Yes I bought these as well and now i have a bunch of empty shells. It's very abniyung trying to keep up with flipping them back over. Never agin
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Astria snails suck!!! Why are they sold
Well Ive been out of the hobby for six year and started a tank. I made the mistake of broadcast feeding in my tank one time and it over night it seemed like everything was getting covered. I did some water changes and went to get a clean up crew. The guy at trop sold me astria snails. He said that was all he had. Well I buy a dozen of them and they actually did eat a lot of the hair alage but they constantly get flipped over and I put my hands in there all day long rescuing them, but they just fall over again. I lost most out of the dozen simply because they got flipped over and died as a result. I ordered another dozen and they do the same thing. Stupidest thing you could put in your tank. I'll be sitting here watching my tank and I just watch them fall all in between my rock work were I can't get to them. There is only 4-5 out of 24. When I fist set it up I bought cerith snails and they do a wonderful job on the glass and sand. Please save yourself the water change that I'm doing right now to deal with these unfit for reef snails. Yeah maybe if you have fowlr or just a few big rocks. I got 50lb in a 30 gallon and I'm pissed about being sold these stupid bulldozers of snails.
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I have no idea why they some of this stuff. I have issue with allot of the you need a clean up crew pitch. They really are just a pooping crew. Banded Trochus snails are the one exception I've found, they seem clean. The bonus is they flip themselves over.
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Astreas in my experience are one of the more dependable snails.
My experience when you buy 3 of them 1 will die, 1 will be lazy and the third will bust @#% scrubbing the rock for years. I like them. My experience they spend more time on the rock then on the glass which is a bonus.Astreas in my experience are one of the more dependable snails.
I will agree with you but I'll tell you one thing. I did have a gha problem. Nothing major. Maybe 1/4-1/2" growth. The first 12 I put in made a huge dent. I read that if they get flipped over they can't right themselves. So I knew to give em a hand and flip them right side. But then it became a pita and they get lost in my rock work and die and I can reach them. I see them at the back of the aquarium where there is little to no sand. I place my sand at the front and place the rock in then back fill a little and I got 4 in wide 2-3in deep bed. Off topic but I was going to make a post about that technique. Any way I pulled some rock out and gathered 8 rotting carcasses. Then the rest are inaccessible behind the rock. I gathered the 3 I have left and isolated them on a pice of rock that's about 4lbs.it has a out break one rock and I put the little guys on there and there mowing it down as we speak. no matter how much he it annoyed me and cost me in salt and water...
I can't kill them. I love all these creatures and I'm one of those nuts that loves bristle worms. Seen a 4in by1/8in today while after blowing my rock out before I siphon. He came out as I was pouring the clean water in. He was brave little guy. Luckily I have no fish. I prefer the creatures that come out of the rock and I purchase mostly shrimp. I prefer the small non aggressive ones. I let my fauna grow and use no mechanical filtration. I depend on weekly sometimes twice a week in smaller amounts. Depending on alage. I'm probably the only guy who get excited by diatoms and hair alage. But I use it to grow ample amount of copepiod and ampipods.
, small bristles, five leg miny stars. And did I mention flatworms ? Off topic, but I would like to start a conversation. I'm kinda new if you want to call it. To the forum that is and I don't see much activity as I would think. I made some rookie mistakes coming back in after a 6 year break. It's all leds. I don't like em. At least not yet I'm going to give it a few years and see. I bought some stones off a guy using led. And they both bleached over a week. I kept them low and shaded. After 3days they were white. They didn't recover. And that was in a 29gal. Lights are a foot above and store bought corals that are under are unaffected.in closing, astrias are not worth the effort. There are plenty more and had I stopped to think to Google snails the guy at trop. Said that's all they sell and he recommended them. I guess if you want repeat constermers you should make sure their satisfied. Another time the young guy that's there by himself a lot was rude to me another time. Trop. You used to be premier. But I think it's still a relevant business for metro Detroit. So many have closed down. OK blunts gone so I'll let you off the hook. No more babbling. I'm out!
I can't kill them. I love all these creatures and I'm one of those nuts that loves bristle worms. Seen a 4in by1/8in today while after blowing my rock out before I siphon. He came out as I was pouring the clean water in. He was brave little guy. Luckily I have no fish. I prefer the creatures that come out of the rock and I purchase mostly shrimp. I prefer the small non aggressive ones. I let my fauna grow and use no mechanical filtration. I depend on weekly sometimes twice a week in smaller amounts. Depending on alage. I'm probably the only guy who get excited by diatoms and hair alage. But I use it to grow ample amount of copepiod and ampipods.
, small bristles, five leg miny stars. And did I mention flatworms ? Off topic, but I would like to start a conversation. I'm kinda new if you want to call it. To the forum that is and I don't see much activity as I would think. I made some rookie mistakes coming back in after a 6 year break. It's all leds. I don't like em. At least not yet I'm going to give it a few years and see. I bought some stones off a guy using led. And they both bleached over a week. I kept them low and shaded. After 3days they were white. They didn't recover. And that was in a 29gal. Lights are a foot above and store bought corals that are under are unaffected.in closing, astrias are not worth the effort. There are plenty more and had I stopped to think to Google snails the guy at trop. Said that's all they sell and he recommended them. I guess if you want repeat constermers you should make sure their satisfied. Another time the young guy that's there by himself a lot was rude to me another time. Trop. You used to be premier. But I think it's still a relevant business for metro Detroit. So many have closed down. OK blunts gone so I'll let you off the hook. No more babbling. I'm out!
Not flat worms smacking my head. I meant bristle worm.
I never had a problem with astrea snails either, I had some for years. I think what may be the problem here may be something else. Snails need to be very slowly acclimated...at the store AND when you get them. If either of those were done too quickly the snails will SLOWLY die - sometimes a few days or even weeks later...yours may have been weak from that and fell.
I dripped lined them with air tubing with a not with a slow but steady drip. The problem was they fall off the rocks. I used to be able to hear them fall in the middle of the night when the house is quite. I only have 3 left. I got most of them out. I got a empty jar with at least a dozen. None of the other snail(cerith) or blood shrimp suffered and they were put in the together with the same method. You can't read a post or article without knowing that about inverts. I've been doing this for most my life, in and out with reef tanks.all depending on where I'm living a D how much extra funds that I have.. I've always loved both sides of the hobby. Expecially planted bio type set ups. I never set up a tank with out live plants. It's been a ruff ride getting back I to the saddle after five years. It's slowly coming back to me. I'm bound to make some blunders and I will take viable information from those mistakes nothing major. no algae outbreaks besides some diatoms and a small. Out break of hair alage, which is almost completely gone. Right now I don't use a mechanical or chemical or bio media, which I'll never have. I change 1/4 of the tank every other day. Sometimes two days. I don't have too much ditrus laying around. It's actually very clean for being up and running for three months with really no lose of coral. Besides some bleaching a couple of times. A turkey basket and a siphon will do wonders. My tank parameters stay I check, mostly due to the frequent water changes. No fish just some sps, one LPS and a lot of zoos and one I picked up sold as unknown acro. I noticed right away that it was not a acro but some sort of branching coral. I had a pink Hydropora that looked identical. It has pylops the wave in the current like grass going back and forth. I just placed him in his new home last night and his pylops are retractable. I'll post a picture as soon as he comes out. Thanks for all the advise and comments guys. By the way I bought a dozen creith snails and there doing wonders for my glass and sand bed. I also have 12 blue legged hermits, one emerald crab, a female at that. It's a work horse and will devour any type of alage is present. I'm running out of alage on the rocks so I've been sure to supplement his feeding. I have two blood red shrimp. Mystic monti, cactus coral, two chalices assorted Zoa and palytoa. The branching coral? And a small devils hand. About the only soft or leather corals I care to keep. Like I said the tank has been up and running with 40-50lbs of rock. It was hell getting all that in a 29 but I kept reworking it and fixing it like pieces to a puzzle. I got it tuned it. No I didn't run a skimmer o purpose. I spent the first three months letting the tank settle. I think I'm the only one to get excited to see diatoms. It's free food for my pods and worms and those little five legged stars. I've see a few mini bristle stars sticking a arm out when ever I stir up the water with water changes. The fish store I worked at didn't even sell them. I always allowed stomata snail reproduce and be my clean up crew. But there dosnt seem to be any. Crieth and banded troshus snails. (I know I probably spelled a few species wrong. Like I said I'm a little rusty but I'll oil up good. Everyone take care
Unfortunately it could have been the acclimation any step along the way before they made it to your tank...this makes them weak and more prone to falling.
I bought a dozen from trop as my tank was getting algae on the rocks... They did a great job cleaning. After a rock was cleared I gently pulled whatever snails were on the cleaned rock and put them on one that was still covered, then on to the glass so I did not have to wait until they found the spot(s).
I did not have any issues yet...but I should be careful saying anything As of 12/26 all are doing fine. If you have la large amount of live rock I suspect you my have a something in your tank that is eating them.
Just a thought...
I did not have any issues yet...but I should be careful saying anything As of 12/26 all are doing fine. If you have la large amount of live rock I suspect you my have a something in your tank that is eating them.
Just a thought...
Trochus are certainly the "best" snails. They do a great job cleaning and can flip themselves back over. Astreas will be ok too if you do a slow drip acclimation. I usually let them float in the bag for 15-30 minutes, then drip them for about another hour. Then I place them into the tank. I've had really good success with my last 3 batches and probably only lost about 3 out of 36. They seem to be growing fast too so I know they're healthy. Acclimation for all organisms needs to be slow and purposeful... in my opinion it should take a couple of hours just to get accustomed to your tank's water.
I have never had a problem with them.... They did a great job on hair algae.
I think it's best to put a variety as they each have there own preference when it comes to algae types. If you have frags, snail types that grow big fast can knock em over. There is a purpose for the different snail types.
I think it's best to put a variety as they each have there own preference when it comes to algae types. If you have frags, snail types that grow big fast can knock em over. There is a purpose for the different snail types.
Heys guys just to let you know,,, I fliipped an Astrea back over the other day 
However I do still have the original 12
However I do still have the original 12
I have never had a problem with Astrea snails I have never had any die other than from natural causes after 3 or 4 years, every other snail has died within months, Cerith usually a year. I hade one place tell me to acclimate all snails 15 minutes for temperature and then just put them in, I have been doing this for years and have had no loses.
It is my understanding that Astrea come from both cold and warm water and you have to get the warm water ones, for them to live.
I tried Trochus recently using both the temperature, and drip acclimation, all but one died within a couple weeks, and never really ate any algae.
It is my understanding that Astrea come from both cold and warm water and you have to get the warm water ones, for them to live.
I tried Trochus recently using both the temperature, and drip acclimation, all but one died within a couple weeks, and never really ate any algae.
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