[nitratehater]

Does anyone know why my snails keep falling off the rocks and end up on their backs in the sand. Every day I come home to find 4 or 5 of them on their backs and I don't know why? They are margarita snails.

Tanks for your help, Mike

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by nitratehater

Does anyone know why my snails keep falling off the rocks and end up on their backs in the sand.

Yep, I'm afraid we know but you probably won't like the answer. First of all, a lot depends on exactly what species of snail you have. "Margarita" is a common name that doesn't mean much. Unfortunately, in this hobby, there are several different species that are sold under the common name "Margarita snail" or "Margarite snail."

Most of the snails that are sold as "Margarita snails" are Margarites pupillus and they are collected from Baja California.

Read this excerpt from one of Dr. Ron Shimek's snail articles:

This confusion is complicated by various distributors and dealers who just can't seem to grasp "The Phenomenon of a Name," and blissfully attach names seemingly at random to their livestock. A good example of this is in the common name, "Margarite snail." Well folks, I have been studying snails for a long time, and to me a "Margarite snail" is a snail in the genus Margarites. These are small snails, similar in many regards to the grazers we put into our tanks. They are even found in the tropics. However, when they are found in the tropics, they live several thousand feet down in water whose temperature is 39° F. or lower. In other words, there are no snails of the genus Margarites that are found in warm tropical waters. One finds examples of the common North Pacific species, Margarites pupillus (Figure 13), offered for sale and this invariably leads to a quick death for this species if kept in reef aquaria. As with the species of Tegula, with which they share the common name "margarite" snail, they have no place in reef tanks. Still vendors persist in selling them. Go figure...

Here's a link to the full article.

Be sure to pay particular attention to what Dr. Shimek has to say about snails from Baja California: [Some snails] offered for sale in the reef aquarium hobby come from the cooler waters of Baja California. These animals are not from areas that have sand substrates or, really, much of anything else in the way of flat surfaces. If they get dislodged from rocks, they tend to fall into crevices or crannies where they can reach a rock with their foot and attach to it. Consequently, they have never developed a "righting response." This means that if they fall from the aquarium walls onto the sand, they will not be able to turn over, and will die there unless somebody or something turns them over. Given that they also are not warm water animals, they tend to die young and leave a good-looking corpse in the aquarium. Purchase them if you wish. I would spend my money on tropical species, however.

[nitratehater]

OK, so how do I know what I'm getting? Unfortunately, as you all know, the people one ordinarily deals with at the LFS doesn't know the difference, even the ones who call themselves "marine biologists". Can you refer me to anywhere that I can purchase these? Online?

Not only do they not "work" to help clean my tank, they die and polute my water!

[Ninong]

I'm not sure I understand your question??? If you're looking to buy some Margarites pupillus (which I don't recommend), then you can buy them here. At least they tell you that they are coming from Baja California. These are the snails that Dr. Shimek says do NOT make good candidates for our reef tanks.

I purchased some nice Trochus snails from Inland Aquatics and IPSF and I purchased some nice Nassarius snails and Cerith snails from Reeftopia. I'm sure there are other vendors, too.

[zhenya]

Mike,

How big is your tank? I usually keep four to five Astraea sp. snails in my 75g tank, plus I have one large Turbo sp. ( Mexican turbo snail). I figured more than that are bound to starve. Some of my snail had been in that tank for 4 years. I bought mine locally but Liveaquaria has a number of useful snails that you may consider purchasing. If you have deep sand bed you may want to get few Cerith and few Nassarius snails, for the glass and rockwork I would go with the few Astraeas.

[nitratehater]

Ninong,
I guess my confusion came from the fact that I have purchased these "margarite" snails in the past that HAVE been OK as far as sticking to the walls/rocks, but in retrospect, I guess they DIDN'T last that long. Therefore, I fell into the category of folks that considered them disposible. Now I feel badly...The ones that were able to stick must have been the North Pacific variety because they had short lives--some up to 6 months to make a guess, and the two batches that I have purchased lately that can't stick must be the Baja critters.

Gene, I have a 65 gallon reef with 120 lbs of rock and 50 lbs of sand (about 2 inches deep). There are 5 turbos, 5 Nassarius, and about 20 Margarite that aren't doing the job. Tank temp. is always 75 F. I will consider some Astraeas and Ceriths. I never see my Nassarius snails unless it's feeding time as they stay buried. Do you recommend anyplace to purchase Astraeas online? I see you're in NJ...have you ever been to "That Fish Place, That Pet Place" in Lancaster, Pa? It's supposed to be one of the largest LFS. That is where I get 90% of my stuff. It is huge if you haven't been. Excellent for dry goods, but you'd better have a quarantine tank set up as it's like a Humane Society for livestock.

Mike

[zhenya]

Hi Mike,

I never see my Nassarius snails unless it's feeding time as they stay buried.

That's pretty much it for Nassarius., but hey, they don't eat algae so there's no reason for them to hang out on the glass. Uneaten food is what I want my Nassarius to pick up from or in the sand.

I bought few of this Trohus
snails and they are alive and doing well.

As far as that place in Lancaster.., no I never went there. I plan on it few times just to see it but always something interfered with my plans, as usual.

What sort of job do you expect your snails to do? Keep your glass clean? In my experience this never really happens, if you know what I mean. You still have to clean most of it. My snails clean sections but I need to clean the rest myself.
This snails
are exellent at keeping rocks clean of algae( filamentous and some hair algae) but they poop like crazy and make their own messes.