A large, powerful grazing snail with a chunky turban-shaped shell, sold as a heavy-duty algae cleanup-crew member. It mows through hair and film algae quickly but is cool-water by origin and can be clumsy around loose rockwork.
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Medium; shell up to about 1.5-2 in (4-5 cm) across.
Lifespan
1–4 years
Social needs
group
Native region
Eastern Pacific, including the Gulf of California and the Pacific coast of Mexico
Origin
New World
Climate
⛅ Subtropical
Water type
🌊 Marine
Family
Turbinidae
Genus
Turbo
Part of the Marine Snails
Grazing and detritivore snails kept as reef-safe cleanup crew. Different species specialize in glass and rock algae, sand-bed detritus, or leftover food; stock to match available food, keep copper at zero, and acclimate slowly since snails are very sensitive to salinity shifts.
From the minimum an animal needs to be kept humanely, up to the ideal setup. Bigger is almost always better — minimums are floors, not targets.
Photo coming soon
Minimum
Algae-rich reef tank
20+ gal mature reef with algae
Turbo snails (Turbo / Astraea spp.) are powerful algae grazers — need an established reef with film/hair algae to graze, plus stable salinity (1.025) and 22–26 °C (some species prefer cooler water).
Photo coming soon
Recommended
Established mid-size reef
40+ gal mature reef, group of 3–5
Mid-size mature reef where turbos can graze rock and glass. They knock over loose frags — secure rock and corals firmly. Excellent algae control in healthy reefs.
Photo coming soon
Ideal
Large mature reef with refugium
75+ gal reef with refugium
Larger reef with refugium-fed algae/pod supply and stable ICP-tested chemistry. They struggle in warm tropical reefs — Mexican turbos in particular do better at 22–24 °C.
Life & growth stages
How this animal changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.
Photo coming soon
Larva
Most marine invertebrates hatch into microscopic planktonic larvae (such as the zoea of crustaceans or the bipinnaria/veliger of echinoderms and mollusks) that drift and feed in the water column. The larva looks nothing like the adult and undergoes major reorganization.
Photo coming soon
Juvenile
After settling out of the plankton, the juvenile takes on a recognizable miniature of the adult body plan — a tiny shell, a small star, or a translucent shrimp. Crustaceans grow by molting, shedding the exoskeleton to enlarge.
Adult
Adults reach full size and reproductive maturity with the species' mature shell, shape, or coloration. Many continue to molt or grow throughout life, and some show sex differences in size or claw/appendage shape.
Habitat & enclosure
Best in reef or fish-only tanks of at least 75 L (20 gal), with roughly one snail per 75 L so they don't strip the tank bare and starve. Keep reef parameters: pH 8.1-8.4, specific gravity 1.023-1.026, with zero copper and stable salinity; this Eastern Pacific species prefers the cooler end of reef temperatures, around 22-25 C (72-77 F).
It needs lots of live rock and glass surface coated in algae to graze. Lighting is irrelevant to the snail; ensure rockwork is stable, as these strong, heavy snails can topple loosely stacked rock onto corals.
Substrate
Stable, well-secured live rock is essential both for grazing and to prevent these powerful snails from toppling structures. A fine sand or crushed-coral bed lets them graze the substrate surface.
Equipment & setup
Standard marine setup: live-rock biofiltration, a protein skimmer, and a heater — plus a chiller if the room runs warm, given this species' preference for cooler water. No special lighting is needed; gentle to moderate flow is fine.
Diet
A dedicated herbivore that grazes hair algae, film algae, diatoms, and some cyanobacteria off rock, glass, and substrate. In algae-poor tanks supplement with dried seaweed (nori) on a clip to prevent starvation. They do not eat meaty foods and will slowly starve in a tank kept too clean.
Behavior & temperament
Peaceful, reef-safe, and harmless to corals and fish, spending its time grazing surfaces. Its only 'aggression' is accidental: its size and strength can bulldoze frags and dislodge unsecured rock. Keep with other peaceful cleanup-crew inverts; avoid known snail-eaters such as some wrasses, large hermits, and pufferfish.
Health
Sensitive to copper, salinity swings, and warm water — sustained high temperatures shorten its life. Snails that fall and land upside-down can struggle to right themselves and may die if not flipped back. Empty shells release ammonia quickly, so remove dead snails promptly; a tightly sealed, non-grazing snail for days is often dying.
Tips, DIY & hacks
Drip-acclimate carefully, as snails are very sensitive to salinity and pH shock. Right any snail you find upside-down, and clip nori for them when algae is scarce. Excellent for knocking back a heavy hair-algae outbreak, but stock conservatively or they exhaust their food supply.
