addition of astrea snails ?

[daytonaconnecti]

while going through the recycleing of my tank,i was sujested to add 4 doz of astrea snails to my 48 gal to help with algea, any thoughts? also will these always need to stay in the tank....

 

[FishinInTheDark]

You really shouldn't add anything until your cycle is over. Various algae is typical throughout the cycle, and for about four months afterward. That's lots of time for a cleanup crew to get on top of it. You don't want them to needlessly die from ammonia if added too early.

I also wouldn't suggest adding so many snails. Once the algae is under control, most will starve. You would be even better off getting a variety of snails, since different species prefer different foods and surfaces. Maybe five astrea, five cerith, five nassarious.

Congrats on a new tank!

 

[S.Reef]

Yeah...generally you should wait a little longer, pretty hardy though so it should be fine, I would of also kept it down to about a dozen or so...which will keep it clean.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

thanks, the tank was a 4 year old setup with cc, i went to bb a little over a mounth ago, all parematers are good execpt nitrate is about 15ppm, everything is good...iam staying up with heavy water changes and blowing off of the rocks, things look better... i know that the water changes and cleaning will be my best bet,

 

[NaH2O]

These are the current clean-up critters: one astrea & 5 blue legs hermits, and a coral banded shrimp.

I always recommend a variety of snails, as I think you get the best algae competition. I think adding more astrea snails, some ceriths, trochus, nerite, and maybe one or two turbo snails will be a nice combination for you. Since you don't have a substrate, then I'd stay away from the nassarius. Also, as was previously stated, you don't want to go overboard either because once the food source is gone, then the snails will starve. When they die, they will be releasing all the nutrients they used when eating all the algae. Just be sure to remember all of these things poop, too, so your husbandry will have to step up.

Keep working on getting the nitrates down. I don't remember, are you using RO/DI water? Have you tested your premixed salt water for nitrates prior to doing a water change?

 

[daytonaconnecti]

the clean up critters i have have been with me for over three years, even through the cc to bb change,i have a coralife ro/di unit, i noticed today that things look better iam seeing alot of purple on the lr,looks as if algea is turning a darker color and dyeing off, also iam seeing purple round circles on the bottom of my tank glass,,, how many of each would be ok, its a 48 gal...

 

[NaH2O]

I've never been able to figure out how to come up with the perfect balance. With a tank your size, I'd try 5 of each, and see how it goes. If you go with the big turbos, then only one or two for your tank. They have a tendency of being bulldozers, too. Since you are beginning to see the algae dieing off, not going overboard with the snails is a good idea. I'm glad you are beginning to see coralline growing on the bottom.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

thats a good sign right....

 

[fishermann]

If you have fish in the tank you well have enough food for the astria snails. They do just poop out what they eat but they eat alot of algaes which are attached to your rock and feeding off of detritus and growing, the astreas well eat it off the rock and when they poop it out it breaks up into detritus and is either eaten by corals or goes into the water column to be removed by your skimmer. Your tank is cycled plenty for adding snails. I don't like turbos cause they knock everything over and I don't put crabs in my system cause they well turn over snails and kill them for the shells. Crabs don't really eat algae they just graze on foods of different kind that are laying on the rock such as poop but with good flow and blowing the rock off now and then that shouldn't be an issue and you won't have crabs killing your snails, JMO. I have found that it is hard to beat astreas for effientcy and not destroying everything. I doubt your system well ever get so purely clean that astreas well starve, just don't get big ones, get the littler ones say 1/2" in dia at the base of the shell roughly. Remember algae doesn't need much to grow and keeping a tank void of life form well not keep algae out since your rock has life in it and their is sun light and that is all that is need for it to grow. IMO keeping things like snails and tangs out of the tank is the oppisite of what you want to do. They scour the rock and keep the algae in suspension IMO in the form of poop where it can be extracted as mentioned above.I believe it is of way more benefit to have them in your tank then trying to keep your tank void of life in fear that it well help add to the food source for algae. Add non benifical life later but getting things that graze on algae and poop it out is neccassary as soon as the cycle well permitt and by that I mean the denitrifying cycle not old age. JMO

 

[NaH2O]

I never had much luck keeping astrea snails alive long term in my system. I feel that there wasn't a food source for them, as all the other snail species did fine. I tried astrea snails from different places, locally and shipped, just to make sure it wasn't a shipment problem to the dealer or myself, but I still haven't been able to keep them alive. Whatever food source they were after, must not be in my system. I do think you can have too many snails, too. Dr. Ron has some really good articles on various snails, and the articles are linked in the thread: Let's Talk About ~Snails~

As per hermit crabs - I've had really good luck with a small number of scarlet hermits...they have never gone after any snail, nor each other. They are always busy picking at the rock, and seem to mind their own business. Crabs aren't for everyone, and aren't always well behaved.

Trochus, cerith and nerite snails have been wonderful in my system, as have a few large turbos. It is true that without competition in the system, the algae will have a chance to take hold, however, I think adding too many snails isn't necessarily a good idea either.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

i was at premium aquatics today and picked up 5 each of the snails, they didnt have tha astrea so he said that the margarita would be as good, so i got 6 of them 21 in all,

 

[fishermann]

Sounds good Bill As for astrea's I have over a hundred in my 230 and they well clean the rock rightr down to the corraline at nite, and I have found them to eat red and green algaes in the past, so far I haven't had to deal with any red in this tank [keeping my fingers crossed]. Mine actually grow to get pretty large. they seem to love to gather at the little areas where the detritus collects during the day and scour the rock at night. Sorry to hear about yours Nikki, I swear by them, The tank is a year old this month and I think I've pulled maybe 3 or 4 empty shells out and the others have doubled in size.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

thanks fishermann, ive got 22 snails total, thats maybe not enough,but its a start.....iam sure it will taks awhile for my tank to get right..but iam learing alot from everyone, i know i ask alot of questions...

 

[fishermann]

Bill I just ordered another 100 snails from Premium Aquatics and a nice pink acro. I talked to Rob and he said that they reccomend as a average one snail per gallon which is what I suggested to you. They can't seem to get astreas but they hace trochus which is about the same thing they just grow a bit bigger then astreas. They are expensive though, 2.20 a piece. I get my astreas for 80.00 for a hundred from Marine Depot, so I bought a hundred marqaritas from them for 80.00 for a hundred since I have never had them and Rob says they are pretty good at grazing the reef, and the pink acro is supposed to be super nice one for a very good price. He thought astreas or chromis were the best grazers and moved around the most and don't get near as large as the turbos. This should give me about 250 in the tank.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

thats what i found out also, rob was great....

 

[fishermann]

Yeah he said he thought he had dealt with you, he said you also picked up a clam?

 

[daytonaconnecti]

no clams, i dont see how they do it, its a tough job,,, btw thanks for all of your advice, i was trying to dought you on the snails, i was just cking, to see what others though...all the snails look good so far, it still looks to me that the algea is dying off, could this be happening..and is it a good thing iam seeing alot more purple coming through the algea....