Babylon Snail - How often to feed?
 

I was in the local fish store recently and purchased this cool looking snail, that was burrowing around under the substrate. The people at the store did not know what it was and neither did I. I put it in my 2 month old 75 gal reef tank and started researching what it was. It is a Babylon Snail from Asia. It hangs out under the substrate with it's snorklet extended thru the substrate waiting for prey to come along. When the prey is in range it quickly emerges from the substrate to catch the prey and sucks it down it's feeding tube. Very cool to watch. The problem I am having is - how often do I need to feed it? I read that it eats shrimp, fish and prepared foods. I have been feeding it a small shrimp about twice a week. Any advise would be appreciated. See pic - I will try to post a video soon. Thanks

I would stick with your plan. It could probably eat more but then you could be sacrificing water quality and health of other inhabitants. Make sure it's not a cone snail, and if it is that you aren't it's next victim ;)

Thanks AIMFish - I was not familiar with the Cone Snail - I checked it out. That is one snail I do not want in my tank. I am sure mine is a Babylon. See pic [IMG]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/569/171598Babylon_Snail.JPG [/IMG]

Yup, you had the snail positively ID'ed. I also think your feeding schedule is about right for a single snail. Be advised that if you have other snails in the tank he may supplementally feed on them. That's a nice pic, by the way.

Cheers,



Don

Thanks for the info - Don.

I will continue to feed twice a week and hope that will be enough to keep the other snails safe.

He almost ate one of my blue leg hermits last night. I was trying to get him to come up for a piece of shrimp and he was taking longer than usual so I thought he was not hungry. There was a crab close by so I just gave the shrimp to him. All of a sudden the snail rose up and headed for the crab. He took the shrimp away from the crab and I thought he had also ate the crab. I seperated them and could not see the crab in his shell. I later saw the crab crawl away unharmed. His shell was big enough that he had sucked down in it far enough to escape. That was fun to watch.

Thanks, Sam

I have the same type of whelk in my tank - never knew what they were called before! Mine has grown from about 1" to 2.5" long in about a year, and eats EVERYTHING. I typically offer it food every few days, and the rest of the time it scavenges. It's amazing just how much food these guys can put away in a single sitting - I once watched it devour 3/4 of a large silverside in about two minutes, it was astounding! These snails are harmless IME, and invaluable members of the CUC - not only do they stir as much sand as 20 nassarius snails, they're great insurance to have around in case a snail, fish or crab happens to die unnoticed.

Thanks for the reply - ACBlinky.
It is good to hear you have had a positive experience with yours. I have only had this one for a couple of weeks. He is about 1.5". It is amazing to watch him suck his food down the feeding tube. I wonder how he manages to digest such a large meal without chewing it up. His degestive system must work like a snake.
Mine does not move around as much as yours. I wonder if he is still acclimating to his new surrondings.

Mine doesn't wander around a great deal, but when he smells a meal he sure can move! He seems to spend about 75% of his time buried in the sand, moving around slowly (I see his snorkel changing location throughout the day). At feeding time, he will emerge and often climbs the glass. If I give him a chunk of meaty food he wraps himself around it and makes it disappear within seconds. I've got tiny hitchhiking clams, snails, a pistol shrimp, hermits, and other things I initially worried about the whelk attacking, but he's been very well behaved. I just think of him as a prettier, super-sized nassarius snail.

He is fun to have and I think he is reef safe but, probably is only benificial in the fact that he aerates the substrate.