Nassarius Snail Eating Habits

xbrl001 · Jul 9, 2015

My tank has been up and running for about a month and the hermit crabs I had in there are producing a lot of poop so I just got a nassarius snail in hopes that he will help clean for me a bit. Since putting him in the tank about a day ago, he just dug in the sand and hasn't moved. I do see his snout poking out of the sand in the same spot. Will he just get hungry and start scavenging on his own? Or do I need to coax him out somehow?

KJ · Jul 9, 2015

He will be just fine, this is his nature, just drop some food in the tank and you will see what will happen.You should be seeing the snail begin to look for the food , everything is fine.

xbrl001 · Jul 9, 2015

I put some seaweed pellets in the tank. The hermit crabs went bonkers like they always do, but the nassarius just stuck its snout out and didn't come out. Do they need a different kind of food? I only have the seaweed pellets for now since I don't have any fish yet.

thegunslinger · Jul 9, 2015

We have 3, sometimes they just hang out and don't move much. The other day I saw all 3 move across the tank evenly spaced and single file (made my OCD day). If he's hungry, he'll look for something to eat. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for him to eat poop, though.

Waters · Jul 10, 2015

Throw some frozed mysis in there and he will come out and start scavenging. I agree with gunslinger...poop probably doesn't excite him too much

LetItReef · Jul 10, 2015

It's fine. I rarely see our Nass snail too.
I prefer Tiger conch more.

jgraz · Jul 10, 2015

Nassarius snails do not eat algae. They will eat pretty much any other type of food you put in there though.

hejjo · Jul 10, 2015

He may not come out for a couple days or if he does you might not be there to see it. Mine comes out the second a mysis pellet hits the sand. Some times he comes out n cruises the tank but eventually goes back into hiding. Never knew I'd enjoy a snail so much till I got a Nass snail.