what eats Stomatella snails

[hotelbravo]

A few months back i added about 20-30 stomatella snails to the tank, they were doing great but recently i havent seen any of them i feel like something in my tank is eating them

i do have a few small hermits that could be the culprit or maybe my snowflake eel but thats all i can think of.

 

[shred5]

A few months back i added about 20-30 stomatella snails to the tank, they were doing great but recently i havent seen any of them i feel like something in my tank is eating them

i do have a few small hermits that could be the culprit or maybe my snowflake eel but thats all i can think of.

I never see mine except at night. there population grows and decreases pretty fast based on available food.

 

[cloak]

I had a peppermint shrimp that was eating the smaller Stomatella snails in my tank one time. I couldn't figure out what all these small shiny shells on the sand were until I caught the shrimp in the act. Are you seeing any empty shells scattered about? If not, try checking the tank at night with a flashlight. GL.

 

[Betta132]

They're fairly nocturnal, check at night.
I don't think your snowflake would see them as food, it's probably not the culprit.

 

[hotelbravo]

i do not see shells all over the place and i very frequently check the tank at night. i work nights for weeks and when i come home (still dark) i like to have a look everywhere with the flash light. i used to see them day and night all over the place but nothing. i looked for maybe an hour last night throughout the tank not a single one spotted. i had some really big ones in there too.

 

[ThRoewer]

There is a multitude of animals that go after them:
- carnivorous snail
- Shrimp
- Hermit crabs
- Crabs
- Fish, especially wrasses.

The best way to keep them alive in a system is a refugium without fish and shrimp that might harm them.

 

[The sea slug]

I have loads of stomatella snails, and sometimes I can't find any. It's true that they have huge population swings... My hermit crabs don't bother them though.

 

[hotelbravo]

well i can try adding some to the sump but right now im breeding trochus snails down there. ive got a few hundred baby trochus that are roaming the sump. i found two trochus that were spawning in the display tank and moved them to the sump to continue their spawning so that way there wont be predation on the babies in there.

i do have some glass shrimp i caught wild to feed my eel they could be the culprits but i might be leaning towards the cleaner shrimp being the issue. i added 10 of my largest trochus babies into the display a few days ago and watched him pull one off the rock and start to pick at the snail.