What snail is this really?

S

slam308

New member
The LFS said these were Astrea snails, however, everything I've read said they don't get bigger than an inch or so. Any idea what they actually are?

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r258/slam308/Picture053.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r258/slam308/Picture055.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r258/slam308/Picture056.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r258/slam308/Picture057.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>
 
Sorry 'bout the poop. I've asked them to use the back corner, but they don't listen very well!

LOL, a sentence I never thought I'd say...Wow, I just saw the snail take a crap!
 
Thanks Graveyardworm.
I was sure it wasn't an astraea. Now if I can figure out what my "blue leg hermits" without the blue legs are.
 
Thanks Lpabsolute,
Man, they are impressive. They don't move much at all during the day, but when I got home from work today (and the lights were on) I saw they'd even cleaned the two loc-line things I have to improve flow. I'm hoping they head to the glass next, it's filthy.
Will they continue to only move at night, or will the get bolder once they get comfortable in the tank? They've been in there 5 days.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9016872#post9016872 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by slam308
Thanks Lpabsolute,
Man, they are impressive. They don't move much at all during the day, but when I got home from work today (and the lights were on) I saw they'd even cleaned the two loc-line things I have to improve flow. I'm hoping they head to the glass next, it's filthy.
Will they continue to only move at night, or will the get bolder once they get comfortable in the tank? They've been in there 5 days.
Click to expand...

You will find them foraging more during the day as time goes by, on the glass and your live rock as well. Make sure everything is glued down solid as this snails can be quite the buldozers. I can't tell you how many frags I lost to this snails... :D
Having said that, this snails are unbelievable algae munchers...and even bigger pooppers... :p
 
Zenya,
They have started to move around a little bit more. I sure wish they'd take one night and double team the sand. It's gross. Tons of brown and all these air bubbles coming up from it.
They are a blast to watch though. Last night, the little guy crawled right on top and over the big guy; and he was hanging on the edge of the LR! I thought they'd tumble off, but they didn't. Can turbos turn themselves back over if they do fall?
Also, is there anything out there that will eat the snail poop??
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9074732#post9074732 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by slam308
Also, is there anything out there that will eat the snail poop??
Click to expand...

Try some Cerith snails to help with the snail poop. How deep is your sand bed? I'm asking because you said it is brown looking and is bubbling( sounds like you have some cyanobacteria). Also, how big is your tank?

Ooops, nevermind that, I see that it is 24g tank. You may have too many of this turbo snails if you have more than one. They need tons of food and may starve after they done cleaning up your tank. Consider trading them if you see that there are no food for them left.
As far as falling, I have not seen them fall, ever... They have quite a grip on a substrate and they can really move... :D
 
Zenya,
The sand bed is about two inches. Just the top 1/4" has the bubbles. I'll look up cyanobacteria..

I have another friend from work that would probably take one of the snails once food gets scarce. I'm guessing I should keep the little one (about an inch) and letting the big one in the picture above move to my friends 150 gal. Correct?

Do Cerith's also work the sand bed?
 
Yes, cerith's will work the sand bed. Yes, turbos can right themselves if they fall over.

Is the brown on top of the sand bed? Are the bubbles on top of the sand bed or something you're seeing in the sand aginst the glass?
 
Graveyardworm,
The brown seems to be on top of the sand bed only. When I stirred the sand up, it looked like they were gone.
The air bubbles are in the sand and I see them against the glass maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch down into the sand.
I don't know if they are only against the glass, or if they are in the whole sand bed.
What is the difference between the cerith and narcissus (???). What is the focus/benefit of each?
 
The brown on the sand is most likely diatoms. How long has the tank been set up? Diatoms on the sand is common in new setups during the cycle, and can reappear if the tank is overfed.

The bubbles in the sand are normal. This is a good sign that the sand bed is functioning.

Ceriths are grazers/detritus eaters, they will sift through the sand for food, and also go onto the glass and LR in search of food.

Nassarius snails are carrion eaters, meaning they eat meaty stuff. They will help clean excess fish food, they also burrow into the sand bed when food isnt present this helps stir the sand bed, as soon as food is present in the water they shoot up from the sand and search for it.

They each have different function and work well together, overstocking is generally a problem with these guys, and many end up starving. In a 24g tank I wouldnt stock more than 3 or 4 of each.

Keep your cleanup crew as diverse as possible, and avoid overstocking and you'll be in pretty good shape for algae control.
 
i guess i got lucky with my turbos.. they only come out at night..an ive had them over a year..they clean my rocks..
one of them is half the size of a baseball...

scott
 
Nice detailed answer Graveyard, thanks.
The tank is around 5 weeks old, not sure if I should start the count from when I put the rock in water (with heater & powerhead) or when I put the rock in the tank.
Two weeks ago, my nitrites had come back down to zero, nitrates were at 20. We did a 4 gal water change (with tap water) and got the two snails, two hermits and a sally lightfoot. The sally lightfoot died after 4 days, but not before taking a huge chunk out of the brown aglae.
This past Tuesday, I did another 4 gal water change with RO water from the LFS. I've got another 4 gal mixing to change out tomorrow or Sunday. I want to keep changing water every couple days, I think the tap water is probably part of my algae overgrowth.
I'm going to upload a new pic and I'll be right back....
 
Okay, here's the full tank shot from an hour ago...
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r258/slam308/Picture061.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

And a close up of the air bubbles in the sand and the brown crap...
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r258/slam308/Picture059.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

As there are only snails and hermits, I haven't fed the tank at all. I do have what I assume is a peanut worm and a brand new, very tiny feather duster. The worm is just this long tentacle that comes out of a hole and searches around. The duster is red in the center and tan/brown feathers. It's so small I can't tell if there is actually a center, or if the feathers are brown on the outside and red at the base. Does that make sense???

For the first time, my smaller turbo ventured out around 7 pm. Still an hour left to go before the day lights shut off. The big lazy bones is still snoozing.

I know I have a pH problem, it's only 7.8, but I'm hoping the eventual change over to RO water will help with that.
 
more flo..you can treat it an kill it off or just get more flo after you treat it..IMO.. an the air bubbles , run your lights less it should go away after time .. mine did..how long are you running your lights>?

SCOTT
 
slam308 Thats a turbo snail i got one they're fast suckers.
Hey did you get him from that pet store in Mt holy? they have like 10 huge ones i was asking because they told me it was a Astrea snail too...
Anyways that turbo will eat that stuff up like nothing my tank was full of green hair aglae, every day i was filling a 16oz bottle with the algae thats how bad it was but with in a week there was nothing now i have no algae just some coraline :D
 
The diatoms you are seeing are normal for the amount of time the tank has been set up. Same goes for the bubbles in the sand-normal, the bubbles will never go away. The bubbles come from two sources, algae in the sand which recieve light and produce oxygen, and as anaerobic bacteria populate the reduced and no oxygen areas in deeper portions of the sand bed they will begin denitrification which releases free nitrate gas, this is completely normal and helps to reduce nitrates in your tank. You will also begin to see various colors of algae moving into the deeper portions of the sand bed against the glass.

Depressed PH can also be a result of excessive CO2 in the water, better surface agitation (gas exchange), and protien skimming will help. The tank is still young and going through the cycling process, parameter fluctuations are going to continue for some time, as die off continues within the live rock and bacteria populations fluctuate. A PH of 7.8 at this stage is not too much to be concerned over, algae blooms and die off are going to cause fluctuations such as this.

This would probably be a good time to add the ceriths, but I would hold off on the nassarius until you are feeding the tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

joekidwell
JBJ Nanocube MP10
Replies
4
Views
3K
jeremy007
J
S
Frag Tank Clean up - Porch Pick or Meet up
Replies
10
Views
2K
rocsec1
R
cmador
Livestock For Sale - Fish, Scoly, Clam, LR & Bubble Tips
Replies
6
Views
669
Forgiven1973
F
joekidwell
How do I stop light from flooding the room
Replies
6
Views
2K
Sk8r
Sk8r
R
Fluval edge with all accessories included including heater
Replies
0
Views
565
reefzone123
R
Back
Top