[Michael Hoaster]

Hey taricha! Ah yes, the elusive mini-strombus snails. I first came across these on Indo-Pacific Sea Farms' site, a few years back, when I was attempting a reef tank. They are in Hawaii, so I'm guessing the snails are too. IPSF called them mini strombus, so they must be in the strombus family. However, I don't think they sell them any more. You might enquire with them to see what happened.

Also, I should point out that Cerith snails also reproduce in aquariums, but not quite as prolifically, in my experience. But they are readily available and cheap. I keep both, and I shudder to think what my tank would be like without them! Having new snails hatching all the time means there are many different sizes at any given time, which is very good in a planted tank. Tiny snails are superb macro and seagrass cleaners.

Highly sought after? I'm not sure. Their population swells to plague proportions, which is not a look everyone likes. I've gotten so used to it, I don't even notice them anymore. But some folks don't like to see so many snails in their tank.

This time around, I just happened to notice some in a tank at my LFS. I bought around ten of them. I'm always snooping around, looking for overlooked jewels whenever I'm in a fish store. That's how I found them.