Anyone else have problems with snails scratching glass?

[Jonathan blackwood]

I'm not 100% sure, but more like 99.99% sure, that I think my turbo snails scratch my glass sometimes when they clean. There shells get that extra long or calcium build up and when the Scoot and suck along the glass. ... it grinds and leaves scratch marks. ..and I can't just buff out my glass inside the water lol. I don't use any tools or scrapers that would do it. And I don't drag my rock along my glass either. So I blame my snails. Idk what to do because they ate a huge part of my clean up crew, so I took them out. But at the same time, I need them to control the waste and algae. What can I do?

 

[dacianb]

This is called mohs hardness scale. As you can see fist material capable to scratch glass is Quartz, then topaz and diamonds.
I dont think any calcium based shell can cause scratches to glass.
Try to clean them, may be marks (as chalk on table), not really scratches.

 

[Jonathan blackwood]

This is called mohs hardness scale. As you can see fist material capable to scratch glass is Quartz, then topaz and diamonds.
I dont think any calcium based shell can cause scratches to glass.
Try to clean them, may be marks (as chalk on table), not really scratches.

So your saying it couldn't be my snails at all? And I must have missed a small piece of sand or something when I was scrubbing? Or there is a chance it could be my snails

 

[dacianb]

So your saying it couldn't be my snails at all? And I must have missed a small piece of sand or something when I was scrubbing? Or there is a chance it could be my snails

If your snails would build diamond shells.... :).
I hit few times with rocks the glass during rockscape and I thought also that is scratched, but were only white marks which came out easily.
May be sand, but probably even pure coral sand cannot do it and should be some quartz in it (normally you have such sands in rivers and lakes), but not in reefs. reef sands are crushed corals and shells.

Take out a snail and scrub it on a piece of glass (remember his power, not yours). There is a rule in this hardness test: if you can scratch a with b, will never be able to scratch b with a.
So, take a piece of glass and see if you leave marks on shells or vice versa.