mail order snail

[tech1]

recently I found a couple of sites that were selling snails with free shipping. but can't think of their names for anything. does anyone know of any sites I can try?

thanks

[Poseidon]

I found Nassarius snails on E-bay from Snailsnthings 24.99 for 25 snails with free shipping. I bought a bag from him and I only lost 4-5 and he included 28 or so snails in the bag so it was a great deal. PLus he will include extra snails for .75 cents each!!!

Mike

[tendar]

Locally we have placed several group orders with www.reeftopia.com and they have some pretty good prices and free shipping on orders over $125 and a 10% discount over $200.
Most every thing we have order has arrived well and doing good and we have spent around $1000 there in the last 2 months.

[Ninong]

Originally posted by Poseidon
I found Nassarius snails on E-bay from Snailsnthings 24.99 for 25 snails with free shipping. I bought a bag from him and I only lost 4-5 and he included 28 or so snails in the bag so it was a great deal. PLus he will include extra snails for .75 cents each!!!

Mike

Actually you found the guy who is selling Illyanassa obsoleta and calling them Nassarius snails. He keeps changing his name; Snailsnthings is his latest incarnation.

Check it out:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...nassa+obsoleta

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...=snailsnthings

P.S. -- Is this the dude who sold you the snails? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=20758

First of all, Nassarius snails do NOT eat algae, they eat carrion -- meat and meaty byproducts. I am pretty sure that Illyanassa obsoleta does eat some algae -- it also manages to survive in subfreezing temperatures by migrating to subtidal areas from its usual intertidal mud flats. And second, he modified his ad copy after we chewed him out for misleading the public. Notice that he now calls his snails "Nassarius I.O. reef safe Snails." I suppose the "I.O." stands for Illyanassa obsoleta so that he won't have to refund any more money to irate customers who complain about being misled.

Here is a little disclaimer in his ad copy that most people probably overlook, but it gets him off the hook so that he doesn't have to give any refunds: "Unlike the popular Nassarius snails for the reef. This type Nassarius snails are omnivorous and will eat algae but won't bother your corals fish or other live animals." They are not only omnivorous, as he correctly claims, but they are also predatory according to Dr. Ron Shimek.

When you offer any animal for sale and you specify its scientific name, that consists of the genus and species, e.g. Nassarius incrassatus. You do not call it by its family name, i.e. Nassariidae. Illyanassa obsoleta is in the same family with Nassarius spp. snails, as are a lot of other genera, but it is NOT a Nassarius snail as it is not in the genus Nassarius.

Here is the complete taxonomic listing for the family Nassariidae:

http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_page...SSARIIDAE.html

P.P.S. -- I read on his website that he collects these snails himself from the beach near his home. His location is shown as Kinston, North Carolina.

I. obsoleta has an East Coast range from Nova Scotia to Florida and a West Coast range from British Columbia to California. The two most common species of true Nassarius snails sold in the reefkeeping trade have a range from Florida south.

[Poseidon]

Wow now I really feel like a Dummy!!!!

Ya thats the guy, I should've posted here b4 buying them. Is this something I should remove from my tank???

they don't seem to be hurting anything and actually look pretty cool.(for a snail)

thanks, Mike

[Ninong]

Now that they are already in your tank it would be almost impossible to remove all of them anyway since they hide so well in the sandbed. If I were you, I would just watch them to see if you catch any of them eating something that you would rather they not eat and then take action at that time, but that's strictly a personal call on your part.

There have been at least five or six threads about these snails on Reef Central in the past couple of years. Most of the people were just upset that they were misled into thinking they were buying "the popular Nassarius snails for the reef," as Snailsnthings calls the true Nassarius snails. According to Dr. Ron, they (Illyanassa obsoleta) don't do well at temps above 70 degrees Fahrenheit and will have a shortened lifespan but are "relatively benign." But then again, he confirmed in another thread about a year later that they can sometimes be predatory.

You might want to check your tank at various times of the day, including at night, to see if you observe anything unsavory. If you leave them in your tank, let us know how things work out.

It's probably not worthwhile trying to get your money back on such a small amount, but you might want to give some feedback of your own on eBay.

Good luck either way.

[Ninong]

Mike,

Check out some of the other items Snailsnthings is selling on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2162492154

:eek3:

[Ninong]

I posted a reply addressed to Snailsnthings here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...57#post1383457

[Poseidon]

that is a rather unusual combination....

All is still okay on the Snail front, but I will watch them tonight more closely!!!

thanks Ninong for the help, I'll also let my friend Matt know as he bought some at the same time I did...

thanks Again, Mike