Extra Large Turbos

[fatdaddy]

We all know the regular turbo snails that we buy by the dozen and put in our tanks.

I was at Petland and they had these giant 2" snails that they claim to be turbos. As they were grazing on the rocks with hair algae, I bought all three that they had.

They work! Oddly, they seem to prefer the rock to the glass, and they clean the rock before moving on.

But, what the heck are these? I haven't been able to locate them online.

 

[chaseracing]

They probably are large Turbos. Honestly though......Those 3 are all you will need in a 110. I have (1) in my 150 and a few small ones.

The big ones are awesome at keeping rocks clean. they eat everything! they also love to knock stuff over. They are big fat pigs that have no regard for landscaping or corals. They will mow right over them. Mine very rarely goes on the glass or the sand.

Did you pay about $4 each for them?

-=E=-

 

[fatdaddy]

$2.99/each - My rocks are looking a lot cleaner. My hair algae has been slowly going away anyway, but these guys are great. All my other turbos spend their time on the glass.

I'll resist buying more, but I was curious what they were.

 

[chaseracing]

That's a good price. They are usually 2.99 here when they are sale.

-=E=-

 

[Paintbug]

i have a zebra turbo thats over 3" in dia.. it is at least 3 1/2 years old as well. most turbo species will get big, which is the reason i was given the on i have. the previous owner bought it when it was small, and it out grew her tank. it mopped up the algae in my 75g in about 2 weeks.

 

[Bebo77]

lol... if you run out of dirty rock you can sell a couple of them off to.... lol

 

[kevin2000]

They are great cleaners ... but they are escape artists I would find one of them 3-4 feet from the tank on a regular basis ... fortunately they are very tough and can survive long periods outside the tank. However .. if one goes behind the tank and dies be prepared for a smell unlike anything you can image.

Edit

The other disadvantage of these snails is their super sized shells can knock stuff over in the tank and its common for them to get stuck between two rocks.

 

[gummi]

It's probably a Zebra or Mexican Turbo.

 

[Drix]

I got a zebra turbo about the size of a golf ball maybe a bit bigger. They rock as cleanup crew, and they're fairly hard to find. Good score! Maybe if you end up with little turbo babys you can sell em to the rest of us ;-)

 

[geekreef_05]

big turbos rule.

I have 3 as well. they live a surprisingly long time too.

I also have a 5 year old huge black crab thats almost scary.

 

[geekreef_05]

oh, and dont think that 2" is big...people say they'll get baseball sized.

 

[Grins]

Sounds like a zebra turbo. Mine is about 2.5" and loves the rocks.

 

[reefaholic101]

I have a couple of very large turbo snails myself.The only problem I have with them is that every now and then they knock some of my coral over.