Snails...they aren't all reef safe!

[Mr Cob]

I realized that I collected a bunch of snails from Port A that are not reef safe.

Whelks! They eat other snails and like clams. Figured this out when I had a snail (whelk) attached to another snail killing it.

Argh!

Check here to verify you have not done the same:
This link has listings of "reef safe" snails and snails that are "Not reef safe".
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/Hitchsnails.html

[aquasport24]

Had that happened to me too , i got it from a trade for some peps. shrimp. Thought it was cool looking til i noticed some of my snails were vanishing. Did some Google and found down they're snails eater...lol.

[txav8r]

First red bugs, dead grass and now this?! Jeeze Rob... Who did you upset upstairs?

[Third Coast Tropical]

Depends on the whelk,....but from the local waters the one snail you do not want in your tank is an oyster drill....unfortunately, they are one of the more prevalent species on the jetties and are collected alot, mis-identified and then they wreak havoc in your system.....

I live in Port A and have the opportunity to collect whenever....having said that....there isnt much around that I would collect and actually keep in one of my tanks.....with the exception of peps and a few fish species, that would be it.....thats my two cents.....
I would keep snails if I was 100% sure of what they were....I have had a horse conch before and it was awesome,...one of the coolest things I have ever had in my tank, and caught it snorkeling 3 minutes from my house....unfortunately I got rid of him due to its shear size and the fact that it would completely re-arrange rockwork in a day....but for the most part I stay away from most of those organisms....

[corkyGramma]

Very good info rob. People kept trying to "help" by giving me snails and crabs they found in port A. I was like no thanks, I could mis id the thing and be very sorry later. I also found some colored anems which i still have in quarantine because i suspect they are not photosynthic.

[Kyle46N]

Dude...you're giving me flashbacks. I kept a couple of whelks from the cocoa beach area in FL about three years ago. Two days later I watched in horror as it turned on the afterburners, chased down a turbo and sucked the life out of him. Or whatever mechanism it uses to kill. Pretty cool to watch once though...lol.

[Mr Cob]

First red bugs, dead grass and now this?! Jeeze Rob... Who did you upset upstairs?

LOL. They come in threes... so, guess I can move on with my life now.

Last time I got hurt...I had to get stitches on my eye from a bolt that popped out of my garage door...2 weeks later I fell down some stairs and sprained my ankle, then a week later a tree attacked me and I had two long scrapes on my bald head. Was all good after that.


Note: These Whelks are very aggressive and from what I've read can tear through a clam in the matter of one evening. If in doubt...remove it...as already suggested by previous poster.

[Mr Cob]

Very good info rob. People kept trying to "help" by giving me snails and crabs they found in port A. I was like no thanks, I could mis id the thing and be very sorry later. I also found some colored anems which i still have in quarantine because i suspect they are not photosynthic.

Thanks, Yvonne.
Luckily, I did find a ton of Nerites at Port A! They are small and do a great job cleaning nanos or even larger tanks in bigger numbers. They are fast and clean everything.

[FossilReef]

Thanks, Yvonne.
Luckily, I did find a ton of Nerites at Port A! They are small and do a great job cleaning nanos or even larger tanks in bigger numbers. They are fast and clean everything.

Are you sure you didn't find mostly Periwinkles? The Nerites are few and far between. Granted, they both do a super job.

[FossilReef]

Very good info rob. People kept trying to "help" by giving me snails and crabs they found in port A. I was like no thanks, I could mis id the thing and be very sorry later. I also found some colored anems which i still have in quarantine because i suspect they are not photosynthic.

The anems are not photosynthetic, but if you feed them once every week or two they do just fine. In fact, I find that they're nearly impossible to kill. since my mother keeps them alive just fine :P