Snail Feeding

[dcombs44]

This is somewhat of a dumb question, but how do I make sure my snails get fed?

I have very little algae, if any, in my tank, and my pumps keep most of the food I feed in circulation. My nassarius snails come flying to the surface during feeding time, but are they getting fed? How do I make sure my snails/crabs get the food they need?

Thanks

[Paintbug]

nassarius snails just do that. first time i seen it i flipped out LOL. i though my food was bad or something. they usually come out to feed at night on whatever they find. not to worry, they dont eat algae anyway, atleast not much. small pieces of food will get trapped all over the liverock. thats the job of the clean up crew. they go around and get the food, and detritus out of the rocks. snails like turbos, and astraea, they will need algae to survive. you can always put some algae strips between 2 pieces of rock for them if you dont think theres enough algae in the tank.

[dcombs44]

Yeah. The algae eaters were the ones I was worried about. I knew nassarius and ceriths are omnivores, but I've got some astreas that I was a bit worried about. I keep my seaweed for my tang on a mag float and when the tang is done I usually lower the mag down in to the sand so the crabs and snails can get the leftovers. I may start sticking a bit more in the rocks for good measure.

Thanks

[cbitter]

Frankly, watching Nass snails pop up is my fav part of feeding... don't worry about targeting them, tho: they will find plenty to chow on.

[synthesis]

just because you cant "see" algea doesnt mean there isnt any there for the snails to eat. Everyone who ones a reef tank knows all about the brown algea dusting. That algea will always be there in little amounts no matter how hard you try to get rid of it. If you look really closely im sure you can see it.

[lynn53]

I know what you mean , I also worry about my snails. I have 50 turbo's in my 180 and to me there is not a stitch of algae...but the snails are still alive so they must be getting something. I've come to the conclusion that just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

[dcombs44]

Well, the brown dusting is probably diatoms, which from my understanding, snails do feed on. Many people have visible traces of this for quite some time.

Anyway, thanks for the help everyone.