Wanting a good glass cleaning snail.

Wisehart

Wisehart

Member
I have a huge snail or at least seems big to me. I am unsure what type of snail he is but he only moves around about once a week.
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Anyhow I am looking to buy a few snails that are a little more active and will clean the glass. My tank is 80 gallons if that helps any. Thanks
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
That looks similar to a Lightning Whelk. It is definitely a Whelk of some type. It is a predator and does not eat algae of any type. Try feeding it a piece of Shrimp, Scallop, or Clam. Perhaps a sleeping Angelfish...

Try some type of Turban Snail, Astraea can also be good but there's a good chance the Whelk would just eat them.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
An assortment of snails is best turbo, cerith, narsarius, nerite, probably missed some they have different functions. They will clean glass to a point but not perfectly.
You will have to clean manually. Mag floats work but there is a new product called the tunze care magnet. I love it. It scrapes the glass but can't get sand stuck under it so it doesn't scratch the glass.
 
Wisehart

Wisehart

Member
Thank you. I would have never thought to feed him shrimp. I have dried shrimp now that I feed the anemone. Should that be good for now? I have a brine shrimp kit on the way but won't arrive until Monday. No place around me sales live food.
 
Wisehart

Wisehart

Member
How many snails should I get for a 80 gallon? I do not mind cleaning the glass every few days I just thought why not get something to help me out and to enjoy.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I have a ton maybe 20 of each but I have a bigger tank. Maybe 5-10 of several different types. To some degree it depends on how much there is for them to eat.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Wisehart said:
Thank you. I would have never thought to feed him shrimp. I have dried shrimp now that I feed the anemone. Should that be good for now? I have a brine shrimp kit on the way but won't arrive until Monday. No place around me sales live food.
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They prey on larger animals. It would never notice something as tiny as Artemia. Think larger like other big Snails, sleeping fish, Clams, jumbo Shrimp, etc.
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
I highly recommend snails that defeat algae at the source. Snails that are good at eating detritus and leftover food will eliminate much of the source of algae. Nassarius snails are awesome at finding leftover food, and anything that's edible is on their list. Brittle stars are good at cleaning the tiny spaces between rocks, too. Nerites, ceriths, turbos, and astreas are great at cleaning rocks and glass of algae. It's best to have a diversity of snails to handle different situations... ;)
 
Wisehart

Wisehart

Member
Thank you for all of the knowledge. I hope to go out and get a few of each of these soon. Do the uv filters help with this any? If so should I use one with snails or can I rely on snails alone? I don't not want too many snails maybe 5 of each or somewhere along that number.
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
I have a UV, but I can't tell that it's effective at all against algae growing on the glass. I'm sure it probably kills some of the free-floating cells, but it certainly doesn't get them all. I still have to clean algae from my glass a couple of times a week... and I have a pretty good collection of snails. You can have 1 snail per gallon of tank water, and you'll still have to clean your glass/acrylic eventually. It comes with the territory... lol!
 
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