Sea snails habitat?

[pasi9]

I don't know a huge amount about aquatic snails, but as I was walking along the beach recently I was observing the sea snails at low tide.

I wondered if it would be possible to bring a couple home and create a suitable environment for them. And if so, how to do that. I'd imagine they'd need different care to freshwater snails the you usually find in fish tanks?

I'm not actually intending to do it, but I'm curious if anyone has tried it before?

[littlegoldsnail]

Well, first off, try and get your aquatic snails from a breeder or good aquarium store that has tank bred snails. Wild caught aquatic snails can be cool, but they have a lower survival rate then tank bred.

Second, you are going to need a decent sized saltwater aquarium. Your going to have to know about keeping the right salinity (salt level), PH, KH, GH, etc. You will also need a RO/DI filter on your water source.
You will need to cycle the aquarium first (grow a healthy colony of bacteria to eat the ammonia and keep the water healthy). All standard saltwater aquarium stuff.

If you want to get into saltwater aquariums, then by all means, go for it, but you’ll need to do a LOT of research and know what your doing before dumping live critters in a tank full of salted water. Saltwater aquariums are fun and beautiful, but they are a consuming hobby, and you can’t just be half into it.

[Strombus]

At minimum you would need to drop about $150-200 USD to set up a proper saltwater aquarium for them. Basics include a tank, heater, filter, substrate, and live rock. The addition of live rock will quickly help cycle your tank and you could add them essentially right away. 

I like the Fluval Flex and GankPike aquariums, nice all in one units minus the heater.

[littlegoldsnail]

Nov 18, 2020 1:00:58 GMT Strombus said:

At minimum you would need to drop about $150-200 USD to set up a proper saltwater aquarium for them. Basics include a tank, heater, filter, substrate, and live rock. The addition of live rock will quickly help cycle your tank and you could add them essentially right away. 

I like the Fluval Flex and GankPike aquariums, nice all in one units minus the heater.

you forgot the salt. (;

It’s $30-50 for a big bucket of synthetic aquarium salt mix at Petco. That will last you a long time.

Live rock isn’t actually essential. It’s recommended, but as long as you properly cycle the tank beforehand with bacteria starter and ammonia, you’ll be fine.

Dollar per gallon sale at Petco is a good place to get a tank. That’s $40-75 for a decent sized tank. Plus a glass hood, another $30 or so, a good filter at least $50, heater about $12, big bag of reef sand $20-40. If you want a protein skimmer (protein skimmers are usually recommended) it’s $50-100 dollars at least. Water change equipment (python hose, bucket, etc) prob at least $30+.

Yeah, setting up a reef tank is not cheap.

It would be very hard to set up a reef tank for $150-200, that’s quite cheap actually.

[Liguus]

Yeah the live rock is not essential, but it helps cycle the aquarium, plus I like getting that coraline algae in there and growing right away.

If were going by the dollar per gallon sale you can get it cheaper than $40-75. Usually the larger sizes are recommended, but 10 gal is fine for a saltwater especially if it's just for some snails. $20 for 20 gallons would be more than enough.

Here's my breakdown:
Fluval flex 9 gal aquarium (includes pump, filter media, and a basic LED): $100
Live sand: $12
Live rock: $20
Oase 25 Heater: $22-38
Instant ocean 10g Salt mix: $7
Dechlorinator: $3
Bucket and water change hose: $15

$179 total to get "up and running"

however with a Fluval HOB filter ($33) and dollar per gallon sale (10gal) you can reduce that $100 down to $43
, and now they have "all in one" deals where the 10 gal (or larger) will also come with a thermometer and heater so it reduces the cost even more

Ending up with $152 total cost.

It will be more since you need salt for water changes but whats the cut off? are we calculating initial start up or lifetime salt use? it's going to be way different cost depending on how you look at it.

[littlegoldsnail]

Nov 24, 2020 20:35:05 GMT Liguus said:

Yeah the live rock is not essential, but it helps cycle the aquarium, plus I like getting that coraline algae in there and growing right away.

If were going by the dollar per gallon sale you can get it cheaper than $40-75. Usually the larger sizes are recommended, but 10 gal is fine for a saltwater especially if it's just for some snails. $20 for 20 gallons would be more than enough.

Here's my breakdown:
Fluval flex 9 gal aquarium (includes pump, filter media, and a basic LED): $100
Live sand: $12
Live rock: $20
Oase 25 Heater: $22-38
Instant ocean 10g Salt mix: $7
Dechlorinator: $3
Bucket and water change hose: $15

$179 total to get "up and running"

however with a Fluval HOB filter ($33) and dollar per gallon sale (10gal) you can reduce that $100 down to $43
, and now they have "all in one" deals where the 10 gal (or larger) will also come with a thermometer and heater so it reduces the cost even more

Ending up with $152 total cost.

It will be more since you need salt for water changes but whats the cut off? are we calculating initial start up or lifetime salt use? it's going to be way different cost depending on how you look at it.

Even with a smaller aquarium, the point is, it’s expensive. I was simply putting up 40-75 gallons because it’s really not a good idea to get a smaller saltwater tank unless you really know what you are doing. In a 10 gallon, the salinity fluctuation is really crazy and not a good environment for snails. You could put a tight fitting hood on and top off the tank every day, but still, it’s not the best setup for a saltwater tank.

[Liguus]

Again it depends on what your definition of "expensive" is. $200 is not expensive at all in my opinion. I would consider paying 30K for a horse and 20K in hay and housing costs per year as "expensive", for example. Depends on income level, whether you can utilize the aquarium for profitable means like videos, selling coral frags, etc.

The salinity will fluctuate a bit, but daily top off eliminates that problem and things like a nanocube or fluval flex come with a hood that reduces evaporation. I've never owned an auto-top off system for water replacement but also never had any issues I could see with my snails (Mainly conch and cittarium). Most animals are fine at a range of salinity and not just one particular amount, so as long as you're not swinging from 1.026 to 1.019 you won't dramatic die offs. Many snails also inhabit shallow intertidal zones and naturally have to deal with salinity fluctuations.