How many snails

[trido]

do you have in your tank on average? A couple months ago I noticed my snail population was down to near a dozen so I bought another cleaner pack from my LFS to up the numbers a bit. I just picked out four dead and dieing smails from the front of the tank and noticed that all of my turbos are dead. I only have near a dozen trochus and a few nassarius snail left in the tank again. I have never had algea in the display and believe they are all starving to death.

Does anyone else have this, problem?

 

[breiter3]

If you don't have much algae in the tank then they probably are starving to death. I know the Nassarius will scavenge but the turbos are algae feeders. Personally I would let the population come to an equilibrium between number of snails and algae growth over then next couple months and then just maintain those numbers as they naturally die off. With little algae in the tank there isn't really a need to have a massive clean-up crew.

 

[trido]

The question is.......... How many snails do you have in your tank?
IMO 12 snails in a 120 with 160LBS of LR seems a little low. Of course, I dont know everything about reefing.

 

[breiter3]

I have a 92G w/ 150 lbs. of LR. My clean-up consists of 2 Turbos, 8 Nass, 4 Trochus, and about 12 Cerinth for my sand bed. I don't have algae problems and often times will find the turbos munching on the greens I feed my foxface. IMO the clean-up crews that are advertised by tank size are overkill, at least for my tank. It depends on what your system can handle and the bio load you have in there.
Although 12 snails does seem low in a 120 G, I am curious as to why you want to add more snails when you don't have an algae problem (as in what are you trying to acomplish)?

 

[trido]

I have a 92G w/ 150 lbs. of LR. My clean-up consists of 2 Turbos, 8 Nass, 4 Trochus, and about 12 Cerinth for my sand bed. I don't have algae problems and often times will find the turbos munching on the greens I feed my foxface. IMO the clean-up crews that are advertised by tank size are overkill, at least for my tank. It depends on what your system can handle and the bio load you have in there.
Although 12 snails does seem low in a 120 G, I am curious as to why you want to add more snails when you don't have an algae problem (as in what are you trying to acomplish)?

Thanks for the quick reply. I deleted the first quote because, after lunch, and rereading it. I found my response to be a bit confrontational. I am not wanting to add more snails( I'd rather buy a frag) but simply asking for a general concensus of how many snails most reefers with established tanks really need. Your second post with a detailed list says it all. It sounds like my clean up crew is similar to yours.

 

[Elmo18]

I had about 4 Astreas in a 28 gallon Cube, and that worked. They were rather big, since I had had them for about 3 years prior to them entering their new tank.

I personally don't find snails too attractive...haha....so I tend to keep their numbers as low as possible..although they are truly interesting creatures on their own.

Best,
Ilham