[DigiDave2002]

I drop some algae wafers for mine. When I ordered mine from reefcleaners I was told about the three day wait. I had a hit the sand wait. The second they hit they went to work, moved etc. You can see if the algae wafers or seaweed planks work for sustaining. The key is what every said; try not to over due it.

[TeamTrash]

Did you check the salinity of the water they came in and compared it to your tank? I managed to kill all my snails when I went on vacation for two weeks and didn't tell my neighbors to top off the water as it evaporated. It wasn't a whole lot that was gone, but it was enough to kill all the snails. Fish and crabs did great, though.

[DigiDave2002]

Good point on hyper or hypo-salinity.

[TeamTrash]

Originally Posted by Digidave

Good point on hyper or hypo-salinity.

Thanks Learned that one the hard way

[DigiDave2002]

Depending on how long they in the were the bag; the ammo build up could have killed them even with slow drip. I tossed mine in without any acclimation.

[Spotted]

The snails were shipped dry except the turbos that were wrapped in wet paper towels from reefs2go. The only water they had was what was on them when they were pulled out of the tank.