margarita snails - good or bad?

[xrenx]

I was reading an article in aquarium fish the other day and it said that margarita snails are bad news because they come from cold waters, and thus won't flourish in a tropical aquarium. Is this true? My LFS recommended them to me over Turbo snails. What are the main differences between the two, and what's a good rule of thumb about how many snails to keep per gallon?

 

[2poor2reef]

I have used margarita snails for years and like them very much. But they only live for a year max in my systems. Read in an rc forum that they are incredibly long lived in the wild. Makes me think that my systems at 82 degrees are too warm for them. So I won't buy any more. Some species of Trochus are much longer lived in my systems. They are excellent grazers also. That's what I would recommend over margaritas.

I have a couple of mexican turbos also. The primary differences between these turbos and my margaritas is size. The turbos are at least eight times bigger and they eat eight times as much. Because of their size they can't get to some places that a margarita can. And they bulldoze a little. Cerith snails are my favorite of all. They have many advantages over margaritas. Why not look at a combo of cerith and trochus or turbos?

 

[xrenx]

thanks for the info. so if my lfs told me that i should have 20 margarita snails since i have a 20 gallon tank, would that about right, too little, or too much? i also have 20 blue leg hermit crabs in there. i am starting to get afraid there is too much competition for food in there.

 

[Mike Parkis]

If you have hermit crabs, then go with the turbo snails. The margarita's size makes their shells excellent hermit homes and your hermits will kill them for the shells. The turbo snails are mostly just too big for the hermits to bother.

 

[2poor2reef]

In my opinion you can always cut the lfs recommendation on clean up crew in half. In my case I stocked one per 2g. At the height of your algae outbreak it won't look like enough but that's all a typical tank can maintain long term unless your gonna feed your crew. I never saw the point of that.