Do snails impact oyur bioload?

This may seem like a silly question, but I just added 50 dwarf ceriths and 40 nerite snails to my 125. I am wondering if this will cause any spike in ammonia. I'm assuming not, since they eat detritus etc. The real reason I am asking is I wanted to added some new fish and there is a big sale at a lfs this weekend and wondering if adding those snails, plus a few fish is too much to add in a short period of time. I have a 125 that has recently finished it's cycle (about 6 weeks, have diatoms etc) with 90lbs lr a bicolor blenny and 10 small hermits. I was hoping to add a six line wrasse and possible a dottyback or a pair of clowns.

 

The snail will have little to zero affect on your bio-load. Personally I would not be concerned.

As with all newly cycled tanks, keep feedings light, limit new additions ( although in your case and with that size tank you have a larger margin of error).

Dottybacks can be vicious so make sure that at some time in the future you will not mind trying to remove it from such a large tank. Again a larger tank works in your favor.

 

Didn't realize that about dottybacks..maybe I wil stay away. Thanks for the quick reply

 

Sure NP.

Just do some research on Dottybacks. They can be very aggressive, usually this becomes an intolerable issue in smaller tanks but with the size of your tank and available territories it may be do able.

Just double check the research.

Same can be said for some 6-lines, but Dottybacks reputation is famous.

Just google Dottyback aggression.

 

When snails die, they are the worst thing for your tank. They take forever to degrade and stink to high heaven. It's sometimes very difficult to find them when they die, so IMO they will effect the biology of the tank at one time or another, unless you keep tabs on every single one.

 

The majority of snails you find commonly for sale are small. In 125 gallon tank a snail dying occasionally has never proved to be an issue for me if even noticed. A large Conch or such yes it might impact a tank of that size. Most tanks of today have such efficient filter systems that the typical snail death goes unnoticed.

 

Yeah, I keep some large turbo's. Man do they stink when dead.

 

The dwarf ceriths I bout are tiny 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch. the nerites are bigger, like the size of a nickel

 

A few hermits can clean up any dead snails...

 

Agreed! I've had quite a few snails bite the dust in my tank when it was a tiny 10gal! Having a wonderful clean up crew does wonders!! ESPACIALLY hermits! I have a love HATE relationship with hermits in my reef! But personally, they are a must to me! I had a snail die over night and find the empty shell (covered in a goo like substrance) but the snail itself was gone! So, having hermit crabs, bristle worms, copepods etc in any tank kinnda keeps anything dying in check! I have even had a med size feather duster recently die I still don't know why. And he was in a hole in the live rock wedged right in and I (Or the hermits) could get to him, but over the few days everything living in the LR ate the body away and I never had any change in parameters, and that's in a small 20gal tank! So, a good clean up crew goes a long way!