Ak77's Nano Journal

[Anguilla82]

Just to warn you, that 'tiger' snail, is a predator and doesn't eat algae.
I've had one for ages ( bought as a 'leopard' snail) and although handy to turn over the sand it only comes out when I feed the tank.
I've got a feeling it is a type of whelk really, but i can't find the page i used to ID mine!!

 

[AK77]

Thanks for the heads up. I couldn't find any information on these either. The hermits all back away from it when it approaches them. At the moment its in the back section of my tank together with that camel shrimp that was eating my corals. I found the tiger in there this morning. What is it that they hunt for/feed on?

 

[AK77]

I found this.

"The tiger snail is an omnivore and will also consume detritus. Supply pieces of fresh fish and dried seaweed, as well as frozen foods, to supplement their diet if sufficient food isn’t available in your aquarium."

I have some dried nori and sinking pellet food made from squid. There's also plenty of poop in there so it shouldn't go hungry lol.

 

[Anguilla82]

mine (as far as i know) has never actually killed anything, but probably feeds on anything that dies, it likes flake and has fed from my hand, similarly i have fed it mysis shrimp from the end of a pippette.

nice looking snails but thought i should warn you in case you were expecting it to be a traditional part of your CUC!

 

[AK77]

No that's great that you pointed it out mate as anyone else reading this will be made aware too.

I suspected it wasn't an algae eater when it came racing out from the sand and made a bee line for the hermit crab that had scurried into the corner after grabbing a food pellet lol. I also noted that it went to the water surface and appeared to be filter feeding from the floating skim. That and the fact it has that little antenna made me realize it wasn't waiting for any cyanobacteria to go floating past lol.

I'd be surprised if it killed anything unless it somehow could immobilize its prey. I suppose corals could have been a concern but it looks like its just a scavenger that will eat anything that's dead.. definitely not a bad thing in our tanks!! It probably ate the remains of that toadstool that disintergrated in my nano. I just hope it doesn't have a taste for them now as I plan to get another one soon from my lfs lol. "NO SNAIL! THAT'S A BAD SNAIL!!"

 

[Anguilla82]

He He

 

[Morri]

I could be wrong but are they not babylonia whelk ?

 

[AK77]

No you are right. It is a babylonia whelk. I bought it from ebay and it was listed as a Tiger Nassarius .

 

[Anguilla82]

hey nice one Morri!

 

[Morri]

Hehe I do have my occasional uses

 

[AK77]

Well the hermit crabs now have a new shell. The whelk started acting really weird and turning itself upside down on the sand bed and just generally looking unwell. The hermits finally moved in and have picked clean its remains. A shame because I really liked the whelk

I ordered some ocean rock and have added it to the tank, mixing it between some of the live rock. At the moment it looks a bit garish and white in there but, will green and hopefully purple-up over time. I've already witnessed the critters moving in and the corals seem to like the elevated positions as they are nearer the T5's.

I'm planning on getting a nice leather toadstool or finger coral next weekend and maybe some other corals, so will update if I do. Hope you like the new picture anyway.

 

[seffieuk]

That's funny, I was thinking of doing the same thing - looks good and wont take long to change colour i'm sure

Seffie x

 

[AK77]

Thanks Seffie. I really like it too. The little cave adds much more interest in the tank. I'd wanted to get more rock in there for a while now but, didn't want to splash out for 25kg of LR as it would cost a small fortune. I still have about 6 large pieces out in the shed which I will seed at some point. Maybe if I upgrade my tank I will use for that although I made my brother an identical tank to mine, so it might end up in there.

If you do decide to get some ocean rock, I'd suggest soaking it in RO water or save your old salt water to wash them in as there is a fair amount of dust that comes off the rock. If, like me, you have an SDS percussion drill with chisel feature (something every self respecting man should have lol), you can bust up the larger pieces into more managable/custom shapes. The two rocks down the bottom right of my tank used to be one lol. You can see the colour and texture are identical.

I've already seen two big bristle worms moving amongst the new rocks and the pods are running all over it. I can't wait to get some more eye candy in there. At least now I have many more options for placing corals and hiding places for the critters.

I nearly dropped one of the big rocks onto my bumble bee snails because the small clownfish decided that my paw in the water was a personal space invasion, and promptly bit me.

One of my hermits is sporting a new babalonia whelk shell . It does look nice but a shame my whelk didn't make it.

 

[aly_starh]

What sand are ya using AK?

That tank looks great !!

 

[AK77]

What sand are ya using AK?

That tank looks great !!

Hi Betta,

Thanks. It'll look better once I get some more corals in there. Hopefully I'll get some for Xmas as its a bit bare in there, apart from all the rock.

If memory serves, I think I got the Caribsea Fiji pink. Any aragonite based sand will do though. Here is a link to the vendor on eBay that I get a lot of things from. He is really well priced on a lot of items, including the reefsalt I use.