Snails that can right themselves & good w/ algae?!

ok guys....I'm needing some help on making a purchase soon on some more snails for my tank and I've done some research and got mixed results so I was wanting the opinion of some fellow 3reefers ;D I was wanting some snails that would be good at righting themselves since I'm not home all the time to save them and I was needing some snails to help get rid of some brown algae on the walls. I heard that margarita snails are good at righting themselves supposedly but I have had mixed results. Cerith snails are supposed to be decent as well but I know they cannot right themselves. Turbo snails do some good work but can not right themselves at all. I heard some astrea snails are good with algae and some people have had them right themselves while others have had astreas that won't right themselves at all. I heard the nassirus ( i know i misspelled that) snails are good at righting themselves and do good work on algae. What do you guys think I should get? I got a 90 gallon and a good amount of live rock and plenty of sand. I put in a order a bit ago from reefs2go.com and got 20 margarita and 25 cerith snails and maybe 1/4 or less out of all of those lived even after proper acclimation so I'm gonna need some more for my clean up crew

 

I have some astrea snails that eat everything and can right themselves. The other day I came home and one guy was on his back. I couldn't help him right away; came back a few minutes later and he had turned over. They are pretty cute, too! I've heard nassarius snails are great, eat like crazy and are very hardy. I heard they even eat meat. I plan to get some soon.

 

Nassarius snails will not eat algae, they eat detritus and such. I personally love nerite snails, they eat algae and can right themselves. I have not had an astrea snail right itself. They are good algae eaters though. I don't have any experience with cerinth snails or margarita snails, although I here that Margarita snails are more of a temperate water species and do not do well in the home aquarium.

 

Astrea snails can not right themselves, nor can turbo snails. At least, not unless they fall against glass/rock that they can grab onto to help themselves. However, cerith snails can upright themselves, and are good for cleaning glass and rocks. Nassarius snails are great, but only stay in the sand.

Personally, I'd get some cerith and nasarius snails. But if you are still unsure, contact John from Reefcleaners - he's a sponsor of this website and knows lots about snails.

 

These guys are great at cleaning and apparently acrobats as well :trampolin:LolLolLol

 

I was thinking about ordering some nassirus maybe for the sand and maybe some nerites. There are the pros and cons about every snail & I'm not positive what to go with but trying to do my research & make an informed decision. I wish I would have known that the margarita snails are more temperate cause that is probably why they are not doing so well in my aquarium that is at a steady 78 degrees

 

Cerith and Trochus snails are my favorites for eating algae, they both right themselves unless they get caught in an awkward position and both eat algae on rocks, glass and sand.

 

I use cerinth and nerites... my cerinths right themselves

 

http://www.reefcleaners.org to solve all your problems and questions.

As mentioned, nassarius do not eat algae. But they can self flip. I see mine on/in the substrate as well as on the glass... they avoid my rock (mostly).

Nerites can self flip... but they're not always fast enough (if you have hermits).

Ceriths (FL and dwarf) have no prob self righting.

Limpets can not self right.

Dwarf Planaxis can self right

Chitons can self right.

That's all my snail experience.

I would recommend loading up heavily on dwarf ceriths. 2-3 per gallon. Yip, I said per gallon. They're small and cheap and do a heck of a job.

I keep around 150 of the dwarf ceriths in my 55. They're the back bone of my CuC.

 

Mexican turbo snails are great and can self-right. You will have to feed them once they eat all your algae though, and mine go after my algae clips.