Well don't look too far forward! You might miss it! Lol I got them this morning.
They seem to be mostly like snails. However I think I've observed them eating hair algae already, and one went on the glass and apparently was trying to eat the film algae like any regular snail would.
But their value is still pretty questionable, unless they are absolutely stellar at keeping algae down. Then I could safely say that they're actually worth paying considerably for. If they eat pretty much like a trochus or something else, then you'd just be paying for the cool smooth shell they have and the fact that they're a little different from a normal snail. Then some of what you're paying for is just the fact that other people want them, so to some degree they might be like a collector's item or something to that effect. In a hobby that's already pretty extravagant, honestly, not sure this is the critter for most people value wise. I appreciate algae eating snails probably more than most people, so to me they're great. Function and fashion, with an aura of mystery around them too! That's great for me but I can't speak for most people. And I will say I don't think they really "add" to the tank for other people looking in. Whereas if you get a tang that will give you that "wow" factor that really contributes a ton to your tank.
Anyways I've seen it said that they eat a tremendous amount of hair algae. Not sure anything this small is gonna be eating any amount anybody would consider "tremendous" but we'll see. For the record, they're about the size of a trochus snail.
I dropped all 3 in the water this morning. 1 went onto the glass. 1 went into that hole in my middle rock. 1 stayed on the substrate eating the short hair algae that grows on it, I think. So apparently they'll eat off of basically any surface, and pretty much any algae from what I can see. Not sure if they can actually take the film algae off the glass in a visible way.
