[thumb]

These are great snails for any marine tank. One big reason most of the people who say this have very few posts is because we are sending so much time enjoying and rasing marine animals not just talking about it.

[Ninong]

For whatever reason, thumb has decided to dig up five very old threads that discuss Ilyanassa obsoleta snails. Some of the threads he has posted to go back to July 2001 so his comments can't be taken as a serious attempt to offer timely advice. His comments about Dr. Ron Shimek seem to me to be a gross exaggeration of the facts.

Dr. Shimek wrote an article several years ago recommending Nassarius vibex snails as a good choice for people who choose to have deep sand beds in their reef aquaria. These snails are carrion eaters and because they burrow in the top layer of the sand bed, they provide beneficial bioturbation of the substrate.

Some hobbyists have asked Dr. Ron if the related species, Ilyanassa obsoleta, would be a good substitute for N. vibex and Dr. Ron has offered his professional advice that I. obsoleta is not a good choice.

Here is a typical response from Dr. Ron to someone asking this question:

Well, Ilyanassa obsoleta are not Nassarius, but close relatives.

They are partially predatory unlike true Nassarius, and they normally live at lower than reef temperatures. When placed in a reef tank their life span is dramatically lowered as they basically are running at about 180% to 200% of their normal metabolic rate.

Secondly, they may well attack sessile animals if not well fed.

Thirdly, in a number of areas these high intertidal animals are vectors for a number of flukes that parasitize birds. The fluke intermediate life stages will infect the snails, and then exit them "en masse" when they reach the end of that life stage. It is quite likely that if you have your hands in the tank at those times you will get an aquarium version of "swimmer's itch."

The parasite stages will not survive in your or your other aquarium animals, nonetheless they may well burrow into the skin of fish or yourself.

They are a cheap alternative to an animal that is already inexpensive. Tossing them into a reef aquarium is deterimental to them, and may be detrimental to the aquarium in general.

I'll add this for your consideration: Ilyanassa obsoleta is the natural host for at least 9 different species of detrimental trematodes. Studies indicate that more than half of the adult snails will contain these parasites.

[FishPharmD]

well, let's put this to bed, shall we?

Pretty amazing that a post I raised as a question about snails 2 years ago was still going as of less than a month ago, and eventually became one of the "classics" here at Reefland.

In retrospect, I'm sure the snails I got were I.O., and they were shipped in a ziplock baggie with a bit of water and a soaked paper towel, all stuffed in a padded mailer and sent priority mail. Postmark was 4 days before I recieved. To the guy's credit, I had about ~5 dead snails out of 35 that I bought. I emailed him and he gave me a partial refund.

I looked this thread up because 2 years later (at a temp of 78), I still have about 10 in my tank. Never did any damage, but didn't see a whole lot of good either. I am thinking the seller was snailsnthings, but these guys are probably the same person, who knows.

And I took his advice on the at least 25% water change every 2 weeks, since I didn't want to be an amateur. (hehe) That is, until I had to choose between salt and putting food on the table, so I went back to normal water changes. Oh well, we can only try, right?

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by FishPharmD

I looked this thread up because 2 years later (at a temp of 78), I still have about 10 in my tank. Never did any damage, but didn't see a whole lot of good either.

That was my experience with them too, but I didn't have any last that long. Of course it could have been a Mantis eating them, my Niger eating some, or maybe even some other predator, I think I still used Hermits at the time. In any event I won't add any more, nor will I recommend them to anyone.

Amazing how time FLYS isn't it?