Poll: Favorite Snail

[BradB]

Hands down, Strombus grazers, which aren't Strombus or conch. Not bulldozers, reproduce quickly, won't eat anything you don't want eaten, hardy, interesting to watch if you look closely. Much better than any of the ones you listed.

 

[Ashish Patel]

^^^^^this^^^^
I love my turbos. They're like a Terminator.
"Listen, and understand. That turbo snail is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until your algae is gone."

I know right. And the crazy part is they sometimes take turns eating algae from the others shells. mind blowing

 

[cpbartak]

My favorite's not listed... it's a coldwater snail (55-60ish temp) that does a great job cleaning and looks very nice, the Jewel Top Snail (Calliostoma annulatum):

 

[lou dog420]

Gary from Spongebob

 

[furyofthegnomes]

I would have said the Ninja Star snail, but after a similar post a few months back where I said that they barely need to be flipped over, ever since then it seems ever other day I have to help one ;Sorry. I went with conchs because they're fun to watch with their beady little eyes. The larger varieties can be bulldozers though. Trochus if we're looking at this purely at a utilitarian viewpoint.

 

[knoxvegas]

Banded Trochus. In a small nano tank I've had a single Trochus be the entire CUC member and live 5 years+, only to replace with another for 5+ years

 

[Kamden Uelton]

I like Limpets, they eat cyanobacteria and look different than a lot of other snails, the only downside is that once they fall theres no getting up without assistance.

 

[Ocean Lotion]

My daughter saw your pole and feels slighted because her favorite snail, the bumble bee, is not listed. For shame.;Shifty

 

[dbl]

My daughter saw your pole and feels slighted because her favorite snail, the bumble bee, is not listed. For shame.;Shifty

Apologize to your daughter for me...

 

[XNavyDiver]

I know right. And the crazy part is they sometimes take turns eating algae from the others shells. mind blowing

Yep. It's funny to watch one of my monster turbos climb onto a trochus snails shell while it's on the glass or overflow to clean off its shell. The poor trochus must think that gravity suddenly tripled and clings to the glass for dear life.

 

[don_chuwish]

Trochus for reliability - and repopulating themselves. My tank is littered with baby Trochus and every few days I see more egg trails. I also really like Cerith - despite a fairly high failure rate within the first few days of adding new, the ones who survive seem to live a really long time.

 

[kdc]

I vote for the Conch unless it’s for usefulness, then it’s the Trochus. But I do smaller tanks because we’re military and I end up selling or moving them.

 

[Sycoticrealm]

I always like my Mexican Turbo Snails. Corallined shells and algae eating machines.

 

[stevieduk]

favourite snail is my limpets, I started with about 5 from a friends tank, and now have about fifty. they aways go back to there own spot every daytime, but at night comeout all over the tank like a heard of cows, cleaning the place up

 

[Slarti]

Fighting conches are BY FAR the best snail or keeping the sand and bottom of the tank clean. The guys are my favorite because they are always sifting through the sand with there long mouths and its so cool to watch and there big eyes are so cool. They are probably the most unique of all the snails also. They are a necessity for any reef tank in my opinion.

Agree, if I take a little longer in cleaning my glass you can see where my conch has gone and 'cleaned' it for me. Little half circles as far up as he could reach.

 

[jack_aubry]

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0199516
article about a few snails survival and grazing rates Turbo bruneus was their "pick"
although I would take the study with a grain of salt