Bret Brinkmann
Well-Known Member
I see a lot of posts involving sandbeds with diatom, cyanobacteria, and green hair algae in large patches or that completely taken over. I wanted to demonstrate an easy and fun way to reduce and possibly completely eliminate these nuisances from a sandbed. Snails and conchs can be a highly effective means but only if they are utilized and cared for properly. If you also have experience with them please post, especially if you have before and after pictures or pictures of them in action.
Things you need to know;
1) Not all snails clean the sand. Only certain ones. Below is a list. Let me know if I miss any.
A) Cerith snails - There are many different types including Caribbean, Florida, and dwarf. They clean the sand of cyanobacteria, diatoms, and GHA. They will also go on the rocks and glass. Primarily nocturnal and will breed in captivity. They don't eat much, especially the dwarfs, so you'll need lots. Don't be afraid to get dozens of the dwarfs. It takes about 10 dwarfs to eat as much as one of the single regular size ceriths. I recommend 1 cerith for every 3 gallons of tank volume for the regular sized ceriths and 10 of the dwarfs for every 3 gallons. Other snails like trochus and turbos will eat algae too but only ceriths spend enough time in the sand to keep it thoughly clean.
B) Fighting & tiger conchs - They stay in the sand for the most part and because they are larger than a typical snail (up to 4") require a larger grazing area. Only one per tank is recommended but in addition to diatoms, cyanobacteria, and GHA they will also eat detritus and leftover food from the sand. Thus making it easy to supply supplemental feeding should you find the surface area of your tank is not enough to supply it with enough food naturally. There are other types of conchs but they generally get much larger, in the 1 foot size range, and thus not suitable for most tanks.
C) Nassarius snails - These are carnivores and will not clean the sand of algae. However keeping the sand clean of uneaten meaty fish food can help prevent cyanobacteria outbreaks. They will burrow in the sand until they detect food in the water at which point they will seek it out. If they are not fed enough, then they can become predatory on other snails. So I recommend to error on the too few side rather than too many. Beware of the Babylonian/leopard/tiger snails sometimes sold as fancy/speckled nassarius snails. They eat other snails and bivalves. They are cream colored with brown spots and are not actually a nessarius species.
2) Beware of magnesium toxicity. If Mg levels get to about 1500 ppm many of your snails will start to die. At these levels the Mg acts as a sedative to which they can never escape. They will hang half out of their shells as if drunk and typically fall off the glass if they can even climb it all all. Some snails are more sensitive than others. In my personal experience astrea, ninja, and turbo are the most sensitive followed by nerites, Caribbean, and Florida ceriths, then trochus, dwarf ceriths, and even gold ring/money cowries. I'm not sure about other snails and conchs. Below is a link to a study I found that clued me in on the effects of elevanted Mg on snails.
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3) Better to get too little snails then too many. Don't treat them as disposable. You can always add more later. But if you get too many, they can't be effectively nourished with supplemental feedings. Conchs and nassarius snails being the exception due to their dietary needs, feeding habits, and the conchs larger size. If they run out of food, then they starve to death and their decaying bodies release all the N and P, along with ammonia, back into the water to help promote more algae growth.
4) Know what their preditores are. Hermit crabs will kill your snails. Even the herbivorous ones. Even if they don't want to eat the snail they may want its shell. Even if you supply them with extra unused shells of appropriate size, sometimes they just won't settle for anything less than THAT shell.
Bristle worms are not typically predators but they can be if large and hungry enough. If your new sand dwellers are reducing the available food for any bristle worms, then keep an eye out. They will hunt at night looking for sleeping snails. They should be removed right away because they can develop a preference for live snails. I've seen it in my tank once before.
Wrasses, at least some species, have been know to eat snails. Do your research if you want to keep snails and wrasses together. There are cheaper ways to feed a wrasse. Snails may be inexpensive but if you want longterm success with keeping them and their associated benefits, then you should not treat them as disposable.
Here is a full tank shot for my 29G. It has gotten pretty unruly due do everything I've had to focus on other than it.
There are multiple types of caulerpa that are no longer in their usual neat locations I normally keep them in. The stuff that looks like GHA is actually caulerpa verticillata. I also intentionally keep bryopsis for my E. crispata seaslugs. It's a haven for various types of algae.
Yet the sand is clean thanks to the ceriths. Below is one of my many dwarfs on the glass. On the glass to the right you can see some cyanobacteria, again because I have had to neglect my tank these past few months, but it still isn't on the sand thanks to the ceriths seen below actively cleaning the sand. It takes a lot of them but they serve a roll. The larger one on the sand is a species I have seen anywhere. It and one other like it came out of my LR one day as tiny babies about 4 years ago.
They don't go all the way down though. Only about an inch. Below that you can see stuff growing in the sand. I call it future cerith food. The growths also help prevent waste from collecting at the bottom as at least some of it is used as sustenance.
Again, please post your experiences along with any before and after pictures to help give others an better idea of how well this technique can work at keeping sandbeds clean.
Things you need to know;
1) Not all snails clean the sand. Only certain ones. Below is a list. Let me know if I miss any.
A) Cerith snails - There are many different types including Caribbean, Florida, and dwarf. They clean the sand of cyanobacteria, diatoms, and GHA. They will also go on the rocks and glass. Primarily nocturnal and will breed in captivity. They don't eat much, especially the dwarfs, so you'll need lots. Don't be afraid to get dozens of the dwarfs. It takes about 10 dwarfs to eat as much as one of the single regular size ceriths. I recommend 1 cerith for every 3 gallons of tank volume for the regular sized ceriths and 10 of the dwarfs for every 3 gallons. Other snails like trochus and turbos will eat algae too but only ceriths spend enough time in the sand to keep it thoughly clean.
B) Fighting & tiger conchs - They stay in the sand for the most part and because they are larger than a typical snail (up to 4") require a larger grazing area. Only one per tank is recommended but in addition to diatoms, cyanobacteria, and GHA they will also eat detritus and leftover food from the sand. Thus making it easy to supply supplemental feeding should you find the surface area of your tank is not enough to supply it with enough food naturally. There are other types of conchs but they generally get much larger, in the 1 foot size range, and thus not suitable for most tanks.
C) Nassarius snails - These are carnivores and will not clean the sand of algae. However keeping the sand clean of uneaten meaty fish food can help prevent cyanobacteria outbreaks. They will burrow in the sand until they detect food in the water at which point they will seek it out. If they are not fed enough, then they can become predatory on other snails. So I recommend to error on the too few side rather than too many. Beware of the Babylonian/leopard/tiger snails sometimes sold as fancy/speckled nassarius snails. They eat other snails and bivalves. They are cream colored with brown spots and are not actually a nessarius species.
2) Beware of magnesium toxicity. If Mg levels get to about 1500 ppm many of your snails will start to die. At these levels the Mg acts as a sedative to which they can never escape. They will hang half out of their shells as if drunk and typically fall off the glass if they can even climb it all all. Some snails are more sensitive than others. In my personal experience astrea, ninja, and turbo are the most sensitive followed by nerites, Caribbean, and Florida ceriths, then trochus, dwarf ceriths, and even gold ring/money cowries. I'm not sure about other snails and conchs. Below is a link to a study I found that clued me in on the effects of elevanted Mg on snails.
[/URL]
3) Better to get too little snails then too many. Don't treat them as disposable. You can always add more later. But if you get too many, they can't be effectively nourished with supplemental feedings. Conchs and nassarius snails being the exception due to their dietary needs, feeding habits, and the conchs larger size. If they run out of food, then they starve to death and their decaying bodies release all the N and P, along with ammonia, back into the water to help promote more algae growth.
4) Know what their preditores are. Hermit crabs will kill your snails. Even the herbivorous ones. Even if they don't want to eat the snail they may want its shell. Even if you supply them with extra unused shells of appropriate size, sometimes they just won't settle for anything less than THAT shell.
Bristle worms are not typically predators but they can be if large and hungry enough. If your new sand dwellers are reducing the available food for any bristle worms, then keep an eye out. They will hunt at night looking for sleeping snails. They should be removed right away because they can develop a preference for live snails. I've seen it in my tank once before.
Wrasses, at least some species, have been know to eat snails. Do your research if you want to keep snails and wrasses together. There are cheaper ways to feed a wrasse. Snails may be inexpensive but if you want longterm success with keeping them and their associated benefits, then you should not treat them as disposable.
Here is a full tank shot for my 29G. It has gotten pretty unruly due do everything I've had to focus on other than it.
There are multiple types of caulerpa that are no longer in their usual neat locations I normally keep them in. The stuff that looks like GHA is actually caulerpa verticillata. I also intentionally keep bryopsis for my E. crispata seaslugs. It's a haven for various types of algae.
Yet the sand is clean thanks to the ceriths. Below is one of my many dwarfs on the glass. On the glass to the right you can see some cyanobacteria, again because I have had to neglect my tank these past few months, but it still isn't on the sand thanks to the ceriths seen below actively cleaning the sand. It takes a lot of them but they serve a roll. The larger one on the sand is a species I have seen anywhere. It and one other like it came out of my LR one day as tiny babies about 4 years ago.
They don't go all the way down though. Only about an inch. Below that you can see stuff growing in the sand. I call it future cerith food. The growths also help prevent waste from collecting at the bottom as at least some of it is used as sustenance.
Again, please post your experiences along with any before and after pictures to help give others an better idea of how well this technique can work at keeping sandbeds clean.
