Snails and Shelled Animals

Snails & Shelled Animals are Invertebrates belonging to the Phylum Mollusca and Class Gastropoda. Most Snails & Shelled Animals are Herbivores but some Marine ones are Omnivores. Aquatic Connection Live brings to you the best snails to clean your aquarium. However prior to moving on the specific species, lets go through some common features of Snails.

Habit & Habitat. Snails are Nocturnal in habit. They are solitarily found near Rocky Reefs, Grass Beads, and Sandy Bottoms around the coastal areas of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Ideal Marine Aquarium Environment. Snails require a specific gravity of 1.018-1.028, a pH value of around 8.10-8.40, and temperature at around 72-80 degrees Fahrenheit, in the tank. Stable pH & temperature levels, and minimal or zero Copper and Nitrates are desirable in the aquarium to avert any lethal shocks to the Snail & Shelled Animals in there. Keep ample Live Rock, Caves, Corals, and Sand to hide in and graze upon.

Aquarium Feeding. Snails & Shelled Animals are Algae Eaters and hence keep the aquarium free from unwanted Algal growth. Most Snails & Shelled Animals are Omnivores and Scavengers in feeding habit. They are known for eating away the meaty bits of Brine Shrimp, Mysis Shrimp, Fish, & Scallop, and Scavenge on Detritus and Fish Waste. In the search of food, Snails & Shelled Animals also plough the sand, thereby cleaning and aerating it.

Important Acclimation Information: All Snails and Shelled animals are very sensative to changes in salinity and water chemistry from one aquarium system to another. It is vital to Slowly acclimate Tonga all Snails and Shelled animas to your marine aquarium environment using the Slow Drip Method explained in our acclimation web page. The slow acclimation process needs to be done over a minimum time period of tat least two hours to avoid your snails and shelled animals dieing over the first few days from water chemistry shock..

  Tiger Sand Conch

Totally peaceful toward other tank mates.
Great for Cleaning Sand, even Red Slime algae)!
Description: The Tiger Sand Conch is a hardy member of the Strombidae family. Despite their name, they are peaceful toward other tank mates. They are excellent sand sifters, and are very beneficial in the reef aquarium. As they burrow and dig through the aquarium substrate, they clean and aerate the bottom.
Terrific for Cleaning Tanks with that ugly red or brown slime algae often seen. A hardy algae eaters , one of the few that will rid a tank of slime algae, they also love the brown diatoms found on the surface of live sand beds. They will stir and clean upper layers of the sand bed. One of the best reef tank detritivores. As they burrow and dig through the aquarium substrate they clean and aerate the bottom. Tiger Sand Conch will do an excellent job of cleaning the live sand in your reef tank, where you don't have to sift it around ever! It'll go to sleep at night, but once the lights come on it goes back to cleaning in no time and will go on for the rest of the day with no breaks. Watching it clean with what looks like an anteater type snout is very entertaining as they move it everywhere to feed. It will always stay on the bottom of your tank, won't bother any invertebrates or corals whatsoever. Once you add these to your tank, you won't ever regret it because they make a unique and different addition. I highly recommend these for their usefulness.
Recommended minimum tank size: 1 gallon or larger They do best when kept in a live sand bed.
Food and diet: They can be fed algae pellets, if they can't find enough natural food. 1 Conch per 25 gallons of water.
Level of Care: Easy
Reef Compatibility:Very good
Approximate Purchase Size: 1" to 2"
$7.99 each - quantity breaks below

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 Orange Spot Butterscotch Nassarius Snail
Babylonia formosae

Description:These are one of the most beautiful of all the saltwater snails. An extremely hardy aquarium addition, the Orange Spotted Butterscotch Massarius Snail will bury themselves in the sand with only their siphon out. They have quite well developed olfactory sense. As soon as they can smell food, they will rush towards it in groups. An aquarium with a thick layer of sand is recommended.Owing to their scavenging nature, the Orange Spotted Butterscotch Nassarius Snail will eat perishable organic matter in your marine aquarium thereby, preventing your tank water from being contaminated. The Orange Spotted Butterscotch species will sift through the sand in the search of food, thereby aerating the substrate. The ploughing of sand in your marine aquarium also helps curb the growth of Red Slime Algae, called Cyanobacteria, on the sand.
Recommended minimum tank size: 1 gallon or larger They do best when kept in a live sand bed.
Food and diet:Orange Spotted Butterscotch Nassarius Snail is carnivorous and of course are scavengers in feeding habit. They will eat meaty bits of Brine Shrimp, Mysis Shrimp, fish and Scallop and Scavenge on detritus and fish waste. If there is not ample food supply in your marine aquarium, you may supplement their diet with the meaty bits of fish and sea food.
Level of Care: Easy
Reef Compatibility:Very good
Approximate Purchase Size: 1"

$5.99 each quantity breaks below
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 Spider Conch
Lambis Lambis
Description: The common spider conch Lambis lambis of the family Strombidae is abundant in the shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific. The species is sought by shell collectors in the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Indonesia and India, and is harvested for food in Japan. Spider conches are found mainly on the sand and among the rocks on or near coral reefs.They are reef safe, peaceful, and will not harm other invertebrates or corals. A very interesting invertebrate for the marine aquarium, they are excellent sand sifters, and are very beneficial in the reef aquarium. As they burrow and dig through the aquarium substrate, they will clean and aerate the bottom.
Terrific for Cleaning Tanks with that ugly red or brown slime algae often seen. Also a hardy algae eater, one of the few that will rid a tank of slime algae, they also love the brown diatoms found on the surface of live sand beds. They will stir and clean upper layers of the sand bed. One of the best reef tank detritivores. As they burrow and dig through the aquarium substrate they clean and aerate the bottom. Tiger Sand Conch will do an excellent job of cleaning the live sand in your reef tank, where you don't have to sift it around ever! It'll go to sleep at night, but once the lights come on it goes back to cleaning in no time and will go on for the rest of the day with no breaks.
Recommended minimum tank size: 1 gallon or larger They do best when kept in a live sand bed.
Food and diet: They can be fed algae pellets, if they can't find enough natural food. 1 Conch per 25 gallons of water.
Level of Care: Easy
Reef Compatibility:Very good
Approximate Purchase Size: 4"

$34.99 Each

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REEFSAFE

  Aquacultured Abalone

Abalone's eat tons of algae including hair algae!!!

The shell of the Abalones of the Haliotis genus is tear-shaped and has an irridescent interior. The mantle has numerous papillae. It is generally nocturnal, finding refuge in holes or crevices in the rocks or coral during the day, and coming out to forage at night, using its foot to glide over the substrate and coral rubble. The foot attaches very firmly, so use extreme caution if attempting to remove it from glass or rocks.

The Abalone is useful in reef aquariums because it eat tons of algae. The Abalone has a calcium-based shell which protects it from most predators, but requires the maintenance of proper calcium levels in the water for proper growth. Nitrates should be kept at low levels and it should never be exposed to copper based medications.

While its diet is almost exclusively algae, it would benefit from supplementation with dried seaweed, lettuce, spinach, or Spirulina sheets/tablets.
$19.99 each 
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  Bumble Bee Snails

They look like black and yellow bumble bee's
A Long Lived Great Cleanup Critter!!!!
Description:With its striking black shell, striped in elegant white to yellow bands, the Bumble Bee Snail is indeed beautiful to observe. The Bumble Bee Snail also benefits the marine reef aquarium in big ways. Heralded for their small size and ability to get into small crevices and tight locations between rockwork. Here, they can clean away detritus, including uneaten meaty foods and decomposing organisms. This important cleaner also burrows into your sand bed, consuming detritus in your sand, sand dwelling worms, and in the process airating your substrate. The Bumble Bee snail is a tiny member of the Buccinidae family also burrows into your sand bed, consumes sand-dwelling worms, and helps aerate your substrate.
Approximate Purchase Size: 1/2"

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 Banded Trochus Snails
Farm-raised Trochus Snails are a great addition to the cleaning stable. They move very slowly but leave nothing behind, eating filamentous algae, slime algae, green algae, diatoms, and cyanbacteria. Add to this the fact that they often are able to right themselves if they fall on their backs.Pyramid shaped similar to an Astrea snail, they get about the size of a quarter when full grown, and are a perfect aquarium snail since they come from warmer waters. Extremely hardy, as long as water quality remains good they have a very long life. Many live from 5 to 7 years. No tank should be without some of these. Recommend 1 per 5 gallons. 

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 Margarita Snails
(Margarites pupillus)

The Margarita Turbo Snail is an excellent choice for hair algae removal from the aquarium. If algae becomes sparse, supplementation will be required. Feed dried seaweed wrapped around a rock and placed on substrate against the glass. Most Invertebrates, including snails require very long and slow drip acclimation process of at least 2 hours as they cannot adjust quickly to even small changes in pH, temperature, alkalinity and other parameters. Like all snails, this species is intolerant of extreme nitrate levels (over 20) and cannot live in tanks that have had copper-based medications dispensed.
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   Astrea Snails
The Astrea loves to graze on algae. A very active cleaner, it cleans algae and diatoms. If it falls, it is often unable to right itself, and will need the aquarist to place it upright, again. According to Julian Sprung's Reef Aquarium Manual , Volume One, Astrea snails are the ideal snail to be placed in your aquarium as soon as ammonia and nitrite levels reach acceptable levels (less than 1 ppm). One of the best snails for controlling Diatom 's, (light brown/red algae), Green Algae Blooms and Dark Purple/Red Slime algae . Introduced as soon as possible to new aquarium, these snails effectively limit the development of all micro algae. Ref: The Reef Aquarium. Recommend 1 per 2 gallons. 

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 Large Tonga Nassarius Snails
(Nassaurius vibex)

Nassarius Snails bury themselves
in the sand until feeding time.
Description:Nassarius snails are excellent for keeping the substrate stirred and clean. They usually stay buried and eat leftover food but may emerge as you feed the other aquarium residents. hey have beautiful ornamental shells, are fast movers, and are VERY hardy snails. You will see the nassarius snails emerge from beneath the sand when you drop food in the tank in a feeding frenzy.
Recommended minimum tank size: 1 gallon or larger They do best when kept in a live sand bed.
Food and diet: They can be fed algae pellets, if they can't find enough natural food. 1 Conch per 25 gallons of water.
Level of Care: Easy
Reef Compatibility:Very good
Approximate Purchase Size: 3/4" to 1"

$2.99 each - quantity breaks below
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 Large Cerith Snails

This is one of the best snails tested for Diatom algae!
One of the most ideal scavengers, detritus eaters, and algae eaters these snails are perfect for the reef aquarium, quickly devouring detritus, uneaten food, decaying organics, fish waste, and several types of nuisance algae. Cerith Snails will often bury themselves in the sand, which will help maintain adequate oxygen levels in the substrate. One inch long pointed shell, it is small enough to get hard to reach spots between the rocks. It is listed in Julian Sprung's Reef Aquarium as a a great algae/diatom eater, and we whole heartedly agree! It's able to remove diatoms so well that they do not regrow from the original algae film. They will not dislodge or disturb any specimens and is an active glass cleaner .

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 Nerite Snails

Elliminates cyano bacteria (red slime) & other film algaes on glass, rock or sand.
Nerite Snails are very hardy and will survive a long time in the home aquarium. Unlike other snails these guys will NOT die by flipping over, they can easily flip themselves upright when needed! At a maximum size of around 1 inch, these outstanding cleaners are found on a number of reefs scattered throughout the Indo-Pacific region. They will eat unwanted nuisance algaes such as cyanobacteria (red slime) and other film algaes that may occur on the glass, rock or sand. These eager eaters desire several types of micro algae commonly found in the home aquarium.

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  Mexican Turbo Snails
Turbo fluctuosa

Do a great job on elliminating hair algae & other nuisance algaes
The Turbo Snail is native to the Gulf of California off the coast of Mexico. Very popular among reef aquarium hobbyists. Gram for Gram, Mexican Turbo Grazer's clean more nuisance algae than any other snail. They do a great job on ridding a tank of hair algae and other nuisance algaes off of both the live rock and aquarium glass. These snails are referred to as grazers because of their voracious appetites for several types of micro algae found in the home aquarium. Pure work horses, the Mexican Turbo's radula, or tongue, of the snail has a rasp like texture. When pulled across a surface, this rasp pulls the algae loose for a quick snack. Also known as the Turban or Top Shell Snail, Turbo fluctuosa has a thick turban-shaped shell with an irridescent interior.
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 Zebra Striped Turbo Snails
An incredible natural defense to clean up your tank!.


The Zebra Stripe Turbo Snail, comes from Belize and is a great variation from the typical Mexican Turbo Snail. These outstanding cleaners will scour rock and glass in search of its next meal. The Zebra Turbo are about 2 to 3 times larger and do about 5 times as much work as the Atlantic Turbo Astrea Snail. They are pure workhorses. Eager to eat several types of micro algae commonly found in the home aquarium. The radula, or tongue, of the snail has a rasp like texture. When pulled across a surface, this rasp pulls the algae loose for a quick snack. When algae is in low supply, green seaweed sheets can be supplemented to help ensure balanced nutrition. Recommend 1 per 5 gallon.  

$2.99 each
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 Olive Cowry
The Olive Cowry has a long, smooth shell that can vary in color from olive color to a darker brown. They usually stay buried in the substrate where they eat leftover food and detritus, helping to keep the substrate clean and stirred.It lives in shallow water among stony corals and rocks and has a peaceful temerament. The Olive Cowry is Reef Compatable, safe with all reef tank specimens.
Approximate Purchase Size: 3/4"-1"

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  Red Footed Conch
Opeatostoma pseudodon
The Red Footed Conch, also known as Thorn Latirus, lives in shallow water among stony corals and rocks and has a peaceful temerament. They are named after their bright red foot and by their single nonpoisonous thorn that grows from the bottom of the lip of their shell. The Red Footed Conch is a Reef Compatable omnivore and will consume aquarium detritus.
Approximate Purchase Size: 3/4"-1-1/2"

$6.00 each
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