Nassarius snail question

[iamborg]

Hi,

 

I got 2 nass over the weekend and since putting them in, they have dug themselves into the sand

and MIA since? How do I know if they are still alive or not? I dont see them come out, and

I dont see their nose out of the sand.

I fed my clowns flakes and those fell to the sand, but I dont see them come out.

Do the flakes have to be close to their nose for them to come up?

 

Do they move at all? Or stay at their spot.

[jenisiz]

Hi,

 

I got 2 nass over the weekend and since putting them in, they have dug themselves into the sand

and MIA since? How do I know if they are still alive or not? I dont see them come out, and

I dont see their nose out of the sand.

I fed my clowns flakes and those fell to the sand, but I dont see them come out.

Do the flakes have to be close to their nose for them to come up?

 

Do they move at all? Or stay at their spot.

 

normally you can spot their sensory organs pushing through the substrate. Nassarius snails are excellent "sniffers" haha...so I don't think it's that. Have you tried taking a piece of cooked shrimp and setting it in the sand? That might coax them out.

[johnmaloney]

normal behavior, when you feed you should see them. flake anything, I guess if you were really curious giving the sand a stir drives them out quickly.

[hlfahemi]

Mine have been known to stay hidden for weeks. Every once in a while they come flying out of the sand after food.

[Rocket]

Just remember these snails are carnivores, they do not eat algae.

[jamesnmandy]

if they arent coming out when food enters the water then i would say they are most likely dead, i have never seen them not come out

 

they will also come out at night many times to hunt for food

[iamborg]

Thank you.

 

Do you know if they eat pellets like Formula 1 or Spectrum A+.

 

I thought they are "crap" eaters. I only have 2 fish in my 12G, do you think I should get the snails

some seafood?

 

Can I feed them bloodworms?

 

What is a good CUC that will eat flakes, pellets, waste, one that will climb Live Rocks and work

the sand substrate.

[jamesnmandy]

as far as what they eat? Anything that is dead or close to dead even and has meat on/in it, i would not try to target feed them, they are carnivorous scavengers, they will eat any food or decaying material in the tank, so unless you have zero food reaching the bottom of the tank i would not worry about feeding them specifically, but if you want to coax them out and see them eat, drop a piece of meat of some sort, stop the water flow (sometimes this is even enough to get them to come out) and then drop like a tiny piece of raw shrimp in there (not a piece of one that came in a frozen bag that is packaged with preservatives, like not the frozen cooked cocktail shrimp...those preservatives in them are a big source of phosphates, you dont want that

 

nass snails are good for sand somewhat, although they dont really do as much as i like, they only really stir up the one tiny spot where they emerge or burrow, and they typically only do that once a day...although in a small tank the effect is more pronounced i am sure, i have a 75 gallon tank, so it would take a army of them to do much as far as stirring up the sandbed, i have about 8 in my tank now

 

i also keep two tiger tail sea cucumbers which do extremely well at cleaning the sand and inside of live rock, they get in holes nothing else can because they can actually liquify their body to squeeze through seemingly impossible holes, but i would not recommend those for a smaller tank or one that is relatively new even if larger because their death can result in wacked out parameters, although the "cucumber nuke" phenomenon is sorely overrated

 

of course the usual suspects, tons of hermit crabs, i also keep a sea star of some sort, not sure what kind it is, but it's reef safe, all he does is stay under rocks and eat anything that gets under them that the crabs and fish cannot get to

 

another one which is a recent addition to my tank and i love it is the arrow crab, he doesnt hide like my emerald crab, he is always out and about constantly picking at the rock and has very long spindly legs and can reach far into holes

 

....mmmm i think thats about it other than the tons of other critters that will come with time and maturity like mini white stars, stomatella snails, pods, etc......

[BKtomodachi]

give them time.

they will get hungry, then turn into food-induced zombies.

[MFergOKC]

I have had three Nassarius snails in a 29G Biocube for a few weeks now (new tank). I just added a feather duster and all these snails instantly attacked it?

[Scott Riemer]

I have had three Nassarius snails in a 29G Biocube for a few weeks now (new tank). I just added a feather duster and all these snails instantly attacked it?

Strange.

 

to N-R.com

[jenisiz]

I have had three Nassarius snails in a 29G Biocube for a few weeks now (new tank). I just added a feather duster and all these snails instantly attacked it?

 

Like the emerald crab...nassarius are very opportunistic

[MFergOKC]

Like the emerald crab...nassarius are very opportunistic

I guess so! How can I tell that they have made it through the soft tube and actually killed the worm? Should I give it a day or two or immediately remove it?

[dreboogie]

I just got 2 Nass snails yesterday, so I could have some sort of sand sifting CUC. Purely out of curiosity, dropped 2 pellets of Formula One Marine Pellet. Within 30 seconds, one of them was out of the sand and flying to the pellet.

[MFergOKC]

I just got 2 Nass snails yesterday, so I could have some sort of sand sifting CUC. Purely out of curiosity, dropped 2 pellets of Formula One Marine Pellet. Within 30 seconds, one of them was out of the sand and flying to the pellet.

I will probably pick up a pellet food for them. They are obviously starving.

[Jenna]

A wee bit of frozen brine shrimp will do as well.

[mpatzer]

These snails are some of the most interesting animals Ive come accross. So much fun to watch their behavior when feeding. BUT they are opportunistic. I believe they are responsible for killing an otherwise healthy clam that I added. They almost instantly swarmed it. I tried to fend them off but by the next morning all that was left was an empty shell. Months later they tried to do the same to a feather duster that got its tube exposed a little when i moved a rock. I had enough and instantly returned them to the LFS. The feather duster is just fine now but it was crawling out of its tube trying to escape.

They are opportunistic with voratious appetites. To me they are just an uneeded addition to the bioload.

Why add that much more food to satisfy them just to add a little sand stirring. Not worth it. I'll stir or vaccum the sand myself.

[Koshmar]

They're great mantis food though!

[BKtomodachi]

I've never had a nassarius eat anything that wasn't dead. I have no idea what some of you people are talking about.

 

Like the clam, for example- underneath large clams you will almost always find at least one bristleworm. This is because clams constantly secrete new bits of foot tissue and byssal tissue, to make up for what slowly dies and falls away. I'm sure the nassarius were just going after that.

 

I have also seen random snails that are not nassarius being sold as them before. I'm not sure what they are like, but I suppose they could be predatory.

[xbwolfx]

whelks look a lot like nassarius snails

[Scott Riemer]

whelks look a lot like nassarius snails

^^this.

 

and whelks can be bad news.

[Nanobuds]

mine did best with the sinking pellets. if you find their sensory organ, you can place food right on top of it and it will come out