snails in a dsb

i going to go with a dsb. yes there is a debate if the are good or not. but im looking an answer for snails. are they good for dsb? some say yes others say no. and what im reading through treads and articles you dont want sand sifting critters. i have tons of snails id have to get rid of if thats the case.

 

Fact is that you need sand sifting creatures to keep your DSB from becoming toxic. But if your tank is too small then the critters will starve.
Sandbeds are major phosphate and DOC sinks that store the nasties and then release them later on.

 

i have ssome1 on my dsb thread that disagrees with you.

 

In the wild, there are lots of snails associated with deep sand beds . Most of them spend their time in the upper two or three inches though, and only a few (a couple of Nassarius species, Harpa amouretta, and some large mitrids, along with a few largish snails that aren't normally found in aquaria) are likely to burrow deeper than that. I don't see how they would cause any problem with a DSB?

Cheers,



Don

 

The deep sand beds in the oceans are several feet deep! In aquariums we are not near that so u can not disturb the surface

 

Enough said +1 And to top it off, I'll throw in the link that I posted on his other thread, advising against using sand sifting snails. Read away all.
Ron Shimek's Website...Deep Sand Beds

 

DSB harbor the bacteria that eat Nitrates, thats why they are used, on the other hand you can't have any sifting critters getting in there and releasing Hydrogen Sulfide that will kill the tank.

 

I meant to follow up on this. Did you guys read all of Shimek's article? He says, "UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU ADD "SAND-SIFTING" ANIMALS SUCH AS BURROWING SEA STARS OR SOME GOBIES." These aren't even remotely the same as snails, which he actually recommends. They will deplete the life in your sandbed, while small snails such as most Nassarius or the smaller Strombus species won't. As I mentioned, most of the common aquarium snails won't disturb anything other than the shallowest part of the sand bed. Some of the others I mentioned (Harpa, Mitra, etc.) may actually burrow into the anoxic layers, into the stuff you don't want stirred. I'm not sure that venturing to that depth would really be a problem though, since they are slow-moving and would only go into and out of the layer?

Cheers,



Don