Reef Safe Critters Explained - Reef Safe Snails

Snails For The Reef Aquarium

Snails are an essential part of any healthy reef aquarium and careful consideration must be taken when figuring out which type, and how many of these critters you will have. Below you will find a list of reef aquarium snails that are available for placement in your tank with a description, and photo of each.

Turbo Snail (Astrea):

Turbo Snails are the basis of any successful reef aquarium cleaner crew. They move around removing algae and diatoms from your tank and will polish your live rock to pristine condition. If a turbo snail flips over in the aquarium, it will often be unable to turn itself back over and will die unless the aquarium owner assists it in righting itself. These little guys are one of the first inhabitants you should add to a new reef aquarium as they will control the growth of algae as the aquariums Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia levels stabilize.

It is recommended to have one turbo snail per three gallons of aquarium water in an established reef aquarium.

Mexican Turbo Snail:

If turbo snails are the Dodge Ram of the reef aquarium, the Mexican Turbo Snail is the Mack Truck. Pound for pound, or gram for gram, these snails remove more algae, detritus and organic matter than any other reef inhabitant. Being that they are about two to three times larger than the regular turbo snail, they can eat two to three times as much algae and other food.
The problem with these bulldozers is that they do what bulldozers do, namely move stuff around. If you have corals or rocks that are not glued down, these little guys will get behind them and knock them over. They are extremely strong for their size, so care must be given in securing prized pieces of corals.

It is recommended to have one Mexican Turbo Snail per 10 gallons of aquarium water. If you are using other snails to maintain your tank in addition to the Mexican Turbo, you might only need one or two to do the heavy work the others can’t do.

Nerite Snails:

Nerite Snails are about the same size as turbo snails and they do pretty much the same thing, eat algae. The main difference between the common turbo snail and the Nerite snail is the ability of the Nerite to turn itself back over when it gets flipped on its back. This is a huge advantage over the common Turbo Snail; however, there is a down side to the Nerite snail: some of the sellers of Nerite snails get them from suppliers that collect them from tidal areas. These tidal Nerite snails look the same as other Nerites, but they will almost certainly climb out of your tank and die on your floor! I assume that these snails in nature leave the water to scavenge, and, unfortunately, the same tendencies persist when placed in an aquarium.

It is recommended to use one Nerite Snail per three gallons of water in an established reef aquarium.

Nassarius Snails:

The Nassarius Snail has a very different lifestyle in the reef aquarium than the Turbo or Nerite Snail. These little guys lay in the substrate of the aquarium and emerge when they smell food -- feeding frenzy! They are very fast movers and are very hardy in the reef aquarium. Sifting and cleaning the substrate is their main goal, but they will feed on other organic materials when introduced to the aquarium. Growing to about 1” in length, it is recommended to have one Nassarius Snail per one gallon of aquarium water. It is also recommended to place them in an established aquarium with a live sand bed.