Snail Help-Asked in Fish Discussion

[new25tank]

I already asked this question in the fish discussion, but I am not sure it is the correct areas. Here is the information, and any help will be appreciated since I still have not seen the snails and my son who the tank belongs to is really mad at me for accepting these snails before I did any research, opps! I know I should have known better. We were given two sand sifting moon snails. I can't seem to find any information about these large snails (what they eat, what they do), and now they are gone. They have buried themselves in my deep (4"+) sand bed and cannot be seen. Now I think I may want them gone, yikes what can I do. Has anyone had these snails, and what should I do. Help! Are they bad?

 

[usinkit]

This was the only type of moon snail I could find info on. Dont know if this is the one!! HTH
The Red Foot Moon Snail, also known as the Red collar snail, is found in holes and crevices of the shoreline consuming algae. This snail require cooler temperatures of no more than 74 degrees in the home aquarium.
It will do well in an aquarium if provided with ample places to hide and large amounts of room in which to graze, preferably with live rock. The Red Foot Snail also grazes algae on the glass and is useful in keeping the algae under control in aquariums. Since these snail uses calcium to build its shell, adequate calcium levels must be maintained in the home aquarium. It is very sensitive to high levels of copper-based medications and prefers a low nitrate level.
It is extremely difficult to breed in an aquarium, and has no distinguishing characteristics to help differentiate it from its mate.
If insufficient algae is present, the diet should be supplemented with dried seaweed.

 

[new25tank]

Thank you so much for looking that up, that was really nice of you. That is all the information that I could find on these snails. They are really big and they have a really round shell (they look just like the escargot snails that I have seen people eat). Their bodies are huge and appear to be much larger than their shells and now I can't seem to see them anywhere. What will happen if they die inside of the sand bed...ahhh, I am panicking just thinking about it. I really do appreciate the help! I wish that someone had these snails and could tell me if they were bad and whether I need to dig around in the sand bed and extract them.

 

[usinkit]

if they have died i would think the rest of your clean up crew ould find them and take care of them. how big are they. if they are the same size is an atrea snail i wouldnt worry. they even may still be alive. besides they seem to be good for your tank.

 

[usinkit]

it says they grow to 2inches so i would worry at all. like i said if they do die your clean up crew will take care of them. if you are concerned just start testing for ammonia. that will tell you if you have to start searching for them, but i wouldnt worry. ive had some good size turbos die and my clean up crew ate them up quickly.