Three of the most common marine snail species used for controlling algae in saltwater aquariums and reef tanks are the Astraea/Astrea, Turban/Turbo, and Trochus/Trocus, with many varieties found world wide. Let's take a closer look at each of these groups.
- According to Julian Sprung's Reef Aquarium Manual, Volume One, Astraea sp. are the ideal snail to be placed in your aquarium as soon as ammonia and nitrite levels reach acceptable levels (less than 1 ppm). Introduced as soon as possible to a new aquarium, that has reached this cycling phase, these snails effectively limit the development of all microalgae. In other words, they are good at eating diatoms, but will consume Red Slime and Green Hair algae as well. The Astraea tecta found in Florida and Caribbean waters inhabits rocky inter tidal regions and is are said to be quite adept at removing alga films from rock surfaces.
- There are numerous species of Turbans, referred to as Turbo Snails, and Trochus snails world wide that feed solely on algae, making them perfect candidates for algae control. These types of snails are less adept at dealing with irregular surfaces, so they usually divide their time between cleaning the glass and digging in the sand for detritus.
- Another good glass polisher is the tiny Black Nerite (Pipipi) snail (Nerita picea) found in Hawaii. It only reaches a size of about 1.5 cm, and spends its time living along the shallow rocky and coral rubble covered inter tidal regions of the shoreline, in cohabitation with small hermit crabs of Genus Caleinus. The N. picea likes to reside on the aquarium glass in search of algae to eat during night time hours, but will spend some time roaming around to aquarium. Close relatives are N. neglectus, that grows to the size of a thumbnail, and N. polita lives in the sand during daylight hours and grows to about 1-1/2 inches. These two species like to crawl out of the aquarium, therefore, they are not good choices.
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