Snails from ebay

Ilyanassa obsoleta are temperate snails.
Their lifespan will be greatly accelerated (read: shortened) in a tropical reef aquarium.
 
These snails aren't really any cheaper than Nassarius .... which are a very commonly sold tropical snail that's appropriate for reef aquariums with a sandbed .
 
I've never seen Nassarius snails that cheap. Although I would rather buy Nassarius snails, they're expensive at my LFS. 3 for $5! Even with shipping included on these obsoleta snails, it would come out to 3-4/$1
 
I purchased 200 hundred of those same snails of ebay and within a month i noticed horrible red slime break out most of them died. The spike in the tank killed a clown and a lawnmower blenny and not to mention i havent got rid of the slime since ...it been 4 months...so ull be happy with ur purchase for a bit but be prepared for them to die fast. Take gary's advice and stick to nass snails much more hardy and worth the extra penny. I wish i never bought those....plus i only have about 50 left out of 200 ....pull them now and put in a ur fuge or sump so u can at least pull the dead ones before they burry themselfs...JMO but we all tend to learn the hardway with these things.
 
I don't know why "Super Tongan Nassarius" wouldn't survive in a reef aquarium- they appear to be a tropical species.
I also don't know why you'd want to add these snails to a reef aquarium- they need a DSB to burrow into.... and their burrowing activity defeats the purpose of a DSB. (anaerobic zone)
None of these burrowing snails are my cup of tea.....
get some Stomatella.
 
I'll keep everyone posted on my findings with these snails, Hopefully it works out... I do have a sand bed and they do burrow in there. I don't see how they would cause red slime, but i'll keep an eye on it.. I thank you all for the advice!!
 
well they will die and there dead bodies will cause red slime...ull see they are not hardy at all i know from expierence and few people all with the same issues but like said before we all learn the hard way......also do u have a deep sandbed? if so that what gary said is true ur defeating the purpose of having it if those snails are diggin down deep.I have a half inch sand bed and they are great to stir it up but deep sands beds are not to be disturbed that much......Pull them out asap and put them in ur sump or fuge. Was a bad impulse buy for sure and when they start dying ull wish u never had them in ur tank....most of what people say on here is out of expierence and not just random advice....good luck
 
By the way, Tonight I noticed about a dozen small baby snails cruising around my tank.. Obviously there reproducing... none have dies thus far.. I'll take some pics this week..
 
I was watching a sandy beach loaded with hundreds (thousands?) of these snails last week (Delaware Bay area). They can withstand very warm water (it was mid 80's in the surf) and were out of the water on wet sand under 90+ degree sunshine during low tide.
After watching them closely they seem very durable.
Interesting note: Diamondback Terrapins (a saltwater turtle species) eat marine gastropods but avoid this snail species because of the difficulty in cracking their shells.
I watched a Terrapin cruise right by them.
 
the ones that died were never on the surface most were buried.....and it took 1 1/2 months or so to notice the empty shells......but had a big break out of red slime right before i noticed.......also had lots of baby snails ....so hopefully youlll have better luck...i still have a bunch of them prob about 50+ so it wasnt a total wash but had bout 100-150 die.........i would still never recomend them ...
 
Looks like you have to spend a lot of money to get free shipping!
The best snails can be found locally. There are folks with reproducing (algae eating) Stomatella and Cerith.
It's a little more than a buck for a "cone head" at the LFS here- and I see they are starting to offer Ceriths.
IMO it's worth the extra change to get a Turban or Trochus "grazer". "Mud snails" like Ilyanassa aren't really my cup of tea, but I'd get Nassarius.
 
You might to spend alot to get it $125, but just think about the competition makes you pay $50 for shipping and some even make you pay $10 for hot/cold pack, and get this, i have to throw this out there, made me kind of laugh KeyCritter who has a great product with poor CS, makes you pay the $2.50 paypal charges, even when i was goin to spend $200 dollars, thout that was kind of wierd. My point is you are buyin alot of snails, but you are saving $60 dollars if you do, and this isnt a business hidden fees trick, it was well worth it, just my two cents
 
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