Identifying new snail in tank.

[glennkaufman]

Can anyone help identify this little guy. I currently have 2 astrea and 1 turbo in my small tank. This little guy just showed out of nowhere. The tank is about 3 months old. I thought a baby nassarius, but I don’t know how he could have gotten introduced!

 

[glennkaufman]

 

[Dolphins18]

Nassarius

There are many different nassarius snails some are great some not so much.

I once caught a whole bunch of random nassarius snails from the beach and added them to a tank and they were not the good ones. This was like 15 years ago when I was young and did not know any better. Those ones were black and the one pictured looks more like the safe ones that come from the stores.

I think the ones people usually get are nassarius vibex but not positive

After a little research I can confirm the black ones are the bad.

That one will help stir the sand and eat left over food

 

[glennkaufman]

Nassarius

There are many different nassarius snails some are great some not so much.

I once caught a whole bunch of random nassarius snails from the beach and added them to a tank and they were not the good ones. This was like 15 years ago when I was young and did not know any better. Those ones were black and the one pictured looks more like the safe ones that come from the stores.

I think the ones people usually get are nassarius vibex but not positive

After a little research I can confirm the black ones are the bad.

That one will help stir the sand and eat left over food

Thanks. It seems I have spotted 2 little guys burrowing in the sand now. Hope they keep populating. Nice to have them in the tank.

 

[duberii]

The black "nassarius snails" are probably just whelks, which are predatory. Check this out and see if your snails look like this- http://www.mbisite.org/Forums/tm.aspx?m=42720&mpage=1&print=true

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Nassarius

There are many different nassarius snails some are great some not so much.

I once caught a whole bunch of random nassarius snails from the beach and added them to a tank and they were not the good ones. This was like 15 years ago when I was young and did not know any better. Those ones were black and the one pictured looks more like the safe ones that come from the stores.

I think the ones people usually get are nassarius vibex but not positive

After a little research I can confirm the black ones are the bad.

That one will help stir the sand and eat left over food

Black nassarius are not bad. The ones pictured above are juveniles that will turn black with age. I’ve had hundreds hatch in my tank over the years. What you’re talking about are whelks. You can tell the difference because a normal nassarius has a black trunk. A whelk has a pretty tattoo pattern on their trunk. That’s how you tell them apart.