zombie snail?

[badbadfishy]

i am pretty experienced with saltwater tanks (learned from my father whos a wiz) and recently started up my 25 gallon tank in my barracks (im in the army and had to fight to keep my tank :angryfire i prefer to shop at small local petstores and found one catering mostly to saltwater. the gentleman that owns the shop is very nice and normally is great to be around and talk to. but he is away alot of the time and leaves his shop in the care of his wife and a guy in the army that helps out. i went in about 2-3 weeks ago to pick up a wrasse i had ordered several times (sixline) and it wasn't in stock. i have delt with the wife before and i find her irritating because she is a know it all and instantly assumes your brand new and mentally challenged (i find this infuriating). well i ask her to catch a red coris ( juvenile still pretty young great health) that had caught my eye in the reef tank. she refused stating she didnt want to spend forever trying to catch it. i was a little upset but just smiled and asked for some turbos because of my algae bloom (long story) she recommended "zombie snails" which i replied "what the **** are you talking about" she takes me over to a tank and her and the other guy start spouting on and on about this miraculous snail. they start spouting how 4-5 of them can turn my substrate in a matter of weeks and how it eat cyno and gets along with everyone perfectly ect. ect. (i think at one point the said it cures cancer... jk) so i buy one for **** giggles and my insatiable curiosity. so my first question is what is the snail it burrows its cone shaped and has a single long antenna that it pokes out of the substrate. next is they kept saying i needed more snails and keep pushing it over and over. i said no i just need a few snails and to lower my nitrate i dont want my snails to starve each other out and put a huge bioload on my tank. (i just want to know im not crazy on that one and my logic makes sense)
thank you

(p.s if your a grammar nazi your complaint will fall to deaf ears)

 

[Nina51]

i'm not a grammar nazi but the title of your thread offends me no end and pardon me for saying but you are the one sounding like a know-it-all.

thanks for your military service.

 

[badbadfishy]

i am not implying that i am a know it all. precisely the reason i am on here asking a question on what it is and if my logic is flawed. im sorry if it offends you and i will change it.

 

[pagojoe]

Some folks seem to call Nassarius snails "zombie snails." Is that what they sold you? They eat meaty scraps, and may plow the sand, but won't eat algae.


Don

 

[badbadfishy]

Some folks seem to call Nassarius snails "zombie snails." Is that what they sold you? They eat meaty scraps, and may plow the sand, but won't eat algae.


Don

apparently that would be it. thank you for your help but i still have to ask is my logic flawed on the snail thing? are more snails better or mo' snails 'mo problems?

 

[pagojoe]

Four or five small Nassarius should be OK in your tank. Same for a few small turbinids or trochids.

 

[mbingha]

Four or five small Nassarius should be OK in your tank. Same for a few small turbinids or trochids.

Agreed. I'd go as far to say that 8-10 nassarus snails wouldn't be too many for a 25 (provided you have a heavy enough bio-load).

By the way... Thank you for your service!:beer:

 

[badbadfishy]

well i just changed to a canister so ill think about it more now that im running better than hob (hang on back)

 

[tatuaje08]

Snails don't lower nitrates

Nassarius snails are awesome

You're, not your

 

[mbingha]

Snails don't lower nitrates

Nassarius snails are awesome

You're, not your

Who's post are you referring to the you're not your?

Edit: never mind, caught it in the first post. :beer:

 

[Hzuiel]

I would not disagree with your logic, excess snails will starve, and the sucky thing is usually the biggest ones starve to death first, so your best performers die soonest. Nassarius snails usually bury themselves with their snout poking out of the sand and part of their shell. They don't in and of themselves lower nitrates(look at a refugium for that) but stirring the sand bed allows your filtration to remove stuff from the water column including nitrates. I personally only have 2 nassarius and 2 trochus, and 1 astrea snail in a 20. I don't see that adding 100 snails will do anything good for me. I had 2 before, and they seemed to eat all of the algae that they would actually eat(which isn't all types) pretty effectively. I don't understand some people's logic either, aquariums are all about delicate balance. How does throwing a s*** load of anything, including snails in, constitute a good thing? If they die they break down and spike the ammonia in the tank just like anything else.

If you don't have the ability to add normal refugium, get a Marina medium breeder box, rig a light over the lid, hang on aquarium and place a lump of chaeto in it. Tada. The breeder box uses any simple air pump to flow water at a slow pace through it.