How many snails is too many snails in a 75? Also, do bumblebee snails murder vermetid snails & tube worms?

Arthur_Dent

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What the title says ^^^

I like snails. And inverts. I want....all the snails in my tank. And all the inverts.

I know what you may be thinking. You may be thinking, "Man. This guy wants a lot of snails and inverts."

Incorrect.

Take the number of snails and inverts that may seem reasonable to you. Triple that. This is probably borderline too many. Double that again. This is approaching the number of snails and inverts I'd like to have in my tank. Basically, instead of liverock, I just want to have a writhing mass of snails and crabs.

I also want to hire something to exterminate all the vermitid snails leaving white detritus all over my glass, rock and sump.

Here is what I'm currently working with:
- probably 50-70 dwarf ceriths.
- about a dozen trochus
- 9-10 nerites
- 9-10 small naussarus vibex
- 15-20 ceriths
- about 30 hermits of varying shapes and sizes
other inverts/fish:
- 2 RBTA's
- 2 percola clowns
- 1 yellowtail damsel
- 1 pink streaked wrasse

Here is what I'd like to add on top of this:
- 2-3 small conchs (I have a deep sand bed)
- 50 more dwarf ceriths (I like that they get into the cracks in the rock)
- 2 emerald crabs (have a bubble algae and turf algae issue)
- 1 pincushion urchin (for the turf algae and the hats they wear)
- 15 more nassarius vibex (I have a deep sand bed)
- 5 tongan nassarius (did I mention the sandbed? I like how they pop out like ninjas)
- 1 decorator crab (I like their hats, too)
- 3-5 scarlet hermits (for the bling they bring to the thing)
- 5-10? bumblebee snails (to commit arson on the vemetids/tubeworms wrecking up the place - will these kill my other sandbed critters, too?)
- a few bristle worms (because most people don't like them, but they are my homeboys)

Let's discuss. Tell me why I'm wrong and should post my tank on craigslist so that I don't decimate the world's population of captive bred inverts.
 
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Arthur_Dent

Arthur_Dent

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I have a few bumblebee snails for the very reason of killing vermetids. I read somewhere that they were good for that... I also have an increasing number of vermatids so the bumblebees didn't work in my case lol.

Thanks for the heads up! Gotta put the little suckers to work!
 

austibella

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i put 5 bumblebee's in my 180 they do a great job getting rid of vermetidae cleaned them right out but now i have some new ones so i am going to buy a whole lot more bumblebees . they do a great job plus they eat detritus and left over food on rocks and they are pretty. when i buy snails i get packages of 100 to 200 at a time of several different kinds. lots of emerald crabs , peppermint shrimp, 10 urchins, many starfish i feed my fish and corals a lot of food, then the snails and inverts have lots to eat to. yet my water is crystal clear fish are fat and corals are healthy. my clean up crew does the rest... emerald crabs will not eat bryopsis algae . had an outbreak, still cant figure out where it came from, never had it before. i got a foxface he eats only a little but maybe he eats more and i just didn't see it. but turbo snails eat bryopsis and sea hare does
 
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Arthur_Dent

Arthur_Dent

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i put 5 bumblebee's in my 180 they do a great job getting rid of vermetidae cleaned them right out but now i have some new ones so i am going to buy a whole lot more bumblebees . they do a great job plus they eat detritus and left over food on rocks and they are pretty. when i buy snails i get packages of 100 to 200 at a time of several different kinds. lots of emerald crabs , peppermint shrimp, 10 urchins, many starfish i feed my fish and corals a lot of food, then the snails and inverts have lots to eat to. yet my water is crystal clear fish are fat and corals are healthy. my clean up crew does the rest... emerald crabs will not eat bryopsis algae . had an outbreak, still cant figure out where it came from, never had it before. i got a foxface he eats only a little but maybe he eats more and i just didn't see it. but turbo snails eat bryopsis and sea hare does

This is AWESOME! I see this as confirmation that I should buy all the inverts.

How large is your tank? Any problems with mass invert dieoffs?
 

kels64

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Bumblebee snails do indeed eat vermetid snails but they will also eat your other snails if they get stuck on their backs and can’t right themselves. They are like freshwater assassin snails (which also have a yellow and black striped shell) and they will eat whoever they can catch!
 

kels64

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“Bristle worms... are my homeboys.” (Priceless! Lol.)
I love having my bristle worms in my tank because they help keep everything clean. I know some people think they’re horrible pests and if I find one that’s enormous I will try to get it out but other than that I let them be. ❤️❤️❤️Biodiversity rocks!
 

king aiptasia

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we'd make fast friends irl. with so many snails i doubt you are keeping much polyps, why remove the vermetids on this note?
 
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Arthur_Dent

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we'd make fast friends irl. with so many snails i doubt you are keeping much polyps, why remove the vermetids on this note?
I brought this tank online in October, but I bought it from a guy who let it go. I used the same rockwork, without nuking it, and it came with a lot of "pests". Plan has always been to let the tank run 4-6 months before adding coral. Just wondering about the vermitids because I'd like to kill any undesirables prior to stocking the tank. It was infested with bubble algae, flatworms, etc.

Had a nasty dino outbreak, which has been resolved, and interestingly, the vermetids seem to be tapering off a bit, but are still in there. Planning to drop in corals in the next month or two. Coralline is starting to really get going on my glass and rocks. Figure it's about time...

I am not super worried about it, to be honest. Will stress if and when they start killing corals. Till then, they're just extra critters.
 

king aiptasia

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I brought this tank online in October, but I bought it from a guy who let it go. I used the same rockwork, without nuking it, and it came with a lot of "pests". Plan has always been to let the tank run 4-6 months before adding coral. Just wondering about the vermitids because I'd like to kill any undesirables prior to stocking the tank. It was infested with bubble algae, flatworms, etc.

Had a nasty dino outbreak, which has been resolved, and interestingly, the vermetids seem to be tapering off a bit, but are still in there. Planning to drop in corals in the next month or two. Coralline is starting to really get going on my glass and rocks. Figure it's about time...

I am not super worried about it, to be honest. Will stress if and when they start killing corals. Till then, they're just extra critters.
for the most part vermetids are no issue, they tend to only irritate some sps corals. It really depends on what your plans are for the future
 

X-37B

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I am in the process of removing all emerald and hermits from my 120.
They have caused damage to sps colonies as they climb in them and pick at them.
Had bumble bees and yes they kill other snails.
I do add 1 asteria snail per 2 gallons for great algae control.
I have over 60 in my 120.
Halloween and tuxedo urchins should be added after you have plenty of coralline. My 2 wont eat anything else. They did get rid of some red turf algae now that I think of it.
Make sure yoir corals are very secure before adding the urchins.
 

Zoa_Fanatic

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Honestly that’s not that many snails for a 75. I have a 32 biocube led and I have over 30 dwarf ceriths, at least 7 nassarius (they breed like rabbits so I have an untold number of small ones), 15 astreas, and a golfball sized snail that looks like a turbo snail but buries itself when the lights are on. I also have three dwarf blue leg hermits, a giant scarlet hermit, and a tiny zebra hermit I found in a used tank who had survived with no light and heat for three months. Everyone is doing fine. I have vermitids as well and the zebra hermit is doing a fine job of eating them so far.
 
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Arthur_Dent

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I am in the process of removing all emerald and hermits from my 120.
They have caused damage to sps colonies as they climb in them and pick at them.
Had bumble bees and yes they kill other snails.
I do add 1 asteria snail per 2 gallons for great algae control.
I have over 60 in my 120.
Halloween and tuxedo urchins should be added after you have plenty of coralline. My 2 wont eat anything else. They did get rid of some red turf algae now that I think of it.
Make sure yoir corals are very secure before adding the urchins.
Thanks for the advice!
 
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Arthur_Dent

Arthur_Dent

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Honestly that’s not that many snails for a 75. I have a 32 biocube led and I have over 30 dwarf ceriths, at least 7 nassarius (they breed like rabbits so I have an untold number of small ones), 15 astreas, and a golfball sized snail that looks like a turbo snail but buries itself when the lights are on. I also have three dwarf blue leg hermits, a giant scarlet hermit, and a tiny zebra hermit I found in a used tank who had survived with no light and heat for three months. Everyone is doing fine. I have vermitids as well and the zebra hermit is doing a fine job of eating them so far.
I didn't know a zebra hermit was a thing. I'll look into them. Thanks!
 

Tamberav

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The snail number depends on how much algae you have and maintain for them. You can also offer nori.

I probably only have a dozen snails in my 80g Drobably not even that because I don’t have much algae.

It does sound like your rock might be dirty enough for them though.

Strombus and trochus snails will breed in your tank which is cool. Also check our reef cleaners for unique snails such as money cowries and pitho crabs.

Maybe even do a more focus on the exotic snails and crabs instead for a really unique tank. Tracking down things like Batman snails, frilly limpets, and clown crabs and such could be a pretty cool endeavor.
 

king aiptasia

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Thanks for the tip. I do appreciate it. First reef tank, so planning to try some of everything and see what I like best.
if you are planning sps and you got tons of vermetids get the bumble bees and leave them hunting for a little while and take them out before putting your permanent snail inhabitants
 

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