Natural Vermetid Snail Control (ReefBuilder)

Hupajupe

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In all seriousness this is amazing news. Vermetid snails caused me to restart my tanks as the got out of control and were covering everything and killing my corals! I hate them with a passion!

Does anyone know where you can source Pollia fumosus snails?
 

Dburr1014

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Maybe?

20230601_060716.jpg
 

ISpeakForTheSeas

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Yeah, there are a few different confirmed predators of vermetids, but pretty much all of them pose a threat to either fish, inverts, corals, or some combination of the three, and sourcing them can be quite challenging. That said, I suspect a number of different predatory snails would eat them (or at least some species of themif given the chance/out of other food options:
The only things that I've read about which confirmedly prey on Vermetid snails are Carpilius convexus (a crab), Mancinella armigera (a muricid - A.K.A. murex snail), and Menathais tuberosa (another muricid snail). For hopefully obvious reasons, none of these are fully reef safe, as there's a very good chance they'll eat CUC and any bivalves you may have (and with the crab, pretty much any other invert they can reach may be in danger as well). It's presumed in the report I've read that other Carpilius spp. will eat them as well, and there are likely a number of other muricid snails that would eat them too. I have no idea if these would be coral safe or not though.

So, while they're not common in the hobby, you might be able to get some Carpilius crabs, or you could try getting some predatory snails and see if those help. Some of the smaller predatory snails may be able to reach places where fish would struggle to, but there's no guarantees. I've heard some people have luck with bumblebee snails, some with emerald crabs, and some with wrasse or butterflyfish (possibly pufferfish too) - those might work, but from what I've heard it's very hit and miss - as you've seen (it may depend on the species of vermetid). To my knowledge, though, none of the likely to succeed possible predators are totally reef safe. Either way, biological controls may help to limit the population, but I wouldn't expect a complete eradication.
(Just as a note for the links, a number of different snails - not just Murex/Muricid snails - eat other snails, so some of the other predatory snails found in the links below may be worth a shot too.)
If you want to try some predatory snails, you can find a surprisingly large variety at shops such as those linked below:
 
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In all seriousness this is amazing news. Vermetid snails caused me to restart my tanks as the got out of control and were covering everything and killing my corals! I hate them with a passion!

Does anyone know where you can source Pollia fumosus snails?

Here is what RB has to offer:

Bottoms of live rock tanks at LFS would be a good place to try to source them. Some Australian aquarium collectors have made them available recently. If I was considering them as an option for Vermetid control I’d start with a single snail to avoid any unwanted multiplication.

I emailed ReefCleaners to see what they have to say.
 
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Here is what RB has to offer:

Bottoms of live rock tanks at LFS would be a good place to try to source them. Some Australian aquarium collectors have made them available recently. If I was considering them as an option for Vermetid control I’d start with a single snail to avoid any unwanted multiplication.

I emailed ReefCleaners to see what they have to say.

John from ReefCleaners followed up to say that he had no info on them.
 

areefer01

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Hit and miss for me. They will certainly go after other snails as well.

I've heard this as well but was told they are two different species if you are comparing it to the freshwater snails. I don't know if that is fact or fiction as I have only used the ones in the freshwater space. And in my experience they went after everything which is what I wanted for my freshwater display.
 
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I've heard this as well but was told they are two different species if you are comparing it to the freshwater snails. I don't know if that is fact or fiction as I have only used the ones in the freshwater space. And in my experience they went after everything which is what I wanted for my freshwater display.

These are the Bumble Bee snails I used.
 
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