Thinking about removing sand - what about the snails?

[Kongar]

I'm seriously considering removing the sand from my nano tank. I could get into a long discussion on why, but the short version is that I need to rearrange my powerhead and things would be much easier if there wasn't the issue of blowing sand around with powerhead placement. (it's hard to not blow sand around in a nano).

My question is about snails - particularly the 3 nasarrius snails. There's one or two certith snails in there as well, as well as like a billion tiny cerith snails (I'm apparently a very good tiny cerith snail farmer). Can they be kept in a barebottom tank or should I rehome them? They spend their days buried in the sand, and nights roaming around the tank. I'm thinking they'll be fine - but I'm not sure. Especially if I change the flow up a bunch and blow the gunk off the bottom - what do they eat if nothing ever settles?

 

[blaxsun]

I don't think you'll see the same bumper crops of Cerith snails in a bare bottom tank. Without substrate to nestle into, Nassarius snails tend to run amok... up the side of the tank, on the rim of the tank, down the tank, the stand, across the carpet... I think you can keep the Nassarius snails semi-happy by supplementing them with seaweed, but I'm not sure how well they'd adapt. The Cerith may be happy on the bottom or sides of the tank - I'm honestly not sure. Trochus, Astrea, Pyramid and Turbo snails all excel in any kind of environment.