snail selection?

[niloc16]

i currently have a 55gallon that i have been battling with hair algae and bubble algae. i've tested everything with no luck in finding problem. i upgraded prizm skimmer to remora aqua c, and man what a difference in skimming but anyway, diatoms have definitely slowed with addition of new skimmer and its only been a week but to me it seems that the hair algae definitely slowed down. my question is herbivores, i have 12 astraea and 2 trochus snails currently, from research i've decided on getting some cerith, bumble bee, and nassarius snails to clean detritus and algae. i was wanting your input good or bad or experience with these snails to know if they will do the job. i dont have anything right now to clean detritus, and i'm really hesitant to get hermit crabs because i dont want the killing the snails i have, i tried a sea hare but it died a week after having it for no apparent reason.

[shotzee]

I once bought some bumblebee snails because I thought they looked interesting and would serve to clean detritus in the tank. What a waste of money. Not only did I never really see them much, they did nothing at all. Nassarius snails on the other hand are awesome snails. They are so cool when they pop out of the sandbed when you feed your fish.

[naesco]

If your tests are accurate and show no phosphate or nitrates it is because your algae are consuming them.
Stop the nitrate and phosphate introduction (food and dead stuff) and your algae will decline. Maybe less light for a while will help.

Snails
-----bumblebee snails are predatory and should not be placed in any reef aquarium (who gave you the info that they eat algae?)
-----astraea eat algae but fall on their shell backs and cannot right themselves and die and pollute the tank
-----trochus are excellent algae eaters
-----nerita are probably OK
-----ceriths add one to your tank
-----cowries get a few ring (money) cowries
-----nassarius are scavengers. They eat meat not detritus.
-----margarita are cool water snails; not for our tanks

You need to acclimate snails for hours otherwise they die for no apparent reason.

All the above courtesy Ron Smimek: A pocket guide to Marine Invertebrates: a must have for thirty bucks.

[shotzee]

C'mon, I have a bunch of astreas and I have never seen one die because it couldn't right itself. They do sometimes struggle, but I love them. They are great snails.

[Willow]

C'mon, I have a bunch of astreas and I have never seen one die because it couldn't right itself. They do sometimes struggle, but I love them. They are great snails.

my hermits set traps for them and pick them out when they are on their backs.

[shotzee]

Hahaha, those damn hermits.

[untamed]

I've been quite happy with my bumblebees...If they are eating something they shouldn't, I've never noticed.

Mostly, I'm a fan of the ceriths.

Any snail that lives for any length of time is a good snail in my books.

[niloc16]

to reduce my lighting will also effect my corals,no? also i thought stopping feeding of the fish but how long can they go without food. i was thinking feeding every third day for awhile to see if it helps but i dont the fish to suffer. any suggestions for detritus cleaners? i thought bumble bee and nassarius would do the trick but not by the sound of the response, by the way thanks for the info everyone

[shotzee]

I wouldn't reduce the feeding of your fish too much. Everyone goes through stages of algae outbreaks (I have some red slime in my tank right now), but as long as you take the obvious steps to reduce the nutient and waste load in your tank, you will eventaully bring an end to the outbreak.

As for any bubble algae, I find its pretty easy to remove manually. If you want to get something to add to your tank that will take care of it though, you could add a emerald crab.

[niloc16]

thanks shotzees, yeah the bubble i find easy to get rid of, with the hose to drain water i just hold a plastic pick at the end to dig it out so that it gets sucked up right away.

[mr_alberta]

For bubble algae, you will have to do mostly manual removal. For the smaller bubble algae, you might want to try an emerald crab but those are about 50/50 when it comes to eating bubble algae.