opinions please! best algae eaters hermits or snails?

bnhd3 · 03/06/2007, 02:14 PM

which is better. give me your opinions. i have a mixture of all kinds of snails and all kinds of hermits. i do notice the hermits kill some snails and steal their shells sometimes. is it maybe better to have a bunch of one and none of the other or what? it seems like snails like to clean the glass and areas where not much attention is required. i can clean the glass, i need them to clean the rocks.

sir_dudeguy · 03/06/2007, 02:20 PM

i dont use hermits. They dont clean much at all for me (i've had like 4 different types too..i'm convinced they're all crappy cleaners).

I use all snails and have great success. It depends on what snails you have tho. Some of them (like turbos) like to stay on the glass a lot more than others. Then you can get some that are rock dwelling snails (like astreas) that clean the rock more. Then there are ceriths (my favorite) that clean everything pretty much, but usually stay to the sand.

Teknagen · 03/06/2007, 02:22 PM

My hermits and turbo snails always on the rocks and rush for pellet food when it lands on the sand. Buy some empty shells for the hermits when they out grow their shells. This will prevent them from killing snails.

steri · 03/06/2007, 02:26 PM

My hermits, pink turbo snails, and Mexican Turbo snails do an awesome job at keeping my rocks clean. My fighting conchs do an even more awesome job at keeping my sand clean!

WaterKeeper · 03/06/2007, 02:29 PM

Snails are best but Emerald crabs are better than hermits in dealing with problem algae.

pufferfish68 · 03/06/2007, 05:09 PM

I just got mexican turbo snails and they are doing an awesome job in eating the hair algae.

papagimp · 03/06/2007, 05:17 PM

The best algae eater I ever had was my queen conch. May have been lucky on my part getting one that had a pallet for hair algae though. Next to him, a barage of various snails do the job. Lot's of stometella's in my tank....LOT"S!!!

David MC Lee · 03/06/2007, 06:15 PM

I use large mexican turbo snail small hermit crabs. If you don't put any larger shells in the tank for the hermits to move into, they will stay small and can't kill the larger snails. The down side to the trubos is they can knock stuff over. Glue everything down real well.

WaterKeeper · 03/06/2007, 06:19 PM

They also are fairly short lived.

jpd02 · 03/06/2007, 09:16 PM

I used hermits and a combo of astreas, nassarius, and cerith snails. Every now and then the hermits would kill a snail but it wasn't frequent enough to be a big problem - if you make sure that there are empty shells around the tank and that you're feeding enough that the hermits are getting some food to scavenge then I don't think you have to worry about them killing all your snails. I think the hermits add some personality to the tank and that they're good dual scavengers/algae eaters. I personally didn't care for turbos because they never seemed to last very long. I highly recommend getting some Tonga nassarius - its a blast to watch them do their "Night of the Living Dead" thing and come popping out of the sand at feeding time.

reefrottie · 03/06/2007, 09:19 PM

mexican turbo snail

03/06/2007, 02:14 PM	#1
bnhd3 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: central georgia Posts: 210	opinions please! best algae eaters hermits or snails? which is better. give me your opinions. i have a mixture of all kinds of snails and all kinds of hermits. i do notice the hermits kill some snails and steal their shells sometimes. is it maybe better to have a bunch of one and none of the other or what? it seems like snails like to clean the glass and areas where not much attention is required. i can clean the glass, i need them to clean the rocks. __________________ "showing one's teeth is a submission signal in primates. When someone smiles at me all i see is a chimpanzee begging for it's life." -dwight schrute- Current Tank Info: 125g reef,20g frag tank, 200lbs. LR, 65g sump w/ fuge, mag 9.5 return pump, aqua c 240 ev skimmer w/ mag18, 2x250watt 15000k halides, 4x96watt pc's 420nm, 2 tunze 6000's w/ single controller, MRC CR-2 cal. reactor

03/06/2007, 02:20 PM	#2
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	i dont use hermits. They dont clean much at all for me (i've had like 4 different types too..i'm convinced they're all crappy cleaners). I use all snails and have great success. It depends on what snails you have tho. Some of them (like turbos) like to stay on the glass a lot more than others. Then you can get some that are rock dwelling snails (like astreas) that clean the rock more. Then there are ceriths (my favorite) that clean everything pretty much, but usually stay to the sand. __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

03/06/2007, 02:26 PM	#4
steri Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Aurora, IL. Posts: 2,361	My hermits, pink turbo snails, and Mexican Turbo snails do an awesome job at keeping my rocks clean. My fighting conchs do an even more awesome job at keeping my sand clean! __________________ 220g: French Angel, Emperor Angel, Passer Anger, Blue Tang, Yellow Tang, Snowflake Moray Eel, Lunar Wrasse Current Tank Info: 220 with T5HO lighting. ETSS skimmer.

03/06/2007, 02:29 PM	#5
WaterKeeper Bogus Information Expert Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 16,147	Snails are best but Emerald crabs are better than hermits in dealing with problem algae. __________________ "Leading the information hungry reefer down the road to starvation" Tom Current Tank Info: 130 Now out of service and a 29

03/06/2007, 05:17 PM	#7
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	The best algae eater I ever had was my queen conch. May have been lucky on my part getting one that had a pallet for hair algae though. Next to him, a barage of various snails do the job. Lot's of stometella's in my tank....LOT"S!!! __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

03/06/2007, 02:22 PM	#3
Teknagen Unregistered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lake Forest Posts: 234	My hermits and turbo snails always on the rocks and rush for pellet food when it lands on the sand. Buy some empty shells for the hermits when they out grow their shells. This will prevent them from killing snails.

03/06/2007, 05:09 PM	#6
pufferfish68 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 22	I just got mexican turbo snails and they are doing an awesome job in eating the hair algae.

03/06/2007, 06:15 PM	#8
David MC Lee Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: South of Springfield IL. Posts: 1,645	I use large mexican turbo snail small hermit crabs. If you don't put any larger shells in the tank for the hermits to move into, they will stay small and can't kill the larger snails. The down side to the trubos is they can knock stuff over. Glue everything down real well.

03/06/2007, 06:19 PM	#9
WaterKeeper Bogus Information Expert Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 16,147	They also are fairly short lived. __________________ "Leading the information hungry reefer down the road to starvation" Tom Current Tank Info: 130 Now out of service and a 29

03/06/2007, 09:16 PM	#10
jpd02 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Connecticut Posts: 52	I used hermits and a combo of astreas, nassarius, and cerith snails. Every now and then the hermits would kill a snail but it wasn't frequent enough to be a big problem - if you make sure that there are empty shells around the tank and that you're feeding enough that the hermits are getting some food to scavenge then I don't think you have to worry about them killing all your snails. I think the hermits add some personality to the tank and that they're good dual scavengers/algae eaters. I personally didn't care for turbos because they never seemed to last very long. I highly recommend getting some Tonga nassarius - its a blast to watch them do their "Night of the Living Dead" thing and come popping out of the sand at feeding time.

03/06/2007, 09:19 PM	#11
reefrottie Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rock Hill South Carolina Posts: 45	mexican turbo snail