Limpets good or bad?
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Retro Reefer
Slow and steady wins the race!
Good guys and great addition to your CUC.
w2inc
Active Member
I was just looking that topic up. I have had some thing that looks like a limpet park one of my digis and allow tissue to grow over its self. Could have been a barnacle. Eventually there were several of them and I started to see sections of tissue loss. I took the coral out and cut them all off, fragged it up and it grows much better now.
I dont constantly test my water and there could have been several other factors making the Digi suffer, but it appears that my limpets were causing damage.
I dont know how much stock you put in Live aquaria, I have known them to be wrong but here is a link to an article on their site that mentions limpets eating SPS.
https://m.liveaquaria.com/article/122/?aid=122
Let me know if any of you have seen issues like that.
Limpets
Several different genus and many species make up the snail-like invertebrate family, commonly known as limpets. Limpets have an oval, laterally compressed shell that tapers to an off-centered blunt point. Limpets have a tiny hole at the crest of their shell where it becomes a point, which they use for waste and water exchange. Many of these species have a very large mantle that extends around and covers the shell. In fact, some limpets can be very beautiful with amazing colors, and make a welcome guest in an aquarium that does not contain SPS corals.
The most common variety encountered in a reef aquarium is the Keyhole Limpet. They are a common import with live rock, and are typically colored in a mottled brown, black and tan pattern, and do not have a mantle that covers their shell. The Keyhole Limpets are typically half an inch long, or smaller, and feed on unwanted filamentous algae, cyanobacteria, diatoms and even hydroids. Unfortunately, in the SPS aquarium, they will also feed on the tissue of SPS corals.
As with many of the snail species, it is best to physically remove the limpet if you are unsure of its species and diet. Some limpet species are herbivores and are beneficial to even a reef aquarium. But even the herbivores can become harmful if there is not enough food for them in the aquarium. Limpets will typically not reproduce to any significant number in the aquarium, and physical removal is usually a sufficient control for the SPS coral aquarist.
I dont constantly test my water and there could have been several other factors making the Digi suffer, but it appears that my limpets were causing damage.
I dont know how much stock you put in Live aquaria, I have known them to be wrong but here is a link to an article on their site that mentions limpets eating SPS.
https://m.liveaquaria.com/article/122/?aid=122
Let me know if any of you have seen issues like that.
Several different genus and many species make up the snail-like invertebrate family, commonly known as limpets. Limpets have an oval, laterally compressed shell that tapers to an off-centered blunt point. Limpets have a tiny hole at the crest of their shell where it becomes a point, which they use for waste and water exchange. Many of these species have a very large mantle that extends around and covers the shell. In fact, some limpets can be very beautiful with amazing colors, and make a welcome guest in an aquarium that does not contain SPS corals.
The most common variety encountered in a reef aquarium is the Keyhole Limpet. They are a common import with live rock, and are typically colored in a mottled brown, black and tan pattern, and do not have a mantle that covers their shell. The Keyhole Limpets are typically half an inch long, or smaller, and feed on unwanted filamentous algae, cyanobacteria, diatoms and even hydroids. Unfortunately, in the SPS aquarium, they will also feed on the tissue of SPS corals.
As with many of the snail species, it is best to physically remove the limpet if you are unsure of its species and diet. Some limpet species are herbivores and are beneficial to even a reef aquarium. But even the herbivores can become harmful if there is not enough food for them in the aquarium. Limpets will typically not reproduce to any significant number in the aquarium, and physical removal is usually a sufficient control for the SPS coral aquarist.
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Can,do,and will eat sps....
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Ive never had that species eat sps but thier cousins the top hat have decimated sps on me...now i trust none they all go in the nem tank.
ludnix
Valuable Member
I haven't had any issues with the little 1/4" mostly white limpets, but I had a really cool star shaped limpet hitchhiker that could eat through coraline and corals like it was butter.
Have you had any experience with something like this?
I’ve got tons of the little white limpets similar to these you pictured. There is lots of conflicting information out there, from terrible for ur tank to awesome for your tank. I think there must be so many types that it’s impossible to tell for sure. The black one on the liveaquaria article looks nothing like the ones you pictured, so that’s a good sign.
As there is no way I’d ever catch them all, I’ve just let them be. I’ve never seen them anywhere near any corals. If I miss a small section of algae on the glass these guys are right on the missed spot for days. I believe the type I have are algae grazers and beneficial. They are all over my sump, which stays amazingly clean on its own. I do worry about their babies clogging up a pump or wave maker, but that’s all I really am concerned about with them.
Maybe a good test of yours would be to not clean a portion of the glass and see if they collect on the algae then u likely have awesome algae eaters. ...
U
User1
Guest
I'll play - they are a good sign of a healthy tank. However, similar to snails there are some that are bad. What I find rather interesting is that they end up in oddest places. For example I have a pair of 1" Sea Swirls that are not touching any sides of the tank yet here I am looking at the return lines only to find a couple limpets on them. No idea how they get there other than possibly floating in the water column or something.
Anyway I've always had them so not really sure if there is any adverse affect. Maybe I can blame them for the tremendous amount of GHA that is currently over tanking my system. Yeah...that is it.
Anyway I've always had them so not really sure if there is any adverse affect. Maybe I can blame them for the tremendous amount of GHA that is currently over tanking my system. Yeah...that is it.
w2inc
Active Member
Thanks for the feedback. I am just generally grabbing at straws right now with some STN. The limpets have been in the system for a long time. I think they just had a breeding cycle and I have tons of them now. I want to blame that on them, but more likely it is the potassium or the rust on my Chaeto grow tank.
I have a green wrasse that eats them. It is kind of impressive to see what he can pull off the rocks.
w2inc
Active Member
Thanks for the feedback. I read an article that talked about how you could identify one from another by the radula. Sounds like there are infinitely many to choose from and some might take things down. I have never seen them near my coral and that is why I left the ones I had in place. I havent looked at my tank after dark in months. I will check that out and see if that gives me any new insights.
I had a few come in on some Florida LR. I noticed a few here and there. Before I knew it, there were hundreds, and my nutrients have been pretty low. I haven’t noticed them doing anything stupid yet, but they are more of a pest for me.
Check this out. My tank is only 7 months old and they have exploded in numbers already. This is in a filter cup:
Check this out. My tank is only 7 months old and they have exploded in numbers already. This is in a filter cup:
Lee adams
Community Member
I bought some live limpets in our wet market here..Trouble is the vendors cut off the top of shell exposing the creature inside..I bought abot 10 and threw them in the tank.A month later I notice the shells slowly regenerating..Amazing.
Aries360
Community Member
What can I buy to kill all my limpets. I have a 360 gallon acrylic tank and now I have two big scratches from limpets getting stuck behind the mighty magnet. I’ve been so careful for years. I want to kill them all. I am willing to sacrifice my other CUC to kill all the limpets. Maybe a trigger or a harlequin shrimp this way no one else dies. If you don’t have a acrylic tank you wouldn’t understand the troubles lol.
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