Pest? Coral?

[Tomknox47]

Hi everyone came back from vacation and noticed these strange looking things I can’t tell if it’s a pest or not but there are a few of them in my tank.
I must note that I do have a Kenya tree( mistake) and I’ve heard that they can drop branches and spread like weeds. Can anyone confirm what this is?

 

[Alexopora]

Hi everyone came back from vacation and noticed these strange looking things I can’t tell if it’s a pest or not but there are a few of them in my tank.
I must note that I do have a Kenya tree( mistake) and I’ve heard that they can drop branches and spread like weeds. Can anyone confirm what this is?

Vermitid snail. Depending on reefers, some find it to be a pest some don’t. In great numbers however their mucous may irritate corals. You could smash it or cover it with glue, as one vermitid snail will become 10, 20 in a few months time.

 

[OREGONIC]

Vermetid snail, most consider a pest. I personally do not worry to much about them. I kill the big ones from time to time but they are not the plague and I honestly consider them part of biodiversity as long as the population is in check.

 

[Tomknox47]

Vermitid snail. Depending on reefers, some find it to be a pest some don’t. In great numbers however their mucous may irritate corals. You could smash it or cover it with glue, as one vermitid snail will become 10, 20 in a few months time.

Thanks, I did see that on the sticky page but was not sure. Also if I did want to use glue on them how would I go about applying it underwater? Should I just put a dab of glue on a tube and apply it with that? Or would it be possible to use reef glue underwater. Sorry for the silly question. I’m pretty new to reefing.

 

[Tomknox47]

Vermetid snail, most consider a pest. I personally do not worry to much about them. I kill the big ones from time to time but they are not the plague and I honestly consider them part of biodiversity as long as the population is in check.

Good to know that they aren’t too bad. They just give me the creeps more than anything lol

 

[Alexopora]

Thanks, I did see that on the sticky page but was not sure. Also if I did want to use glue on them how would I go about applying it underwater? Should I just put a dab of glue on a tube and apply it with that? Or would it be possible to use reef glue underwater. Sorry for the silly question. I’m pretty new to reefing.

No worries, we are always learning in this hobby. Good question, it depends on the glue. There are epoxies which can work by just applying underwater and there are some glue (superglue gel) that may not work as well underwater since they might harden too quickly upon contact with water. You can look for reef glue or aquascaping glue and experiment with that.

If it’s possible to remove that rock out of the tank, that would be better. If not, you could turn off your pumps and carefully scrape away the vermitid snail. Make sure you scrap everything away cleanly.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Vermetid snails are bad for stony corals, coral crabs and bumble bee snails keep them in check. Most alarming is how the slime net of vermetid snails irritates the corals they often grow in and around, causing polyps to remain retracted and instigating tissue loss. It’s also easy to see how vermetid snails can smother corals if they’re really big, too numerous, or both. The Vermetid Snail is a stationary gastropod that will slowly kill your corals by smothering them with their mucus webs, stealing their much needed food sources for production of zooxanthele.

 

[OREGONIC]

Thanks, I did see that on the sticky page but was not sure. Also if I did want to use glue on them how would I go about applying it underwater? Should I just put a dab of glue on a tube and apply it with that? Or would it be possible to use reef glue underwater. Sorry for the silly question. I’m pretty new to reefing.

I have never glued them, I just break them open with bone cutters, my wrasses usually clean up the mess right after. They act like its a treat for them.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Filter feeder. Not a problem imo. +1 on the bumble bee snails. They will prob eat em.
D

 

[OREGONIC]

Filter feeder. Not a problem imo. +1 on the bumble bee snails. They will prob eat em.
D

How do you get the PNW reefer banner?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Go to the pnw section in the clubs area at the bottom of the forum page.
Send a pm to the mod.
-d