Astraea Snails are excellent herbivores that have a voracious appetite for nuisance algae in the home aquarium. Snails will be shipped “dry”, meaning their container will have little to no water. This prevents any pollution from waste or die off.

They make a great addition to reef aquariums as the primary invertebrate in a cleanup crew. They do not bother corals, and they are able to clean the areas directly bordering the corals which would otherwise be difficult to clean manually.

The Astraea Turbo Snail has an attractive shell and a ravenous appetite for algae. Unlike many bottom dwellers that are dressed in drab colors to better camouflage themselves against the sand bottoms, Astraea tecta boasts a pyramid-shape shell. Since some individuals have projections on the shell that give it a star-like outline, the Astraea Turbo is also known as the Astraea Star Snail or Astraea Conehead Snail. 

Though interesting to observe in your home aquarium, the Astraea Turbo Snail serves a greater function of cleaning algae-covered live rock. It is very adept at keeping your aquarium clean. In fact, this small herbivore prefers to feed on nuisance hair algae, as well as cyanobacteria and diatoms. Some aquarists also report that the Astraea Turbo Snail actually consumes the entire hair algae structure, which helps prevent immediate further algae growth.

 The Astraea Turbo Snail prefers well-established aquariums with ample hiding places and sufficient room to roam. In addition to eating algae off of your live rock, this member of the Astraeinae family will also clean your aquarium glass. However, the Astraea Turbo Snail is not known to be climbers like other smaller-shelled snail species. Care needs to be taken to observe the daily activities of this hungry snail since it has difficulty righting itself if it falls or is knocked upside down.