Good snail/Bad snail Algae control?

network13

network13

Member
I put in a Mex turbo snail. This little guy is great! You can see the path of clean he leaves in his wake. Problem being, he's a little tank and knocks stuff over all the time! I have added turbo snails but I am tired of trying to pick them off the sand before the hermit crabs eat em :rolleyes: . How the heck do these things manage to live in the wild when they cant even flip off there own backs! I added a few Nasserite ?? snails. These are great but tend to stay under the sand except when food hits the water. Then they "surface" like little submarines. Really funny to see :D I've also got 2 emerald crabs and a pencil urchin. And still I have green slimy looking algae all over the rocks. Any better replacement for the clean up staff I have on hand?
 
network13

network13

Member
Thanks for the fast reply. are they safe with corals? What about feather dusters? I have two and the blue leg hermits toe one of them up a bit.
 
superhero

superhero

Member
I jsut got mine yesterday so i cannot tell u from personal experience if they nip at anything, but i can tell u that they eat a ton of alage!
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
The hermit crabs really shouldn't bother the snails, so I wouldn't worry about that. You do have regular-sized hermits, right? (less than a nickle in size)
 
network13

network13

Member
No Nuclear crabs here, just regular ol' blue leg hermits. As far as the crabs going to war with the snails, I didn't think so either, till I saw two crabs ripping a snail out of its shell. I felt soooo bad. Poor little guy didn't stand a chance. Got shell jacked! :scared:
 
wax32

wax32

Active Member
"DONT BUY BLUE LEGS they eat snails" - mine don't
Even this guy doesn't even tho it looks like he wants to:
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
Originally Posted by wax32
"DONT BUY BLUE LEGS they eat snails" - mine don't
Even this guy doesn't even tho it looks like he wants to:

That's a great picture, wouldn't be surprised to see it end up on some online vendor's website :scared:
As long as the hermits are fed enough they shouldn't bother snails UNLESS they are in the market for a new home. I've watched bluelegged hermits browse newly introduced snails a couple of time. The snails were just laying on the sand and neither time did the bluelegs do anything more than check a few out and move on. I think if they are dead or dying the crabs will chow down.
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
I have over 15 blue legs in my tank. They don't bother the snails at all.... or anything for that matter. I have three types of hermits and they all get along. My snails are over an inch in diameter though, so I don't think my hermits could do anything to them if they wanted.
 
network13

network13

Member
Originally Posted by wax32
"DONT BUY BLUE LEGS they eat snails" - mine don't
Even this guy doesn't even tho it looks like he wants to:


umm... I may have to adjust my monitors color but.... those crab leggs are red
What about the feather dusters? Will the red hermits bother them?
 
wax32

wax32

Active Member
I said my BLUE LEGS don't, and "even" this guy doesn't (like, he isn't a blue, and seems to be attacking this snail, but he really isn't), he isn't a blue or even a scarlet or a red-legged. I call him my maroon monster. My blue legs are actually the sissies in my tank. :D My zebras and this unidentifed Calcinus sp. hermit chase them around. I have 6 species of hermit in my tank including blue legs, red legs, scarlets, and zebras (or I did have six species, the one example of my sixth species seems to be missing after I re-did my rock work) and none of them bother the snails. I do keep them well fed though, they get more than detrius from me.
I don't have any of those big feather dusters but my crabs dont bother the little hitch-hiker ones I have.
 
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