Astrea Snail Suicide

[Palmer]

I may be a newb but I have found Astrea's to be the hardest workers in my tank. I have about 5 of them and I have only had to give one a little help once in the two months I have had them. I have a mexican turbo and he only seems to move at night and sits in the same place all day. My Ceriths work quite a bit but are much smaller than the Astrea's so not a fair comparison.

[whatcaneyedo]

If you dont mind the price tag (often $20/each) I really like abalone. They get large, move quickly and eat massive amounts of film algae.

[foreveringlass]

Originally Posted by DiverDude

Yikes ! I don't have a sump so drip acclimation is not something I can do easily so I simply put the bag into the tank and let the temperatures match and then put about 1/4 cup of my tank water into the bag every 15-20 minutes over about an hour and a half.

Clearly I have underestimated the needs of these creatures.

Thanks for the link to the very thorough article !

FYI... I don't have a sump either. I float the bag in my tank for 20 min., put the bag in a bucket and then drip. I use an airline with a knot in it. I tighten the knot so I get about 1 drop per second for the first 2 hours. I slowly undo the knot over the course of 2 more hours until I have a slow trickle, then pop them in the tank. I am relatively new to this, but have had 100% success rate. ( 12 snails, 7 crabs, 2 clowns, 1 coral beauty, 1 sand sifting star, and one tuxedo urchin.)

[BlueWorldAquatic]

These snails are known to just let go on glass too. I used to laugh when mine did, they'll climb to the top then just let go.

Stupid snails. I don't know how many of them we pull out of our tanks daily because of this.

Ken

[DiverDude]

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

Mark, personally I would use Turbo's, they will work to clean your rock and glass, where the others not as much. Plus they can right themselves if they fall. Also they are faster cleaners.

I've heard Turbos are 'little bulldozers' who bang, knock, and overturn anything in their path that isn't securely fastened. I don't have much in the tank now but I'm looking to the future so I though it might be a good idea to avoid tank bulldozers !

[DiverDude]

Originally Posted by foreveringlass

FYI... I don't have a sump either. I float the bag in my tank for 20 min., put the bag in a bucket and then drip....)

An empty bucket ?

[foreveringlass]

Originally Posted by DiverDude

An empty bucket ?

Yep an empty bucket..although it isn't for long!

[DiverDude]

Ummm.....so you put the bag in the bucket and drip into the bag, or you empty the bag into the bucket and drip into the bucket ?

Either way, I can't see you maintaining tank temperature over 2 hours !

[Dolf]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

See Marine Invertebrates by Ron Shimek for more information.

+++++1; One of the best articles on snails that you will ever read.