Do I have too many snails?

Quietelk

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This is an Aussie reef, CADE 900, so about 98 gallons with sump. I call these "periwinkles" but happy to be corrected. They... do well. Constantly breeding. There are always multiple sizes, from the hoary oldtimers completely covered in coralline algae or even xenia, down to tiny little fellers who I guess are only weeks old. I constantly see eggs on the glass. The worst part is, even with this many, the glass still fogs with algae. Why can't they clean it?!

(Night pics since that's when they come out)

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Quietelk

Quietelk

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never to many free snails in my opinion

they will never make it spotless but they are doing a good job of knocking out the majority it looks like.
less to scrape and have go down the overflow and into your filters.

Haha, I am kinda sorta joking of course, but it's kind of wild to me that even given how many there are (plus I have a Bristletooth Tang who spends all day pecking at the glass) they can only get the algae down to this sort of texture:

Screenshot 2025-12-11 225415.png
 

PPBlimpy

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yea. I have 6 tangs in my 210 and doesn't get that nice. i joke with my daughter that they are fish kisses.

Unfortunately my tank can not keep cuc except in the sump. My porcupine puffer snacks on them if i don't feed him enough.

i had a huge population in my refugium and sump for a while.
 

Gumbies R Us

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Haha, I am kinda sorta joking of course, but it's kind of wild to me that even given how many there are (plus I have a Bristletooth Tang who spends all day pecking at the glass) they can only get the algae down to this sort of texture:

Screenshot 2025-12-11 225415.png
Do you have any other cuc in there or just snails?
 

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