Anyone know anything about abalones?

[laura]

I found this snail at my lfs that they called a "Teakwell Snail." After searching I found nothing on that common name but I did find a picture of something that looks a lot like it at

http://www.photovault.com/Link/Animals/Aquatic/lGastropods/show.asp?tg=AALVolume01/AALV01P01_15

basically, it looks exactly like a snail, has antennas and a sucker mouth, it is about 3" in diameter, and its shell is shaped like a flattened cone that sits on its back with a beautiful mother of pearl look to it. This site calls it an abalone.

I keep a 37 gal seahorse tank that I plan on putting some soft corals in (xenia, mushrooms, polyps, gorgonians, etc., only seahorse safe stuff) and I want a starfish (non-aggressive, possibly a linkia). Would an abalone be safe in this environment, and would its tankmates be safe with it? I have been looking and I really can't find a whole lot of info on KEEPING abalones, just EATING them. Any help anyone?
laura

 

[Peabody]

Laura, I'm sorry I can't help on the snail, but I strongly urge you to skip the star. True blue linkia stars and other simlar orange and red stars don't do well in small tanks. They usually slowly starve and die after about 6 months because we cannot provide the foods they need. In tanks of several hundred gallons they can somtimes do well because of the hundreds of pounds of rock.
If you want a star, go for one of the more safe serpent stars or brittles. Feed them and they'll do very well, but avoid the specific brittle stars that have a bad rep.

Best of luck on your tank, it sounds great!

 

[RooFish]

I've had an abalone for a while now, and they do great as an algae eater. The thing to check for to be sure its an abalone is holes in the back of the shell. if it doesn't have any, its not an abalone. Also, make sure you get a tropical one, since the coolwater ones will die in a tropical tank. As for care, mine never bugs anything, and mostly just hides in the corner during the day, and cruises the glass all night. Make sure theres some algae for it to eat, and it should be fine. No special care that I've had to do, and none that Julian Sprung talks about in the inverts book, he just says to be careful not to hurt them if you pick them off of the glass. Hope that helps.

 

[RooFish]

Oh, as for the rest, sounds good, but I think Peabody's right. Linkias and other such big stars might starve, but brittles and serpents are fine. My serpent is pretty cool, and likes to eat krill when there's nothing else for him to eat.

 

[laura]

Well SHOOT! I thought I'd figured out the little guy but I saw no holes. I saw a pic of what the holes are supposed to look like and I really don't think I could've missed that. So does that mean it is a limpit? What about limpits? are they dangerous to my system? Man! I wish I had a dig. cam. and I didn't live an hour away from the lfs. Thanks for the info guys!
laura

 

[laura]

Oh, and I hadn't done any research on the linkia, it was just one that i saw and liked. I always do my homework first. So, okay, no linkia. I'll find a good one, maybe a sandsifting star, but they are so drab, I don't know what a serpent star looks like but I'll check it out.

 

[Kevomac]

Laura,

Where do you live in the DFW area that you have to drive an hour to get to the lfs? There's lots of them around. Where did you see this snail? Not all of the LFS's are reputable around here, and some will really rip you off! Let me know if I can help!

 

[ridetheducati]

Caught in the act ...

Caught in the act ...

You be the judge.

 

[laura]

Kevomac,
HeeHee! Well, I have to drive an hour to get to THIS lfs I've never seen anything like this little guy at the closer one. Still, I only know of 3 lfs around me, so if you can tell me some more I'd love to see them. I'll PM you with the ones I know of.

RTD,
does that mean that the abalone is munching the coral or sleeping on it. Hmmmm, looks kinda shady to me

 

[ridetheducati]

That is a Limpet in the pic. I wish he was sleeping. The limpet ate all the Zoo, hence the white area, and did not disturb the polyps.

Banned to the refugium.

 

[LotR Clown]

limpets

limpets

I had limpets before and they do attack some corals. The ones I had like creeping xenia. So the went to the fuge too. They breed too so if you had 2, you will have more. HTH

 

[BlennyBabe]

Try searching for a teak Welk snail. We get those at work. They are reef safe and they eat a lot of algae. They look like huge astrea snails. HTH