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Little Shop of Coral

Nassarius Snail (Nassarius distortus)

Nassarius Snail (Nassarius distortus)

$5.00 CAD
$5.00 CAD
Sale Sold out

Nassarius snails are one of the best cleanup crew additions for sandy reef tanks. They spend most of their time buried in the substrate, then pop up fast when food hits the water to help consume leftover meaty foods before they can break down. They are great for keeping the sandbed active and reducing wasted food, without bothering corals.

Why we love it

  • Burrows and stirs the top layer of sand to help keep it clean

  • Excellent scavenger for leftover meaty foods

  • Reef safe and generally peaceful with other livestock

Suggested parameters

  • Temperature: 24–26°C (75–79°F)

  • Salinity: 1.024–1.026 SG

  • pH: 8.1–8.4

  • Alkalinity: 8–10 dKH

  • Ammonia/Nitrite: 0

  • Nitrate: Under 20 ppm (stable is best)

Care and placement

  • Difficulty: Easy

  • Placement: Sandbed (best in tanks with a sand substrate)

  • Tank size: Suitable for nano to large systems

  • Reef safe: Yes

Feeding

Nassarius snails are scavengers, not algae eaters. In newer or very clean tanks, you may need to supplement.

  • They will eat leftover fish food, pellets, and meaty foods

  • If needed, offer a small piece of frozen mysis, brine, clam, or a sinking carnivore pellet 1 to 3 times per week

  • Avoid overfeeding, a little goes a long way

Compatibility

  • Peaceful with fish, corals, and most inverts

  • Avoid housing with predators like some wrasses, triggers, puffers, large crabs, or any tankmate known to eat snails

  • Provide a stable sandbed and avoid sudden salinity swings

What you are buying

  • You will receive: 1 Nassarius Snail (Nassarius distortus)

  • Size and shell pattern can vary slightly between individuals

As with all inverts, slow acclimation is recommended, especially for salinity and temperature.

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LIGHT

LOW: Place coral at the bottom of the tank. Depending on the type, coral may need to be placed off sand and therefore mounted on a ceramic disc of piece of rock.

MEDIUM: Place coral at mid-range of the tank. Best placed/glued on top of a rock scape at mid-range height. 

HIGH: Place coral from mid range to just below water level. SPS coral are shallow growing so they require and are able to tolerate intense light.

FLOW

LOW: Most soft coral do well with a small, gentle pulse. There are certain corals that can even be placed in areas of indirect flow, meaning places aside a rock structure or set into a entrance to a cave style space.

MEDIUM: Many LPS types of coral prefer medium pulse current. Most Euphyllia or corals that have more tissue structure connected to their skeleton, don’t like to be in a high flow area like the direct flow of the wave pump.

HIGH: Similar to high light, SPS enjoy being in some heavy current. Most LPS and SPS that branch encrust or plate prefer high flow that simulates the top water waves.

SKILL

ENTRY: While some may say beginner level, "Entry" is a good term to be used when starting out in the world of corals and marine life. Prior to adding livestock, you want to ensure that your reef has the proper parameters including zero levels of ammonia and nitrite. Seeing traces of nitrate in your waters is a good sign - just keep them at a lower level of 2ppm to 10ppm. Maintaining correct temperature and salinity are a huge factor to stable parameters. Starting to monitor your PH, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium is a great habit to get into to keep a successful reef.

While some soft coral don’t require too much light, having a proper reef light that puts out the proper pars is very important. You'll also want to have a good amount of flow and protected rock areas, as placing corals in their happy spot is ideal for success.

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