So my boys returned home from a beach trip with the grandparents, with a bucket full of snails from Bethany bay. They said they looked like the ones i just bought, so they brought some home for me. (and they do look just like the ceriths i just bought…small hermit sized.) I def didn’t want to put them in the 125, for fear of pests and such, so i slow dripped em, and put them in the frag tank. they’ve been in there since sunday, they seem fine, no visual pests, and no sand for them, they just stay huddled around an algae wafer i dropped in . Does anyone have experience with these? are they the same as the ones at lfs? are they any good to keep? i didn’t want to just let em die, but i’ve got prob 50 or so. if they are ok does anyone want some?
I believe those are a relative of the nassarius vibex, the nassarius obsoletus (AKA Ilyanassa obsoleta) … which may or may not be reef safe but I don’t believe they are reef accustomed as they are a colder water snail.
I wouldn’t put them in my tank if anything that they may die to the higher temps and foul the tank.
Fishman used to bring them back from the beach for free and sell them as Nassarius vibex…
Yeah Tim, a couple have died so far, not sure if they were even alive when they arrived, but the rest look good, and they’re gonna stay in the frag tank for a while. And the fishman doesn’t surprise me, they look identical.
We had a bit of discussion on these a while back. There are some that carry a parasite that is trasmittable to humans (I’ll see if I can re-google it), and they are not accustomed to reef temperatures. As far as bringing in pests, they would be no more likely than what you buy online to carry pests. There is noone aquaculturing snails for reef tanks.
Edit:
Here is one discussion:
http://delreefclub.org/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=28&topic=3013.0
I have couple dozen in my main display tank that have been in there for almost a year. No problems but did quarantine them for little while first.we actually had some traded in to the store a few months back, and ihuntinde figured out they were natives… i never looked that close at them really, but i know now!
fishguy9 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use caution with trades like these. There are several people that have done the same scheme every year for at least the last 7 years. One thing to know is the best collection point for these guys are several state parks. I believe it is illegal to take them from the park and in addition continuing doing this may interrupt studies being done by several universities on these animals. They do often carry a disease which convince the snails to crawl up out of the water or at minimum spend their time near the top of the water column.(up away from your sand bed and rocks) Wither it is transmittable to other snails I am not sure.
The species of snail is also likely not one that will do well with year round hot temps as it is not often found in waters with year round temps as warm as we keep our tanks. For “margarita†snails their life span is drastically reduced being kept in warm temps.
“There is noone aquaculturing snails for reef tanks.” Depends on how you define no one and snails. The big thing here is that it is very unlikely for most species to reproduce in most systems. That being said if Ken were given a million dollars I am sure he would build a green house attached to his tanks and if he maintained systems similar to how he does at home I bet he could do it.(would have to use the same size or no skimmers) There are some species that wouldn’t be too difficult to do… but at the same time would it be worth it?
Aquacultured queen conchs are occasionally available from ORA, that being said should any responsible hobbyist have a queen conch?
Guys heres a little article on them. The ones I had are going on a year and don’t really see anything from them but looks like everyone should use there own judgment
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/mg/index.phpI didn’t read the article when it was posted a year ago, but got a chance to look at it tonight. A lot of the info in it came from Dr. Curtis, the professor I mentioned the last time we talked about these guys.
If you have them already in your tank… it’s a tough call. They may be trouble may not. If you don’t have them I would recommend against obtaining any.
That being said once you’ve kept them in your tank DO NOT reintroduce them to the wild. I would hate to hear the wild populations are carrying yet another problematic parasite from tropical origins which is reeking havoc on local animals. The hobby got enough of a bad rap from the Lion Fish deal which has been traced to a non-hobby source.(It wasn’t the hobbies fault)
Little hard to see, but what is this?
Aptasia?
I’m wondering.
I can’t believe you saw that… how big is the monitor your looking at??? LOL … i didn’t even see that! until i saw your post, looked in the tank…yep, very small, maybe a majano?
thanks,
" I haven’t laughed like that in a long time" Jim Carrey
You get an eye for them in time. It’s crazy how many hobbyist don’t know they exist then find one in their tank and hit the boards. After reading about them the next time they return to their LFS they see one, “This is where I got it! You bastards!” Didn’t realized they weren’t looking before and they are in just about every LFS.
Same thing happens with flat worms. Never notice them until they form mass numbers in your tank and you find out they are bad and the next LFS you hit… yeah actually they are in just about every store as well.
Not at all bashing LFS here, the online dealers and wholesalers are often much worse. Ran into a hobbyist last week who was blaming an LFS for being the source of his aptasia. They stock damsels to, but they’re not the ones physically putting these animals into your tank. Well unless you hired them to do that to.