Best [Snail] Cleaner for (Inside) Glass?

[spongebob lover]

For 3$ they better be more than just cute! They better dance and sing and leave me messages on the glass! (ala "Charolette's Web)!!

LMBO!!!:lol: what's wrong with having cute snails :lol:.......jk :lol:.

i have astreas snails and yes they do flip but may be mine are intelligent because they always manage to flip back .
(gabster theory ) i think in the wild they go in herds and when one flips, the snails that is around or behind just goes up to her and waits for the snail to mount on the other snail and tara !! ... they keep going, then they fall in love and have babies :lol: ............sorry dood no clue but i sort of like theory

(But now the wheels are set in motion, a plan begins to form....)
"Yes Dear, but I have to go buy a wave-maker for the tank now--the Astreas keep falling over but they can't get up...."
(Wouldn't that be one heck of an excuse for new equipment!)

that's a very good excuse .

 

[IAP Brian]

I have a large blend of snails. Mex Turbos, Vietnam Turbos, Zebra Turbos, cerrith, astrea, margarita, nerites, trochus, nassarius ( 3 species) and some cone looking ones (unidentif). They all do different jobs to some degree.
- Nassarius are awesome sand cleaners and have cool snorkel tubes
- Cerrith are great, easy on the landscape (don't seem to knock things over) but they seem to be the absolute favorite of all most all hermit crabs.
- nerites are also easy on the landscape but are not the fastest algae eaters. It takes a lot to make a dent in a big algae problem. They also seem to get taken over by hermits alot but not as bad as cerrith.
- Turbos are by far the best and fastest algae machines but they don't care what is in their way and knock everything over
- astrea are in between for the knock over ratio but do seem to have problems with getting upright again.
-margaritas vary greatly in longentivity due to the over collection of colder water species, but are wonderful algae eaters and are easy on the landscape.
-trochus ( spelling on that one?????)- act a lot like turbos

If you have a bad hair algae problem consider picking up a sea hare ( cow/ slug looking thingy) They are absolute machines when it comes to mowing algae!

This is all just my observation and opinion but I hope it helps.

 

[burning2nd]

i find my nanassus snails flying in formation on the glass, then days later i will find eggs on the glass

 

[DisturbedReefer]

Cerith are detritus eater but starve to death in a clean tank.
Bumblebees are a not safe.
Turbos get big and knock everthing over.
Astreas do fine but cant or wont flip them selves back over. I'd do 1 per gallon.

Don

Don, what is the problem with bumblebees?

 

[MarineTeng]

i think they kill other creatures, snails i think

 

[Cwazy Clown]

bb are not coral safe. i actually like asteras they chomp through my hair algae. but nerites were a waste of 2$. nass's are very good. i really want to buy 2 of the jumbo nass but they are 4.50$ @ blue!!!!! 9$ on 2 snails is a bit to much. i could get 9 lil ones for that. hha

 

[burning2nd]

i got a single bb snail,

 

[DisturbedReefer]

bb are not coral safe.

According to who? I have had them for the past three years without incident. Do you have any information to back that claim up with, no flame intended, but I don't want to be making rash decisions without information to back it up.

 

[Sherman]

Perhaps covered well enough, but what's another opinion going to hurt?

Bumblebee: meat eaters, scavengers. Very small ones, at that.
Cerith: Sand diggers, and GREAT ones. Eats detritus, will rarely be found on the glass.
Margarita: Inappropriate. Shouldn't be sold, wrong temperature. Short life.
Turbo: Big, clumsy. Loves the rocks, and mows down the algae. Usually starves.
Nassarius: Meat eating scavenger. Sand dweller. Rarely seen on glass.

I've never had a conch, so I'm going to say your bet is the astrea. As mentioned, they're dead meat once upside down. That's where you come in, to flip 'em. I originally ran 50 astrea in a 38g, as it finished cycling, and began maturing. 2.5 years later, I now only run what has survived, probably about a dozen. I've been very fortunate with algae, and have never had to fight it. My cleanup crew is currently:

~10-15 Astrea snails
~10-15 Cerith snails
~10 Nassarius vibex snails
3 Bumblebee snails
~10 Scarlet hermit crabs
1 Emerald crab, though he's worthless
2 Tiger tail cucumbers
Loads of bristle worms (lots less since adding the tiger tail that later split)

EDIT: Wow, silly me missed a whole page of responses...

So: I've never had problems with bumblebee snails. They're meat eaters, not algae. I've figured that out. However, the only place I ever find them is upside down under rubble. And covered in coralline, which makes them extremely expensive ineffective eaters.

I've also had the orange turbos. Mexicans. They were short lived, and starved just like the zebra turbo.