Of Snails and Turds..

[Aeiyr]

Title says it. This is an inquiry of all things snails, and their turds.. "Snurds", if you will.

I've got a 14g IM peninsula nano. Doing very well. Recent got a big batch of astrea (18 ish?) Banded trochus (6?) And a tiger conch. And man are they doin work. Especially Dirty Mike, the Conch. But as he roomba's his way around my rocks licking the lowers parts of them all day, he's leaving more than his fair share of brown trouts.

Is there anything I can add, livestock or even bacteria/additives that will break these down quickly so that A) I don't have to look at them, and B) so that my skimmer can remove the dissolved stuff before it becomes Trates and Phos?

As with anything regarding smaller tanks I had assumed the most common response would be Vacuum them out, but this would be a daily endeavor at the rate Dirt Kirby drops trow. I'm starting to feel like Kevin Costner on a Waterworld tour of downtown L.A.

 

[blaxsun]

So a roomba for your roomba...?

 

[Aeiyr]

So a roomba for your roomba...?

Lol, yeah unfortunately. Little guy does some good work but man does he poo like a goose eating tacobell. I'm mostly curious if anyone knows of or has any experience with something I can dose in small amounts to help break it down to something my skimmer can pull or maybe know of a critter that can do the same. I was thinking of getting the 4 pack of ecopods from algaebarn if those break down waste at all. I know my tank is small but can you really overdose pods? Lol.

Hey @AlgaeBarn . Can ecopods be overdone, and will they break down waste? I already dose oceanmagik daily for my clam so I can always up it for pods.

 

[blaxsun]

I have 4 black sea cucumbers, but they can get big.

 

[Dan_P]

Title says it. This is an inquiry of all things snails, and their turds.. "Snurds", if you will.

I've got a 14g IM peninsula nano. Doing very well. Recent got a big batch of astrea (18 ish?) Banded trochus (6?) And a tiger conch. And man are they doin work. Especially Dirty Mike, the Conch. But as he roomba's his way around my rocks licking the lowers parts of them all day, he's leaving more than his fair share of brown trouts.

Is there anything I can add, livestock or even bacteria/additives that will break these down quickly so that A) I don't have to look at them, and B) so that my skimmer can remove the dissolved stuff before it becomes Trates and Phos?

As with anything regarding smaller tanks I had assumed the most common response would be Vacuum them out, but this would be a daily endeavor at the rate Dirt Kirby drops trow. I'm starting to feel like Kevin Costner on a Waterworld tour of downtown L.A.

If they are pooing, they are being well fed. Good job, really. I suspect we don’t hear more about snail poo because most aquarist put their snails on a starvation diet.

I have 16 large Mexican turbos that are fed one 8x8 inch sheet of dried seaweed per day. Talk about droppings.

And yes, vacuuming is the answer if your put off by poo

 

[Aeiyr]

I have 4 black sea cucumbers, but they can get big.

Yeah I wanted to do a cumber but being a smaller tank, the potential for nuking is, no bueno

If they are pooing, they are being well fed. Good job, really. I suspect we don’t hear more about snail poo because most aquarist put their snails on a starvation diet.

I have 16 large Mexican turbos that are fed one 8x8 inch sheet of dried seaweed per day. Talk about droppings.

And yes, vacuuming is the answer if your put off by poo

Holy cow, that's a big sheet of seaweed. Tand thank you for the invert praise. It kind of started when I ordered like 5 of this and 5 of that from dr.reefs pre QTd stock. Instead they sent me 10 of everything lol. 10 astrea, 10 trochus, 10 nassarius, 10 blue leg. And 9 scarlets with a mistaken white speckled hermit (he's very cool but not reef safe and needs to be rehomed to someone with a sump or FOWLR as a curiosity)

They just said "terminate then, let some starve out, or rehome them" and uh, yeah I dunno. Didn't sit well with me. So I bought some Hikari crab feast, 50 sheets of purple nori, and here we are. Nothing is dying if I can have a say about it. My rocks and glass grow plenty of this hard-ish green algae, so they get their fill from that and if it ever gets sparse that's what the pellets and nori are for.

I tried microbacter7 once to break things down, but I oop'd myself into a bacterial bloom so, not doing that again in this small tank.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Maybe a bit overkill on your snail population, like most things that eat they will grow a tail.

Have you tried increasing flow in your tank? Most of the nuggets in my nano end up on my floss. I also give the sand a stir every few days to take care of any that remain on the sand.

 

[soreefed]

lol your short hand and slang is so funny… enjoyable post

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Not every cuke nukes... Florida cukes and tigertails tend to be pretty non- toxic, and if you're running carbon it should be good enough. There's nothing else that actually eats the skeets that I know of.

 

[Aeiyr]

Maybe a bit overkill on your snail population, like most things that eat they will grow a tail.

Oh for sure I have too many. I've only ordered cuc twice. First time was 5 astrea, 5 trochus, and 3 nassarius. Dr. Reefs charged me for what I asked for, but sent 10 of each. Of Those 10 trochus, 1 was doa in the bag, which poisoned the others and the rest died within 48 hours. The astreas just slowly dropped off until I had 5 left. They also sent me 20 crabs when I only ordered 7. 5 small blues and a single scarlet.

A week ago I ordered 5 more astrea and 5 trochus when I ordered my fire shrimp from WorldWideCorals. They sent me like 26 astrea and 8 trochus lol, so yeah I've got more than I need. Its probably why I've never even seen an ugly phase and my tank is beginning its 5th month.

 

[Aeiyr]

Not every cuke nukes... Florida cukes and tigertails tend to be pretty non- toxic, and if you're running carbon it should be good enough. There's nothing else that actually eats the skeets that I know of.

I'd really like a tigertail but don't get get big and require a few inches of sand?

 

[blaxsun]

Yeah I wanted to do a cumber but being a smaller tank, the potential for nuking is, no bueno

Nuking is non-existent for back sea cucumbers (had these guys for almost 4 years now).

 

[JoJosReef]

Haha, your post made me reverse snort (that's when you try to hold back a laugh but fail making a sound resembling a snort). Particularly snurds and brown trouts.

 

[Aeiyr]

Nuking is non-existent for back sea cucumbers (had these guys for almost 4 years now).

Is there a particular species that is well suited for a tank as small as mine? I can post pictures of the habitat if it would help with recommendations. I'm always interested in the possibility of new inverts for curiosity sake (really wanted a yellow filter feeding Cuke but the "what if i kill it" has kept me from pulling the trigger)

Haha, your post made me reverse snort (that's when you try to hold back a laugh but fail making a sound resembling a snort). Particularly snurds and brown trouts.

Lol, thank you. glad I could provide humor. we read so many posts every day about "help, X is happening!" I figured why not make this one funny but still get answers if possible!

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I'd really like a tigertail but don't get get big and require a few inches of sand?

Florida cukes are a lot smaller, max around 8-10". They stick around rocks a bit more, latch on at the base and swing around in an arc across the sand surface.

 

[blaxsun]

Is there a particular species that is well suited for a tank as small as mine? I can post pictures of the habitat if it would help with recommendations. I'm always interested in the possibility of new inverts for curiosity sake (really wanted a yellow filter feeding Cuke but the "what if i kill it" has kept me from pulling the trigger)

Yes, try to source a pink and green cucumber (filter feeder). They don't move around a lot; after they find a great spot they'll setup shop and extender their tentacles when feeding. When not feeding they just close up. They generally arrive about 2-4" in size and won't grow very large or very quickly.

 

[Aeiyr]

Yes, try to source a pink and green cucumber (filter feeder). They don't move around a lot; after they find a great spot they'll setup shop and extender their tentacles when feeding. When not feeding they just close up. They generally arrive about 2-4" in size and won't grow very large or very quickly.

Sweet lord that's pretty. I thought the yellows were beautiful but the contrast on this species if amazing. Are they seasonal or expensive?

 

[blaxsun]

Sweet lord that's pretty. I thought the yellows were beautiful but the contrast on this species if amazing. Are they seasonal or expensive?

I only paid $30 CAD for mine, but pricing and availability can vary. My LFS gets stuff in from all over the Pacific so there's always something neat on their shipments.

 

[Aeiyr]

I only paid $30 CAD for mine, but pricing and availability can vary. My LFS gets stuff in from all over the Pacific so there's always something neat on their shipments.

I have a single LFS/coral shop about 20 miles from me but he's a small business. I'll call em up tomorrow and ask if they ever get these in since I was already going to call and ask about featherworms. If not, then it's back to online livestock, like i've had to do for evertything else in this tank so far. the shipping costs are killing me tbh. It's been a weird balance of try not to stock too fast, but also order enough at a time that the shipping doesn't feel like a complete flush of money down the tube.

 

[blaxsun]

I have a single LFS/coral shop about 20 miles from me but he's a small business. I'll call em up tomorrow and ask if they ever get these in since I was already going to call and ask about featherworms. If not, then it's back to online livestock, like i've had to do for evertything else in this tank so far. the shipping costs are killing me tbh. It's been a weird balance of try not to stock too fast, but also order enough at a time that the shipping doesn't feel like a complete flush of money down the tube.

Shipping (in one form or another) probably represents 75-90% of the cost of the livestock we buy...