Procedure when ordering adult snails (0.5 cm or larger)

The snails are delivered to you in a cup. Please note that the snails may be in the rim of the lid. Therefore, open the cup over a bowl filled with seawater or similar. Carefully transfer the snails to your aquarium (e.g. using a pipette) and with the flow pump switched off. It is best to place them close to aiptasia and in a place where the snails can hide. Berghia snails are nocturnal and live hidden during the day. We recommend up to one Berghia snail per 10 liters of aquarium volume.

Procedure when ordering semi-adult snails (0.2-0.4 cm)

The snails are delivered to you in a tube, which in turn is in a bag with seawater (for temperature buffering). Please do NOT put the snails directly into your reef tank. Instead, allow the snails to grow in a separate container (small jar, e.g. of pickled cucumbers, is already sufficient). A daily 30% water change (ensure the same salinity and temperature) and regular addition of small aiptasia is sufficient. After approx. 2-3 weeks, the snails will be large enough to move into the aquarium. In the meantime, you will probably already have Berghia clutches in the separate container, which you can also bring to hatching.

Procedure when ordering a Berghia clutch
The ideal procedure would be to let the clutch hatch outside the tank. For example in a cucumber jar filled with salt water. Aeration is not necessary and the lid can remain on the jar until hatching (approx. day 9) to prevent evaporation. When the snails hatch, or from day 7 at the latest, add the first tiny aiptasia or tentacle tips to the jar so that the snails have something to feed on straight away. From then on you should carry out a daily water change of approx. 30 % (ensure the same salinity and temperature). After 7-14 days the snails should hatch as mentioned, then it will take another 3-4 weeks until the snails are big enough for you to put them in the aquarium (we always have around 50-100 snails from one hatch). Always make sure that there are enough small aiptasia.

You can also place the clutch in the clay pot upside down in the tank close to the aiptasia - our customers have had a 50 % success rate with this. There is always a risk that the clutch will be eaten by gammarids or similar in the tank.

Berghia snails against aiptasia

Berghia snails are food specialists. This is a curse and a blessing in one. The advantage is that Berghia snails will not harm other corals in your tank. A disadvantage on the other hand: as soon as all aiptasias in your reef aquarium are gone, the Berghia snails will disappear as well, because they will not find anything to eat. A good way to solve this problem is to pass the animals on to a friend of yours in time. For sure you will find a reef buddy who is happy about the snails.

Lysmata wurdemanni or Berghia stephanieae?

In contrast to other aiptasia eaters, Lysmata shrimps and Berghia snails can already be kept in tanks smaller than 300 litres. Both are very good at fighting aiptasias, but Lysmata shrimp are not 100% "reefsafe", i.e. it is not impossible that they will nibble on other corals (especially Acanthastrea and Zoanthids). This won´t happen with snails.