Cerithium echinatum

[Enigma]

Cerithium echinatum are reef safe and eat detritus, right?

I have located some in Calgary. They're aren't the exact species I was looking for, but they are the family I was looking for. They came in as "Needle Snails."

I just want to double check before I buy them that they'll do what I want them to do: eat Mexican Turbo snail and fish waste.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by Enigma

Cerithium echinatum are reef safe and eat detritus, right?

I have located some in Calgary. They're aren't the exact species I was looking for, but they are the family I was looking for. They came in as "Needle Snails."

I just want to double check before I buy them that they'll do what I want them to do: eat Mexican Turbo snail and fish waste.

Yes, I believe they are reef safe. They will tend to eat algae and diatoms as opposed to detritus.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Yes, I believe they are reef safe. They will tend to eat algae and diatoms as opposed to detritus.

Drat. That doesn't help at all. I need something to clean up after my Turbos, not do their job for them (they do their jobs very well . . . and I really like them).

EDIT: I just thought of something. Being that they're significantly smaller than my Mexican Turbos (who are now over an inch each, and are now in separate tanks), Cerithium echinatum will be able to fit into places that my Turbos can't. That could be useful.

[ScubaSteve]

I'd try them. If they bury themselves, their probably detrivores. I've never had the C. enchinatums before, so I don't know how different they are from the smooth shelled cerith.

[Enigma]

Yes, C. enchinatums bury themselves (or rather, as I've yet to see them, what the store was sent as C. enchinatums bury themselves). The manager had to dig them out of the sand to visually confirm that they had been received.