Trochus Snails*

Trochus snails consume film algae, hair algae, diatoms and some species of cyanobacteria. These snails are excellent for cleaning the rocks and glass of your aquarium, but tend to shy away from the sand. Trochus snails can right themselves, but like other Top Snails they struggle to do this, and should be righted when introduced to the aquarium for best results.

Well fed and mature Trochus snails can breed in captivity, and do so by broadcasting spawning. In the wild, breeding occurs at night around the new moon, the darkest time of the month. Males release sperm before the females eggs. Prior to spawning Trochus snails spend more time at the surface of the water. In the wild this helps increase the amount of sperm and eggs that will be suspended in the water column, where the eggs are fertilized. The reason Trochus snails can be bred in captivity despite a free swimming larval stage is because the duration of that stage is very short. The fertilized eggs hatch, develop into larvae, and finish metamorphosis into snails the same week they were spawned. New Trochus snails will recruit to hard surfaces, and be about the size of a pin head at that time. It takes about a year for them to reach adult size.

The Trochus we sell have a diameter of approximately a nickel, and grow to a little over the size of a quarter. 

This listing is for customers selecting UPS at checkout, and there are no quantity limits.