Which LFS for snails/hermits??

[AquaKnight]

My 125 needs snails and hermits. I 'made the rounds' to the LFS's Saturday, and didn't really see too much. I know Fishy Business used to be the spot as they always had a ton of different inverts, but they took one of the display rows down and don't really have what they used to. Just wondering if anyone has been to the stores recently and noticed one that had a decent mix of snails and hermits.

 

[bluerug]

Well i get my snails from the great auction site, i buy in huge lots of nassarius snails. I buy like 300 at a time, really cheap. Food for the puffer nd triggers and keep the tank clean for a few months.

 

[AquaKnight]

I'll probably be ordering, but just wanted to get some different types locally to see what I can away keeping with my Harlelquin Tusk.

 

[lifesworksataol]

you dont want to just go collect them? alot of use just make a day of it. its fun

 

[AquaKnight]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10897638#post10897638 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lifesworksataol
you dont want to just go collect them? alot of use just make a day of it. its fun

Well, I just wanted to get a few to see what the tusk would do and then move from there. He's showing interest in the hermits, he'll pick one up and try to chew it, but he's just not big enough yet. No interest in the snails however.

LW@aol, I'm trying to remember back to the thread, what snails did you guys get? I thought just nassarius's? Though you guys got some different crabs and stuff too, right? Wouldn't mind some free live food for him lol...

 

[chrisstie]

Just be careful especially with the other thread out there about reports of red tide etc.

Collecting wild stuff is great if you use proper QT proceedures but sometimes mixing things off of our coast with fish and inverts from different areas of the world can have disasterous effects when it comes to bacterias the animals may have no defense against, viruses, and parasites.

Also, be careful in identifying what goes in your tank - with a FO system its not so bad but sometimes you can accidentally collect whelks and other critters that wil eat coral and smaller fish. I think what you collect should be more worried about the Tusk though

If you really wanted to do this I'd recommend a place with a LOT of water flow like Sebastian Inlet. With this kind of flow hopefully you'd have less issues with bad things that grow in stagnated water.

Just be aware of the risks - and if you already knew, then at least others who may be considering the same will be aware - and best of luck finding the perfect clean up crew and snack ;p

 

[AquaKnight]

Yea, I'm contemplating setting a 10gal or so for QT/holding tank. My question is, what would QT do? I mean they're inverts, so you can't hypo/hyper, and I don't think they have any special meds for them. So if I collect them from the wild and place them into QT, won't whatever dieases they have, just continue to grow in there? Or would I just be holding them there, looking for signs of dieases, rather then actually doing preventative treatments?

(Sorry if its rather confusing)