Nassarius killed my new turbo

B

Bremmon

New member
I have had 3 Nassarius snails for many months. They get along with everyone in the tank and do a great job a scaveging.
Today I wanted to increase my clean up crew a little so I bought three snails (1 turbo and 2 astreas) and a coral banded shrimp.

No sooner did I add the snails and shrimp to the tank when my Nassarius snails made beelines towards the turbo and killed it.
They then went after the new astreas and I finally had to move the astreas to higher ground (since nass's are lousy climbers) in order for them to get some peace as they were constantly being molested by the astreas.

Anyone else experience this? I know that Nass snails will go after things dead or dying but to go after all three of my snails doesn't seem to make sense.

In addition, the Nass snails leave the other astrea snails I have alone (these were snails purchased at the same time as the Nass snails).

Any insight would be welcome.
 
That seems VERY odd unless the turbo was already dead or dying. I've always had alot of nassarius and have never had any problem with them whatsoever. I've never seen them touch or bother anything that wasnt already dead.
 
I haven't seen this either and they don't bother anything else. the turbo was trying to get away but it was surrounded. Then they went after my new astreas. It's almost as if they didn't like the things I bought from this pet shop which was very reputable.
 
Possibly whelks, not nas snails. They look very similiar.

As stated above though, Nas snails will go after things that are dying.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13030235#post13030235 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty8
Possibly whelks, not nas snails. They look very similiar.

As stated above though, Nas snails will go after things that are dying.
Click to expand...

Agree, probably a whelk and not a Nassarius.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13030235#post13030235 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty8
Possibly whelks, not nas snails. They look very similiar.

As stated above though, Nas snails will go after things that are dying.
Click to expand...

Agreed! I was going to post the same thing
 
Yes, they look similar and love to eat snails and clams. Best to get it out of there if you can.
 
Ebay has sold dog whelks as nassarius snails. A nassarius is related to the whelks, or is one, but eats only carrion and detritus. Whelks kill other snails for a living. The one way to be sure you've got a nassarius is to have a pure white one...at least in my experience: real nassarius do come in brown streaks, etc, but go for the white ones at your lfs, and skip Ebay.
 
I have 5 big Nassarius in my tank. They will eat the snails that are dying. I had a few turbo that would keep falling off the rocks and eventually they would fall off and not turn over and along comes the nassarius. I never have to worry about any critter or food fouling my tank...:D They are the Dr. Kevorkian of the snail world

Here is a pic of one of mine. The shell is a little over 2" long:

<a href="http://s263.photobucket.com/albums/ii141/novak_psu/reef/?action=view&current=P1010102.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii141/novak_psu/reef/P1010102.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
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Um, that's not Nassarius. That's Babylonia. They're generally scavengers, but sometimes attack live animals.

I suspect the OP's snails may not be Nassarius either. Several other species of whelk are often sold as Nassarius (which are also whelks). There's also a resonable likelihood that the new snails weren't doing that well. There's no way to really look at them and tell. There's also some evidence that a few species of Nassarius may actually be predatory on occasion.
 
Definitely Nassarius and not whelk. All three of mine are pure white and are very fast. Interesting. Guess we'll see what happens. I have other astreas these guys don't touch. New astreas still living and eating well since I transplanted them to a new rock that the nass's couldn't get to. We'll see what happens when the new astreas make it to the tank floor. I'll keep you all updated.

Thanks for the replies.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13031671#post13031671 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bremmon
Definitely Nassarius and not whelk. All three of mine are pure white and are very fast. Interesting. Guess we'll see what happens. I have other astreas these guys don't touch. New astreas still living and eating well since I transplanted them to a new rock that the nass's couldn't get to. We'll see what happens when the new astreas make it to the tank floor. I'll keep you all updated.

Thanks for the replies.
Click to expand...

Does it have spots on the snout?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13030212#post13030212 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by VacavilleFC3S
maybe they smelled yummy
Click to expand...

I agree with Vacaville :eek: Do a search on Reef Central for "Nassarius killed" or "Nassarius ate" or something similar and see what you find.

Cheers,



Don
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13031233#post13031233 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
Um, that's not Nassarius. That's Babylonia. They're generally scavengers, but sometimes attack live animals.

I suspect the OP's snails may not be Nassarius either. Several other species of whelk are often sold as Nassarius (which are also whelks). There's also a resonable likelihood that the new snails weren't doing that well. There's no way to really look at them and tell. There's also some evidence that a few species of Nassarius may actually be predatory on occasion.
Click to expand...

:eek2: That is twice my LFS incorrectly identified something. Imagine that.

I read where it is not good with clams. I have two maximas on the rocks that he cannot get to. Should I leave these things in or take them out. There is not a whole lot of info on them.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13033007#post13033007 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul_PSU
:eek2: That is twice my LFS incorrectly identified something. Imagine that.

I read where it is not good with clams. I have two maximas on the rocks that he cannot get to. Should I leave these things in or take them out. There is not a whole lot of info on them.
Click to expand...
It's not really your LFS's fault, as these mix ups are very common from suppliers.

I lost a beautiful crocea clam to whelks in less than 24hrs.

Immediatley after that I pulled all 20 of them out of my tank. I'm only going with the Super Tongan Nassarius Snails from now on.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1421580

Greenbean or Sk8r... any additional info you would like to provide on that link would be great. As I wasn't able to find a whole lot of info regarding whelks.
 
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