Dove snails for macro tank

[ClownWrangler]

I heard that dove snails are the best option for a macro tank clean up crew because they breed easy and are small enough to navigate and clean most mocros without harming them. Does anyone have experience with them for this purpose? Where can they be obtained in the U.S.?

 

[AlgaeBarn Verified Sponsor]

I heard that dove snails are the best option for a macro tank clean up crew because they breed easy and are small enough to navigate and clean most mocros without harming them. Does anyone have experience with them for this purpose? Where can they be obtained in the U.S.?

Dove snails do like to eat film/slime algae, hair algae, and cyano bacteria from surfaces so I would think they would be fine to put in a macro algae tank without them causing much, if any damage. Even though they do reproduce easily in a reef tank they do seem to be hard to come by and I wish I could point you in the right direction. :confused:

 

[EverydayAquarist]

I use dove snails in all my macroalgae tanks

 

[ClownWrangler]

I use dove snails in all my macroalgae tanks

Yes. I found out about them from your youtube videos. Very informative. There are only a handful of vendors that carry them in the US, but out of stock. Are the lightening dove snails the same in terms of ease of breeding? I'm going with dwarf ceriths for the time being. Red razor algae is a GHA magnet, so small snails of some sort are definitely needed.

 

[EverydayAquarist]

Yes. I found out about them from your youtube videos. Very informative. There are only a handful of vendors that carry them in the US, but out of stock. Are the lightening dove snails the same in terms of ease of breeding? I'm going with dwarf ceriths for the time being. Red razor algae is a GHA magnet, so small snails of some sort are definitely needed.

Ahh glad they helped. From what I have researched, lightning doves are not as good at eating algae as normal dove snails, although they do apparently eat some. Also in terms of breeding I believe they are less promiscuous in the reef tank which is why they are more popular. The best way to find regular dove snails is to travel around reef stores and look in their coral trays as they are common hitch hikers but rarely sold

 

[ClownWrangler]

Ahh glad they helped. From what I have researched, lightning doves are not as good at eating algae as normal dove snails, although they do apparently eat some. Also in terms of breeding I believe they are less promiscuous in the reef tank which is why they are more popular. The best way to find regular dove snails is to travel around reef stores and look in their coral trays as they are common hitch hikers but rarely sold

I found these at a LFS. The guy gave them to me for free. Are these a type of dove snail? He said they reproduce quickly. They are about the size of a dwarf cerith.