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that Fish Guy
03/31/2013, 10:12 PM
What are the best Snails for eating algae?

My LFS sells Astrea (White Snail in a White Pyramid) for 1.99, Tiger Trochus (Black Snail in a Rounder Shell) for 2.99, and Nessarius for 2.99

Is one of those better than the other?

shifty51008
03/31/2013, 10:53 PM
depends on the type of algae, some snails prefer certain types of algae than others.

http://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium/nuisance-algae-id-guide

that site has a bunch of diffrent types of algae and also what types of clears work good at getting rid of each type

channingd
04/01/2013, 02:24 PM
Very cool website. Spent a half hour reading.

heritage
04/01/2013, 02:47 PM
You should also take into consideration whether or not you have hermits. Smaller snails like cerith and nerite will become a quick meal for the hermits just for there shell's.

The only snails I use are banded trochus snails. They eat most types of algae as well as diatoms and cyanobacteria, they are also able to upright themselves most times if the fall. They will also readily breed in most tanks.

lvreefer
04/01/2013, 03:33 PM
All good advice ^

Identify the algae and buy accordingly.

nynick
04/01/2013, 03:41 PM
Astrea do not last long for a lot of reasons and are my nr1 hated snail.....absolute garbage. Nassarius are not algae eaters but will help with algae indirectly as general cleaners, great snails if your sand is fine enough. Trochus are not bad but tend to get stuck on the glass that you could just as well use an algae magnet on.

For good general algae eaters you are looking for 3 things.
1. Small, can get to the algae everywhere.
2. Breeds in tank.
3. Night active, does not get stuck on the glass for 3 months at a time.

Dwarf Cerith, Colonista, Stomatella, best 3 snails there are and extremely hardy. Also very hard to find for some odd reason.

squishifishi
04/01/2013, 03:48 PM
Astrea and trochus have similar habits. I think astrea are better algae overall eaters because they eat a wide variety of algaes. Trocus however, are able to last longer because they can right themselves if they fall.
Nassarius don't eat algae, but are still a fantastic member of the crew!
I'd get all three if I were you!

d2mini
04/01/2013, 04:09 PM
I always have a variety of crew including but not limited to turbo snails, cerith snails, limpets, nerite snails, nassarius snails and blue leg hermits.
I threw all of these (except the nassarius) in my frag tank and they DECIMATED the hair algae.

Slawdude
04/01/2013, 04:14 PM
Variety is best. Not all snails eat all types of algae. I like a good mix of stroms, trochus and cerith.

johnd4g
04/01/2013, 04:24 PM
Mexican Turbo Snails have always worked great for me. But, they can be bulldozers. Make sure any frags are glued down.

heritage
04/01/2013, 04:32 PM
Just to add, if your buying snails to control algae, than you have an underlying problem. Snails will not control any algae if you have a nutrient problem. Everything that goes in must come out, and they will only add to the problem. (detritus)

As long as your removing the same amount of nutrients that goes in, than you should never have any real algae problem.

PAnanoguy
04/01/2013, 04:35 PM
Mexican Turbo Snails have always worked great for me. But, they can be bulldozers. Make sure any frags are glued down.

same here.

nynick
04/01/2013, 04:51 PM
Just to add, if your buying snails to control algae, than you have an underlying problem. Snails will not control any algae if you have a nutrient problem. Everything that goes in must come out, and they will only add to the problem. (detritus)

As long as your removing the same amount of nutrients that goes in, than you should never have any real algae problem.

Snails consume algae and poop it out at which point the skimmer kicks in so it does help a little with nutrients. Also, all tanks with any live stock will have algae. The tank that can exist on nutrient control alone does not yet exist.

HermitTheCrab
04/01/2013, 04:53 PM
I am a huge fan of Trochus snails..made a big difference for me.

heritage
04/01/2013, 05:04 PM
Snails consume algae and poop it out at which point the skimmer kicks in so it does help a little with nutrients. Also, all tanks with any live stock will have algae. The tank that can exist on nutrient control alone does not yet exist.


I agree, but what I was saying is if you have an algae problem, than you have a nutrient problem. Using snails to try and control an out of control algae will not work.

snails consume the algae and the nutrients that are locked up in it, and release it as poo, if your not able to remove the nutrient's or detritus before it becomes a probleme then snails are not the answer.

d0ughb0y
04/01/2013, 05:06 PM
I have only used Mexican turbo snails and they work fine. Two of them take care of my 60 gallons. You don't need a ton of those nano sized snails from some web seller. Go to your LFS and buy real snails. Note that once hair algae grows too long, most algae eaters will not eat them. Don't let algae get out of hand.

MountainManReef
04/01/2013, 06:29 PM
I have only used Mexican turbo snails and they work fine. Two of them take care of my 60 gallons. You don't need a ton of those nano sized snails from some web seller. Go to your LFS and buy real snails. Note that once hair algae grows too long, most algae eaters will not eat them. Don't let algae get out of hand.

To second that (about hair algae getting too long,) about the only thing in my experience that will hack at it at that point are Mithrax crabs (emerald or red.) Even then its sort of hit or miss. I've had some that are absolute lawnmowers and others that have done literally nothing. Like most crabs they are omnivores and will gladly accept fish food rather than algae if its available.

dirkomatic
04/01/2013, 07:15 PM
depends on the type of algae, some snails prefer certain types of algae than others.

http://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium/nuisance-algae-id-guide

that site has a bunch of diffrent types of algae and also what types of clears work good at getting rid of each type

I second the reefcleaners recommendation. Contact John at reefcleaners. Service is awesome and you will always receive a lot more snails than listed in their packages.