Banded Tulip Snail, Triton Snail???

[aromantis]

Hey, I was wondering about where to get these species. I've seen the tulips in Florida, and I think they're awesome. I'm aware that they feed on other snails and clams and stuff like that. I would probably keep them in a small 20 gallon species tanks, depending on how big they get. Does anyone know anything else about these snails, like how big of a tank they need, how deep of a sand bed they need, and where to get them? Any help is appreciated.

 

[jhildebrand]

Check with Ken at sealifeinc.net. Florida collector/rock farmer. If anyone would have access it would be him. They're not collected for the hobby, so I think this would be your best bet...

 

[pagojoe]

I think jhildebrand gave you a good suggestion for obtaining them, assuming you aren't going to be in Florida to collect them for yourself. The biggest tritons feed on echinoderms, as do some of the smaller ones, and the big ones get way too large for a 20 (or 250, probably). The banded tulips stay small enough for your 20 and won't need too much sand bed, but you'll probably need to limit your tank population to one or two. Feeding them may get expensive unless you live in an area where you can collect food species for them. You may have to experiment with different snails and clams to see what they can effectively predate on (I don't suggest the "margarita" snails, or Tegula species, since almost none of the predatory snails can eat them).

Good luck, should be a cool species tank,




Don

 

[aromantis]

Thanks for the help. And yeah I knew that some of the tritons got to be like 2 feet, I was just wondering about smaller species, if there are any. I think I'm leaning towards the tulips, only because I hadn't really thought of the price of food. Starfish are a little much, but I know there are places online where I can get cheap snails and such. I think I'd probably only have one in the tank, and maybe a few fish and the like. If they can't eat margaritas and tegulas, would that make those two species good for algae control. I do know an awesome beach in Florida, where I've seen them there and actually eating clams that had been washed up onto the shore. (I also found a sea cucumber, a sea slug, a small octopus, and various clams and other snails.) I could probably get a tulip there, but seeing as how I live in CT, I'd really have no way of getting it back. Once again, thanks for the help.