Fancy Nassarius snail

cristine

Member
I purchased two Fancy Nassarius snails for my 12 gal. nano tank to help keep the sand clean but one of them climbs all over the rocks. Does this mean there is not enough food in the sand for him? I've had sand sifting Gobies in the past who did a good job keeping the sand clean but they always die after about 6 months. They get very skinny, even though I spot feed them, and then die. Is this tank too small to support two Nassarius snails? I could move one or both to my 60 gal which has a sandsifting starfish in it but I worry it would not have enough food if I added the snails. The sand in the 60 gal always looks good.
Thanks
 

bigarn

Active Member
I've never heard of a fancy nassarius .... a true nassarius will stay in the sand and once in a while will climb the glass. Maybe what you have isn't a true nassarius.
 

bbb

Member
If your talking about the ones on this site I have one in my 75 gallon. I added him last Thursday and have only seen him once since I added him. I do see his little tube thing sticking out of the sand from time to time though. It says minimum tank size of 40 gallons on the page.
 

am00re34

Member
i dont know excatly what yours is doing but mine stay hidden until i feed. Then they appear from the sand and dont go back for a few hours. if yours never goes into the sand i dont have a clue why. Did you put him into the tank on the rock and maybe just hasn't found the sand yet?
 

cristine

Member
Hi Thanks for the replies. Yes, they look exactly like the ones listed as "fancy" on this site. I do see the tube sticking out of the sand occassionally as well, but yesterday found one of tyhe two climbing on the rock. HHmm, now I think 2 is too many for a 12 gal. nano. I'll probably move one to my 60 gallon. My sand sifter star fish grows like crazy, so I think there is enough food for both of them?????
 

stanlalee

Active Member
12g is pretty small for two fancy, super tongan or whatever they are called (or even one. I'd have stuck with the vibex or 3 or 4 of the smaller variety). you have to dig mine up if want to see em except at night they will cruise the sand.
 
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