Snail Question

Eric2380 · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:34 pm Post subject: Snail Question

Can anyone tell me the scientific name for this snail was trying to get more info on it can seem to find it

thanks,
Eric

kpearce · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:24 pm Post subject:

does it go through sand( under sand?) if so by the shape of the shell it looks to be a Nassarius snail

Eric2380 · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:39 pm Post subject:

yeah it goes through the sand i was just getting a little worried because it has been killing my little snail. It Wraps its foot around them. Its happened twice now getting a little worried it might be predatory. Here are some better pics. Someone on another forum said it may be a type of Whelk Snail. I can thank Sea cave for selling them to me as sand sifter and saying they are safe. Only if its true though. I guess thats what i get for not doing my homework

Thanks,
Eric

bigs12 · Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:34 pm Post subject:

does it burrow in the sand?? Also does it have like a tube(snout)??

Eric2380 · Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:15 pm Post subject:

yeah it borrows in the sand. yeah it has a brown tube coming from the tip of the shell i think thats what u mean by snout. I have actually caught it killing some of my smaller younger snails. So i gave the six i had to friend that has a predatory tank. He told me they would be ok in his tank. The way they were killing them is they would wrap there foot around the snail and hold it in there for a while. The next day they would be dead. Took me a while to figure out what was killing all my snails. Thanks to sea cave for selling them to me as just sand sifter. Bought them when i just got into it didn't really know what i was doing. He sold me 6 astrea cone snails, and those 6 snails. Well the astrea snail are all dead for quite a while now. It was those snails that killed them. I thought it was something i was doing wrong all this time. I have learned don't trust you Local Fish Store Because they are a bussiness trying to make money. Sea Cave is a nice place but i have gotten alot of bad advice there. Example when i first bought those snails he told me no acclimation is required just throw them right in the tank. Well i have done some reading on snails and there actually more sensitive then fish are when it comes to acclimation. He told me the same thing when Hermit crabs i bought and arrowhead crab. The arrowhead crab died 3 days later. I just try to read as much info as i can on anything i buy now. I will never step foot in Sea Cave again, And will not recommend anyone go there. He took my 500 dollars i spent that day and basically told how to kill everything i bought

Thanks,
Eric

deikens · Nemo Joined: Dec 11, 2009 Posts: 147 Location: Meadville

Is it possible that the tank is still relatively young and the snails didn't really have anything to sift out? Maybe it was a secondary feeding behavior, aka survival of the fittest? Not that it matters they are gone now! but I have similar snails in my tank and have not witnessed this behavior... What time of day were you seeing this? aka lights on or off? I am interested in seeing if my snails might be doing the same thing...

Eric2380 · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 11:33 am Post subject:

You could be right. Well i saw it happen twice both times was during the day. They were supposed to be sand sifters seemed like they were on the glass alot though. I did feed the snails some brine shrimp from time to time just mixed it in with the substrate but these snails were very small the size of the tip of my pinky finger the ones there were killing i mean

kpearce · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 12:18 pm Post subject:

he sold you Nassarius snails... i have never had an issue with these snails killing others that werent already in the process of dying. I have many of these in my tank with no issues because they are great scavengers. they might also become a bit lazy though because they go wild when i feed my tank. these snails are sand sifters and like most crabs are scavengers. steve is very knowledgeable guy... and if his water is close to temperature and salinity as yours there would be no need for acclimation... snails can and will die... i have gone through probably over a hundred snails in 2 years. if they dont have enough to eat they will die. if they get caught upside down on the sand (astrea) they will die. it happens. An arrow crab mainly eats bristle worms.. if you have a new tank these might not be established to proper populations to maintain a arrow crab. they can wipe out an entire bristle worm population pretty quick. they are usallu only reccommened if your p-opulations are getting pretty high. Any thing can kill snails and crabs. such as temperature swings (its summer and happenes to most of us) PH swings...
im pretty much sayinng yes it sucks that this happened but i find it hard to blame steve for your mishaps. They are completly reef safe ( I and many other can vouch for this)
Kaisen
sorry for the typos ( im doing this from work)

Eric2380 · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:38 am Post subject:

Yeah i probably jumped the gun there a little bit I guess all just have to learn from my mistakes like everyone else. I know someone that used to work for steve maybe i should stop listening to him cause he was let go from there and not sure why. I am only getting one side of that whole story.

Thanks,
Eric