ID small snail please!

[waywaywest]

All of a sudden there's this little snail rapidly crawling up my front glass. The first sign of life that isn't green or my damsels. I was wondering if someone could ID it without a pic?

It's only about 1/2" long, with a very tapered straight shell (reminds me of the "dunce" caps people like me supposedly wore in the old days). The shell has alternating brown and white bands.

Assuming someone can ID it, is it good/bad/indifferent? With the algae I've got going in my "is it cycled is it not?" tank right now, I'm happy for the help if it is indeed going to eat some of the greenery.

Thanks for any help!

[rickbirdman]

could it bea Collonista amakusaensis


link here (http://melevsreef.com/id/collonista.html)

[Paintbug]

dont think it would be a Collonista snail at 1/2" the biggest one in my tank is 1/8" and i havent seen any larger than 1/4". may want to look at a sundial snail. here is a page with both shown. http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

[waywaywest]

Thanks rickbirdman. Not the critter though. Mine's about half an inch long, and the shell is quite long and pointy. There's a billion of these things all over the beaches here, no idea what they're called however.
Thanks for your reply!

[Randall_James]

Look up "Peppermint Snail" (Hyalina albolineata)
http://species.fishindex.com/photo_2538hyalina_albolineata_peppermint_snail.html

[waywaywest]

Nope, not it either. Completely fits my description, though. The shell is long and pointy, almost a perfect triangle.

[rickbirdman]

could it be a pyramid snail?
http://www.foresters-inc.com/mander/SnailSmall.jpg

[Randall_James]

Cerith
http://www.azcoralco.com/images/images_11790/cerith.jpg

[waywaywest]

Yup, that's the guy, although the shell is marked slightly differently. Are they good?

[Randall_James]

The Cerith is fine. The pyramid snail could be a problem. I say could because there are like 1000 (sp) of the thing and of those, there is at least 1 that likes to munch on clams.

This brings up the other issue, ID Without fantastically great photos, it is virtually impossible to ID the critter. I have seen the pro's balk at what appeared to be decent images because they lacked specific detail to properly ID the snail.

The bottom Cerith snail is a good guy, works the sand bed eating other snail poop and detritus. Very good at keeping the sand mixed up.

[slik_dude@yahoo]

Cerith are awsome reef tank snails.

[waywaywest]

Thanks for the pics! My critter looks a lot like the "good" one, and seems to enjoy cruising over the glass and LR. Moves quickly for a little snail, that's for sure.

Also, is this a sign that the tank has cycled? I've been waiting for over a month now and the levels are still all zero (ammonia, nitrites/nitrates). I've got lots of LR/LS and am assuming that I'm not going to see a cycle at this point. Thinking of going ahead with the "cleanup crew"...