I'm not seeking help with an ID, but thought I would share this observation.
I have vermetid snails in my tank and one seems to have taken up home within an old hermit crab shell that has been lying on my substrate. A few weeks ago, I noticed a small hole in the shell. Over these weeks that hole appears to be getting larger. I found this odd that the shell was dissolving in my tank since my pH runs on the higher end (~8.25-8.50).
It appears that the vermetid snail "web" is secreting some sort of acid that is dissolving the shell itself allowing the vermetid to gain access to the water column outside of the shell.
I've not see the dissolving ability of these little critters webs mentioned before, so I thought I would share this observation to see if anyone else has experienced similar. I've heard they can irritate corals, perhaps this is why the mucus "web" is so irritating!
I have vermetid snails in my tank and one seems to have taken up home within an old hermit crab shell that has been lying on my substrate. A few weeks ago, I noticed a small hole in the shell. Over these weeks that hole appears to be getting larger. I found this odd that the shell was dissolving in my tank since my pH runs on the higher end (~8.25-8.50).
It appears that the vermetid snail "web" is secreting some sort of acid that is dissolving the shell itself allowing the vermetid to gain access to the water column outside of the shell.
I've not see the dissolving ability of these little critters webs mentioned before, so I thought I would share this observation to see if anyone else has experienced similar. I've heard they can irritate corals, perhaps this is why the mucus "web" is so irritating!
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