snails

[boatswainmate]

i have recently started flashlight hunting in my tank when the lights go out at night just for some fun ... have found that theirs about 200 snails that i didn't put in to the tank they range from 1inch to minuscule they have a verry small and flat shell on there back and don't seem to be bothering my corals.. should i worrie about them ???

 

[returnofsid]

Depends on the species, but most likely, they're safe. Very few snail reproduce successfully in our tanks and of those, most troublesome ones don't get to be an inch in size. Google Strombus snails. They're very prolific and match the sizes you're describing. They're also very beneficial snails. They reproduce like mad in my 75 and I could pick off several dozen every night, for a week, without putting a dent in their population. Another likely suspect would be Cerith snails, which are also beneficial.

 

[as1720]

I also recently noticed new snails too, these look almost like they have soft shells but i have only seen them when i turn the lights on in the morning then they go into hiding. I will be doing some flash light hunting tonight.

How meny bad snails would you say are out there?

I have had two sps's start bleaching in the last couple days, and guess ware i always see the snails on the frag rack right next to the bleaching sps.

 

[Chichas01]

Do they look like this?
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/SwSnails/Stomatella.php

 

[reef18ster]

What's cool about these snails is that as a defense mechanism, if you grab hold of their tail, they can break that part off and have it keep moving to create a distraction for their predators while they escape. Just like a lizard and its tail.