Which snail is best?

[airbrnebkr]

I am wondering if anyone could make a suggestion on which snail would be good at hanging out in my substrate and eating diatoms. I have turbos and astrea but they tend to like to hang out on the rocks and glass and rarely make it down to the sand where the brown diatoms are starting to florish. Maybe a star or a urchin as well?
Thanks,
Doug

 

[benjen]

Baha / cerith snails from what I have read. They not only clean the surface of the substrate of detritus like the nassarius, they actively hunt algae and will go into and under the sand to clean up algae problems and buried detritus. One of the most versatile snails you can get, and they stay smaller than many snail species.

Nerite snails could also help for a diatom problem. So could any of a wide variety of livesand critters that you can just end up with.

 

[mogurnda]

Astreas and turbos generally won't touch the sand. They hate it.

I agree that ceriths are good, although mine have tended to work the glass rather than the sand. Nassarius will burrow, but prefer to scavenge rather than graze.

I also agree that a good collection of detritivores, either purchased or acquired from a fellow hobbyist will help a lot.

Something like a fighting conch may also help a lot.