Help with Snail Anxiety

[NancyT3]

Hello my reef friends, Please hold my hand and talk me through this. As a freshwater convert, snails were a pest. I associate them with mass multiplying and never being able to rid myself of them once they came in unannounced. Now I have ordered snails on purpose to put into my saltwater tank. How do you know how many to add? I have a 140 gal, and have 3 anemones, a thriving tuxedo urchin who is enjoying his algae bounty right now, a diamond goby, a damsel and two clown fish, and 5 hermit crabs, red and blue. Today I receive a shipment of fish from Dr Reefs (SO EXCITED) and will add in a longnose hawkfish, two angels, paired, and 5 royal grammas. (I know I know... I'm probably adding too many at once). I have a refugium with Chaeto and a "crap" ton of other algae and wormy things and who-knows-what growing in a mess.

So I was going to add two snails to the refugium. Refugium size is about 12 gal (In the AF-200 Alpha fuge sump) Should I add snails to the DT? I was planning on adding 8 snails to the DT. I just dread it. I don't want to starve my urchin.

What are your thoughts?

Tank was set up Apr 20, so it's about 12 weeks along now.
As always - appreciate you and your experience.
Nancy

 

[griss]

What kind/type of snails are you going to add? Or better yet, what is your purpose of adding the snails? Are you having algae issues?

 

[NancyT3]

Well.... I do have algae growing faster than the urchin can consume. And multiple types of algae. My glass has an olive haze to it at all times.
The snails arrived and look clean and clear. Just adding snails as part of a CUC. They are 10 Trochus snails.

 

[griss]

Trochus are a good all purpose snail for algae on rocks and glass IMO. I'd start with your Trochus and see how they do. IME, you'll still need to clean the glass occasionally.

If you're having problems with a particular algae, post pictures of it and we'll help you identify how to get rid of it.

 

[NancyT3]

Ok I added them 8 in the DT and 2 in refugium. Snails entered the ring with great joy and peril. My tux urchin took swift action to find one and climb on top of it. Sea Urchin 1, Snail 0. It's a brutal world. Everyone else is doing great in the tank. I look forward to less algae.

 

[shred5]

I know there are rules of thumb for snails but it really depends on how much there is to eat because they can starve.
You will also have too always clean the glass.
I like a mixture of snails. different snails prefer different algae.

I like conches for the sand. Also cerith snails for sand and lower glass.
Rocks I like stromatella or limpets.

After that astraea, trocus snails for the rest.

 

[five.five-six]

Yea, SW is different than FW. In FW they multiply and you end up with 1 Godzillan tiny snails you can never irradiate. In SW, you have no such problem. SW snails are large and don’t multiples in a tank typically. Mostly what they do is knock things over and eventually find their way into your overflow system which makes your display tank overflow gallons of water onto your floor, burns up your return pump and kill everything in the tank.

So yea, go ahead and use snails. You got nothing to worry about.

 

[NancyT3]

Yea, SW is different than FW. In FW they multiply and you end up with 1 Godzillan tiny snails you can never irradiate. In SW, you have no such problem. SW snails are large and don’t multiples in a tank typically. Mostly what they do is knock things over and eventually find their way into your overflow system which makes your display tank overflow gallons of water onto your floor, burns up your return pump and kill everything in the tank.

So yea, go ahead and use snails. You got nothing to worry about.

Yikes!! ha!