Bumble bee snail vs vermetid snail

[wei15986]

I’ve seen a lot of mixed opinions on whether bumblebee snails actually eat vermetid snails, so I’ve decided to run a little experiment and document the results.


My Waterbox Frag 125.4 SPS-dominant reef tank currently has hundreds of vermetid snails. Manually removing every single one isn’t really practical, so I’m interested in finding out whether bumblebee snails can actually help control their population.


The Experiment:


My plan is to set up two separate groups using small pieces of live rock with similar numbers of active vermetid snails.

• Group A (Test): Live rock with vermetid snails + bumblebee snails.
• Group B (Control): Live rock with vermetid snails, but no bumblebee snails.

Both groups will be kept under similar conditions, including water flow, lighting, and access to suspended food particles.


What I’ll be looking for:

1. Do bumblebee snails actively hunt living vermetid snails, or do they only scavenge damaged or dead ones?
2. Can they reach vermetids inside intact tubes?
3. Do they prefer smaller vermetids over larger ones?
4. How many living vermetids disappear over 7, 14, and 28 days?
5. Do the empty tubes remain attached after the vermetids are eaten?

I’ll take close-up photos and try to capture video of any actual predation. I’ll also monitor the control group to see whether any reduction happens naturally.


The goal is to distinguish actual predation from simply finding a bumblebee snail sitting on a vermetid tube.


Has anyone here actually witnessed a bumblebee snail killing and eating a healthy vermetid without breaking its tube first?


I’d especially love to hear from anyone who has tried them in a heavily infested SPS tank.


I’ll update this thread with the results, whether the experiment works or not!

 

[Fish Fan]

I had very good luck fighting Vermitid snails with Bumblebee snails. Good luck with your experiment!

 

[wei15986]

I had very good luck fighting Vermitid snails with Bumblebee snails. Good luck with your experiment!

May I ask how big is your tank and how many bumble bee snails you put into tank?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Good luck! I am curious to see the results once this is all said and done!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IME those little snails can get the little worms in the little tubes, but they can't do anything against the larger worms in the larger tubes, you have to break the tubes so the snail can get the worm.

 

[2reefs]

Do they only eat vermetids snails. What happen after they get rid of the vermetids.

 

[kevgib67]

I’ve had great success using bumblebee snails to eradicate vermetid snails.

 

[Fish Fan]

May I ask how big is your tank and how many bumble bee snails you put into tank?

This was for a 25 gallon tank, and I added 21 Bubble Bee snails because that's all my LFS had that day.

Do they only eat vermetids snails. What happen after they get rid of the vermetids.

They can eat other, desirable snails too, so it may be best to remove them once the Vermitids are gone (or even before).

 

[BryanM]

I was just going to say what Fish Fan said above.. Especially about eating other snails if/when they run out of food.