BumbleBee Snails

[snapshot11]

I recently added 3 bumblebee snails to my 24gal tank because my nephew who is 3 fell in love with them at my LFS. I guess I wasn't thinking they could do much harm and I figured why not.

I started doing more research on them when I got home (I know that's a little backwards) but it looks like I've seen some reports of them eating Zoas. I haven't seen them around my one zoa frag yet but Im now concerned I've introduced a predator to my tank. It also looks like they prey on other snails but only in times where food is short. Does that mean with ample food they will stay to themselves? They are easy enough to pick out if need be.

Also tonight I did see one cozied up to my mushrooms and now Im wondering if it's having a snack of that.... Has anyone had any experience with bumblebee snails?

I know.... Lesson Learned! Research first... but it's a little hard when an adorable three year old is pleading for bumblebees LOL

 

[NatasshaAnna]

how many cleaner crew do i need for my 100 gal tank

 

[Timidfish]

For the two months I have had them. I have not seen them on any of my zoas or shrooms. But then again I only got 2 to help out and give a different look then regular snails. They seem to stay to them selves for the most part.

I am sure I am off on this axvice somehow though and someone will come by with more experience. As I was told by my lfs get a little cuc then add from there and see what it takes. It is always easoer to add livestock then to take out.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Eckolancer]

Have 3 in my 105 for over a year. They never mess with my zoas but could explain my other snail deaths, I blamed the hermits.


Sent from inside the shark tank!

 

[snapshot11]

For the two months I have had them. I have not seen them on any of my zoas or shrooms. But then again I only got 2 to help out and give a different look then regular snails. They seem to stay to them selves for the most part.

I am sure I am off on this axvice somehow though and someone will come by with more experience. As I was told by my lfs get a little cuc then add from there and see what it takes. It is always easoer to add livestock then to take out.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks! I am doing the same thing in terms of starting with a small CUC and going from there. I too thought it would be no problem to add a different looking snail in with my others. I like them so I hope they don't become an issue. So far so good.

 

[jservedio]

Hermits are way nastier than bumblebee snails could ever be. Ecko - there is a 99% chance that it was the hermits. My hermits refuse to live in any shell where they didn't murder the previous occupant - even if an empty shell would fit them better.

If you see them munching zoas, take them out - but they shouldn't touch them if the tank is fed. They all work on a slow time scale - it isn't like you will go to bed and wake up in the morning with 100 zoa polyps missing. At most they will take 2 or 3 polyps overnight.

 

[Sahin]

I have a bumblebee snail in my first 24G tank with Zoas and Mushrooms. It didnt eat any of that. Mushrooms and Zoas grew and multiplied quite fine. I mainly saw the snail hang about on the rocks.

 

[jgraz]

Bumble bee snails are carnivorus. I have exactly one in my tank, I see it maybe once every few months. Never saw it eating anything that it should not be eating.

 

[snapshot11]

Thanks Everyone for your input. I think for now it is fine and Im just going to keep an eye on them! If they become a problem then I can go from there.

 

[Aquaph8]

Funny you ask cause I have one that hitchhiked into my tank with some other cleaning crew critters and it lives in and around my red hornets. Its been there for like 2 years and always hangs around the same area, never caused any harm that I can tell but seems to like something about that paticular colony.

 

[Reefman71]

Hermits are way nastier than bumblebee snails could ever be. Ecko - there is a 99% chance that it was the hermits. My hermits refuse to live in any shell where they didn't murder the previous occupant - even if an empty shell would fit them better.

If you see them munching zoas, take them out - but they shouldn't touch them if the tank is fed. They all work on a slow time scale - it isn't like you will go to bed and wake up in the morning with 100 zoa polyps missing. At most they will take 2 or 3 polyps overnight.

That would suck if they were GMK’s. World Wide Corals has a warning on them

 

[fishface NJ]

I have 6 bumblebees in my 40B. They took care of my bad case of vermetid snail problem. They haven't touched zoas, LPS or SPS. They have been in my tank since March

 

[Reefman71]

I was debating on getting a few, I’ve got Vermetids also

 

[ScottB]

I have 6 bumblebees in my 40B. They took care of my bad case of vermetid snail problem. They haven't touched zoas, LPS or SPS. They have been in my tank since March

I just dropped 18 of them in my tank of vermetids.

Do you have an idea of exactly HOW they eat vermetids? Have you ever seen them on a verm?

 

[fishface NJ]

They suck on the vermetid tube. Don’t over feed your tank with natural food( example: mysis, clams). If there is a taster food for them to eat, the remit snail will go after the taster food that is easier to get. I found some days to feed my fish with flakes instead of mysis. Bumblebees are very slow snails. If you have an infestation, do not think that once you introduce them, it will solve the problem quickly. It’ll take a while for them to eat them but they will

edit: to correct my dictation to Siri

 

[ScottB]

They suck on the vermetid tube. Don’t over feed your tank with natural food( example: mysis, clams). If there is a taste your food for them to eat, the remit snail will go after the taste your food that is easier to get. I found some days to feed my fish with flakes I stand of mysis. Bumblebees are very slow snails even for us now. If you have an infestation, do not think that once now which Wednesday as it will solve the problem quickly. It’ll take a while for them to eat them but they will

Interesting you mention natural food. I chum my tanks with buckets of chopped seafood and mysis.

 

[don_chuwish]

I added bumble bees trying to reduce vermetids as well. Haven't noticed they made any impact. But I certainly have noticed that I don't have any baby Trochus swarming all over my tank anymore.

 

[vetteguy53081]

They may or may not consume vermetids. They dont necessarily hunt for them but will try to get a hold of them IF accessible.
They will also consume sessile invertebrates (clams, tunicates, fanworms - anything that doesn't wander the tank). in your aquarium like vermetid snails and polychaete worms. As for zoa, would be in a case where they are not getting enough to eat.

 

[KingLucy1997]

I recently added 3 bumblebee snails to my 24gal tank because my nephew who is 3 fell in love with them at my LFS. I guess I wasn't thinking they could do much harm and I figured why not.

I started doing more research on them when I got home (I know that's a little backwards) but it looks like I've seen some reports of them eating Zoas. I haven't seen them around my one zoa frag yet but Im now concerned I've introduced a predator to my tank. It also looks like they prey on other snails but only in times where food is short. Does that mean with ample food they will stay to themselves? They are easy enough to pick out if need be.

Also tonight I did see one cozied up to my mushrooms and now Im wondering if it's having a snack of that.... Has anyone had any experience with bumblebee snails?

I know.... Lesson Learned! Research first... but it's a little hard when an adorable three year old is pleading for bumblebees LOL

I absolutely love bumblebee snails in my 3.5g janky mixed reef tank. My oldest coral colony is a grove of nuclear green palythoas that started out as 2 polyps with no frag plug, just a minuscule amount of sub-straight. I found the perfect place in my liverock to place them in like putting flower in a pot and they have attached themselves and are growing at the fastest pace of all of my corals. I haven't noticed bumblebee snails harm any of my palythoa grove. In fact, for 5 months or so the palythoa colony had all its polyps closed and no growth due to some type of nudibranch/flatworm/some other kind of parasite infection. I added 5 bumblebee snails over a period of about 3-4 months. In another 2-3 months (in conjunction with getting serious with testing water parameters and using those parameters to dose (or not) my tank; the OG paly went from 2 large+2small = 4 total polyps total to = 3 large+1medium+33smallish = 7 total polyps.
Bumble bee snails can also act as a safeguard from ammonia spikes caused by large biomass die off because a pack of them will race to the nearest unexpectedly dead fish, shrimp, or whatever other invert/livestock die off and consume the carcass which reduces the load on your biological nitrifying/nitrate bacterial filter biofilm.

 

[shakacuz]

i have 4 in my 40B. no issues with them as of yet.