Snails

There are more than 40,000 species of snails and they are found in all aquatic environments. The families usually used in fish tanks are Mesogastopoda, Littorinidae and Haliotidae from the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans. They are mostly reef snails and vary in size from half an inch to around 8 inches in the wild. Snails are good additions to a fish tank as they are scavengers and eat algae. Place one snail to every two gallons of water to deal with the algae. Snails may also need a calcium supplement for shell maintenance and they are very sensitive to higher nitrate levels. Their diet can be supplemented by the addition of vegetable based tablet foods, blanched lettuce, or dried seaweed.

Snails, as stated, are great additions to any reef aquarium. Algae control is a huge issue that is one of the main causes of people leaving the aquarium keeping hobby. One of the snail main purposes is algae control as well as cleaning. These animals will not only keep your glass clean, but will also eat detritus and other matter that if left to rot in the tank, may cause nitrate and other chemicals to fluctuate and become imbalanced. Marine snails come in all shapes and sizes and some also have different functions. I would recommend a few of the larger Mexican Turbo snails as they are very fast, and very effective at keeping your glass and rocks clean, but they are also one of the more expensive types.

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