You can see them much, because they live in the sandbed and help keep it clean.
They're called Nassarius snails. They look kind of interesting with a sort of snout that goes out and eats dirt in the sand.
I put four Nassarius snails in the tank. Right away, one climbed the wall and two went in the sand. saw the third one kind of laying on his side with his door shut and a hermit crab was nearby. Snails shouldn't lay on their backs, so I turned the snail over. The fish store guy said the snails would mostly live in the sand, so I didn't worry too much. I didn't like how the hermit crab was chasing after the snail, though.
I decided to read about the Nassarius snail. I learned about how they clean the sand with their snout, and then I read how hermit crabs will eat the Nassarius snail and steal their shells. I wondered if that's what I saw in the tank, that the crab was trying to take the snail's shell. Uh oh! Not good!
When I got home from work, I checked, and sure enough! Perched on top of a rock was a hermit crab wearing a brand new shell!
So now, the tank had only three Nassarius snails. I think.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
