Snails
 

With an up and coming (hopefully) Edmonton livestock order, I'm wondering what kind of snails I should get for my 30 gallon BB tank.

I have two Astrea snails that I see most of the time, either on the glass or on the rocks, and two Cerith snails that I see on occasion at night. Initially, I wanted to get another dozen Astrea snails, but I've been reading up on Trochus snails and now I'm stuck between the two.

Whats the difference between Astrea and Trochus snails? Which would you recommend for a 30 gallon BB tank?

-Richer

Red Banded Trocheus for me. For me, they eat more, move around more, survive longer, are more colorful, and can flip themselves over better. Why not get 6 of each and see for yourself which one you prefer. Then, when some die off, you can replace them with the ones that you like better.

where do you get them from?

Steve

Why didn't I think of that? :mrgreen:

Thanks for the suggestion

-Richer

My first set came from Big Al's when they had them on sale over a year ago. My 2nd and 3rd set came from Ocean Aquatics. I know King Ed sells them as well occassionally. I've only seen 2 empty shells in my tank so far. One from my first set was killed immediately by a big electric blue hermit crab. The 2nd one that died was from my 3rd set which died the day after I bought it so I assume it was already on its way out. I would guess that I still have 23 out of the 25 that I bought. As for my Astreas, I have 2 left out of about 27+ over the years. As for Margaritas, I have 0 left out of 38+ over the years. (Yes, I kept track of everything I buy in a file).

my red banded snails are even reproducing in my tank... I have about 20 new ones. plus they haul a$$!!
Dan

How do the Trochus snails compare in size and behaviour to Turbo snails? Are they just a variety of Turbo snail? I am sick of my Turbo snails knocking things over.

Well, my Trochus snails are small compared to Turbos. According to Liveaquaria, the Trocheus get up to 1" while Turbos get up to 2".

Banded Trochus
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=564

Turbo
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=571