Nassarius snails babies?

[KyleC]

Hi everyone,

I acquired my tank second hand around 8 months back. Noticed it had 2 small sandy coloured snails that stayed mostly under the sand. Now I notice a **** tonne of them everywhere!

I thought they were nassarius snails that bred from my original two, but everywhere I read online says this is highly unlikely.

If not nassarius, then what are these snails? Are they dangerous? I popped in some algae pellets so they'd emerge to take some pictures.

Any help appreciated

 

[Lemons]

Look like babies to me! Sometimes you get lucky lol

 

[KyleC]

Look like babies to me! Sometimes you get lucky lol

So you think these are nassarius snails? My tank is swarming with them now.

 

[Lemons]

So you think these are nassarius snails? My tank is swarming with them now.

I think so! I had some that looked like these, i had only two "blonde" nassarius's (dunno the true taxonomy name)

Then over time i had hundreds of little guys! Just be warned they do like to get caught in wave makers...

And strangely enough they all kinda stayed small... or my wrasses were having a field day with any they found lol

 

[Tavero]

Hi everyone,

I acquired my tank second hand around 8 months back. Noticed it had 2 small sandy coloured snails that stayed mostly under the sand. Now I notice a **** tonne of them everywhere!

I thought they were nassarius snails that bred from my original two, but everywhere I read online says this is highly unlikely.

If not nassarius, then what are these snails? Are they dangerous? I popped in some algae pellets so they'd emerge to take some pictures.

Any help appreciated

They are nassarius snails but probably not babies. And probably not from the original two. It is more likely these are already grown up, small sized snails. I have them too. They are breeding sucessully in my tank.

 

[KyleC]

The ones pictured are mostly adults, but there are smaller dudes as well. Some are maybe 2 mm long. So cute! So maybe they're not as difficult to breed after all!

 

[KyleC]

Can anyone ID these specific nassarius species? Surprisingly difficult to get info online

 

[kevgib67]

Ya, this is deja vu for me. 6 months ago, as always, my nassarius came out of the sand when I added food to the tank. These little guys came flying out with them ( my pictures aren’t as good as yours). My understanding was nassarius snails don’t reproduce in our tank but dang, do they act and look identical.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Can anyone ID these specific nassarius species? Surprisingly difficult to get info online

No species ID from me here, but with regards to Nassarius reproduction in our tanks:

Yeah, there are literally hundreds of species in the Nassarius genus - some have pelagic larvae (that won't survive in our tanks), and some have benthic larvae (that will survive in our tanks).

I'm currently only aware of three identified Nassarius species with pelagic larvae which have been successfully cultured; there are a handful of unidentified Nassarius species with benthic larvae that reproduce like this in our tanks though.

 

[KyleC]

No species ID from me here, but with regards to Nassarius reproduction in our tanks:

I'm currently only aware of three identified Nassarius species with pelagic larvae which have been successfully cultured; there are a handful of unidentified Nassarius species with benthic larvae that reproduce like this in our tanks though.

Thanks for the info! I've since been told by some that these are dove snails?

 

[KyleC]

Ya, this is deja vu for me. 6 months ago, as always, my nassarius came out of the sand when I added food to the tank. These little guys came flying out with them ( my pictures aren’t as good as yours). My understanding was nassarius snails don’t reproduce in our tank but dang, do they act and look identical.

Ah right well that all makes sense then as I was surprised at how many there were! Will they pose any problems? They eat any meaty goods plus algae pellets. Live in the sand and very seldom see them on the rocks.

 

[kevgib67]

Ah right well that all makes sense then as I was surprised at how many there were! Will they pose any problems? They eat any meaty goods plus algae pellets. Live in the sand and very seldom see them on the rocks.

Mine have not exploded, I’ve only seen 3 out at a time. They definitely spend more time under the sand than the large nassarius snails. Numbers may be due to food availability, I’m a light feeder.

 

[KyleC]

Mine have not exploded, I’ve only seen 3 out at a time. They definitely spend more time under the sand than the large nassarius snails. Numbers may be due to food availability, I’m a light feeder.

I've been trying to cut back on feeding due to gha issues. I had myself convinced these were nassarius and got excited lol I've been blaming them for out competing my sand sifter starfish for food in the sand bed. I wonder should I try and remove some of them?

 

[kevgib67]

I've been trying to cut back on feeding due to gha issues. I had myself convinced these were nassarius and got excited lol I've been blaming them for out competing my sand sifter starfish for food in the sand bed. I wonder should I try and remove some of them?

I only would if you are seeing a detrimental affect. If your starfish is suffering then maybe trim the herd.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Thanks for the info! I've since been told by some that these are dove snails?

They could be - I'm not sure. There are some Nassarius and some Columbellid (dove) snails that look relatively similar to this. Either way, they should be good CUC.

Ah right well that all makes sense then as I was surprised at how many there were! Will they pose any problems? They eat any meaty goods plus algae pellets. Live in the sand and very seldom see them on the rocks.

Neither Nassarius nor dove snails should cause any problems.

I've been trying to cut back on feeding due to gha issues. I had myself convinced these were nassarius and got excited lol I've been blaming them for out competing my sand sifter starfish for food in the sand bed. I wonder should I try and remove some of them?

What have you been feeding/trying to feed the starfish?

 

[Lavey29]

I've got 3 of the large Tongan nacarius snails for several years now and probably 100 small ones in the sand now due to their breeding. I'm glad that little army is down their doing the dirty work in the trenches.

 

[KyleC]

They could be - I'm not sure. There are some Nassarius and some Columbellid (dove) snails that look relatively similar to this. Either way, they should be good CUC.

Neither Nassarius nor dove snails should cause any problems.

What have you been feeding/trying to feed the starfish?

I've not been feeding the starfish. It was getting nice and fat just from the sandbed alone, until these snails increased in numbers. I'm going to try get some silverside and cut it into small pieces, then carefully place them under the starfish to see if it eats.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I've not been feeding the starfish. It was getting nice and fat just from the sandbed alone, until these snails increased in numbers. I'm going to try get some silverside and cut it into small pieces, then carefully place them under the starfish to see if it eats.

I'd try some of the suggestions below too:

These starfish don’t eat algae in any meaningful quantities. They’re probably carnivorous, but may be detritivorous (see the quotes below). Personally, I’d try putting the star in an acclimation box with a dish of sand for it, and I’d try offering it a bunch of mollusks for it to eat (clams, mussels, oysters, and small but meat-eating snails like Nassarius snails would be my suggestions at this point), and see if it shows interest in eating any of them. If it does, then I’d try offering it more of that item in various sizes and see if it has a preferred food size.

I'd try something like clam, oyster, etc. and/or snail meat (you can find various frozen/live marine snails to try online, including conch meat, periwinkle snails, babylonian snails, etc.)

The quote below is specifically geared toward Astropecten spp. (predatory) sand sifting stars, but there is another genus of sand sifting stars called Archaster that is thought (importantly the diet was inferred, not studied in the research that this diet was pulled from) to be detritivorous (specifically, they are thought to be microphagous detritivores). I have heard but cannot confirm that Archaster spp. misidentified as Astropecten spp. may be more common in the hobby than actual Astropecten spp. are.

So, with this in mind:
- If your star is detritivorous (which may be a very big if), then you would likely want smaller foods than the suggested below (which is designed for predatory sand sifters). In this case, I'd suggest trying to mix something like TDO Chroma Boost into the sand for your stars to find.
- If your star is predatory (which may to our limited knowledge be possible at this point even if it is an Archaster sp.), then the below advice (and my advice above) is more likely to be useful.
- If your star is actually primarily a biofilm eater like Linckia spp. Protoreaster nodosus, etc. (which may also to our limited knowledge be possible for an Archaster sp.), then it's likely to die regardless of what you do or don't feed it at this point.

I’ve heard they climb the glass when they’re looking for food and can’t find any in the sand bed.

Generally, people recommend large tanks and waiting until your tank is established before trying these (or pretty much any) sea stars, and the star survives on detritus in the tank. Unfortunately, even in a lot of these tanks, after they finish clearing the detritus from the sand, they typically starve.

My current advice to avoid the star staving - which may or may not help, I genuinely don't know at this point (it could take someone months to years of testing it to find out for certain, as sea stars can last months without food):
Target feed the star things like clam on half shell, oyster, mussel, scallop, etc. (bivalves); snail, whelk, conch, etc. (sea snail gastropods); and a good quality omnivore food (like LRS Reef Frenzy or Fertility Frenzy). These are - according to the best sources of information I can find - the sorts of foods sand sifting stars consume in the wild, and the star should swallow these foods whole if they aren't too big - you might need to experiment a bit with the size of the pieces offered to get it sized just right, but generally I'd say err on the smaller side.

If you decide to give it a shot, let me know how it goes, and keep me updated on the long term survival of the star!

 

[kjkszpj9]

They definetly look like nassarius snail and not whelks so ur lucky

 

[KyleC]

I'd try some of the suggestions below too:

Thanks for the info! I'll give the suggestions a go.