Tank transfer (but have vermatids)

[Timbo13]

Hi all,
I'm upgrading to a bigger tank soonish. I have a tank now that has a vermatid infestation. I have lots of live rock and coral in the tank I want to transfer but hate the look of vermatids. Also it's a pain to remove rock and crush them. I'm hesitant to move everything over with the vermatids and know that no matter meticulous I am crushing/removing them during the transfer, some will find their way into the new tank. Should I just do my best to remove what I can and hope they stay at a reasonable level in the new tank? I'm leaning towards just dealing with them because the rock is 3-4 years old.
P.S: I've tried calcium carbonate and bumblebee snails but not sure if they helped because I still have them.
Thoughts or past experiences with this situation anyone?

 

[Fish Fan]

How large is this aquarium? If it leans towards smaller, I may be tempted to just reboot it with new rock.

If you really want to keep the rock, then I do think you're looking at management, in that you'll likely never crush them all, and eradicate them in that way.

Maybe this writeup/video will help:

Getting Rid of Vermetid Snails - Tidal Gardens

Vermetid snails are a family of sessile gastropods that are very frequently found in our saltwater aquariums. They are often mistaken for worms but they are in fact snails that spend their adult life in one location and filter feeds by sending out a mucus web to catch organic debris. In this...

tidalgardens.com

Good luck!

 

[Timbo13]

Thanks for the quick reply. It's not a massive tank (upgrading from a reefer nano to a reefer 170). It's just that reefing here is expensive. There are no $5 frag sales or anything and reefers here don't really have a network like R2R in the states. I'd like to keep stuff for the transfer but maybe I'll just have to reset. I guess it's a chance to try my hand at acros ;)

 

[Fish Fan]

Thanks for the quick reply. It's not a massive tank (upgrading from a reefer nano to a reefer 170). It's just that reefing here is expensive. There are no $5 frag sales or anything and reefers here don't really have a network like R2R in the states. I'd like to keep stuff for the transfer but maybe I'll just have to reset. I guess it's a chance to try my hand at acros ;)

Friend, I apologize, I didn't see your location; sumemisen.

I have an appreciation of Japanese culture, and I am shocked, I thought aquaria were quite popular in Japan. Are there are no reefing shops in Tokyo?

With that in mind, I might try to battle the vermetid snails and keep your rock.

 

[Red_Beard]

If you are ok nuking any and all inverts attatched to the rock you could isolate the rock to a bin and circulate it with ivermectin, if that is something that is available to you. Let that circulate for a day or so then do a 100% water change in the bin, keep it circulating and run heavy carbon for a few days.

 

[Red_Beard]

You would still probably want to use a butter knife afterwards and scrape any of the dead tubes off you can

 

[BryanM]

are the vermatids all over everything, or just the rock?

If only the rock, or 80%+ rock, I'd toss the rock, clean the frags on the way over, starting with new live rock if you can.

 

[Timbo13]

Friend, I apologize, I didn't see your location; sumemisen.

I have an appreciation of Japanese culture, and I am shocked, I thought aquaria were quite popular in Japan. Are there are no reefing shops in Tokyo?

With that in mind, I might try to battle the vermetid snails and keep your rock.

Freshwater is very popular in Japan, especially the aquascaping.

 

[Fish Fan]

Freshwater is very popular in Japan, especially the aquascaping.

Yes! But not saltwater?

 

[Timbo13]

are the vermatids all over everything, or just the rock?

If only the rock, or 80%+ rock, I'd toss the rock, clean the frags on the way over, starting with new live rock if you can.

Vermatids are everywhere - sump, overflow, pumps, attached to the bottom of hammer corals etc :(

 

[Timbo13]

If you are ok nuking any and all inverts attatched to the rock you could isolate the rock to a bin and circulate it with ivermectin, if that is something that is available to you. Let that circulate for a day or so then do a 100% water change in the bin, keep it circulating and run heavy carbon for a few days.

Not sure if ivermectin is available here, I'll need to look into it

 

[Timbo13]

Yes! But not saltwater?

Aquariums (visiting commercial ones) are really popular but having a saltwater tank here can get pricey and there aren't many shops that specialize in the equipment we use. I'm sure there is a lot of reefers here but there aren't any networks so it's hard to meet.

 

[Fish Fan]

Aquariums (visiting commercial ones) are really popular but having a saltwater tank here can get pricey and there aren't many shops that specialize in the equipment we use. I'm sure there is a lot of reefers here but there aren't any networks so it's hard to meet.

Oh that's unfortunate, but thank you for setting me straight on this.

Are there not Chinese vendors you can buy from?

 

[Red_Beard]

Vermatids are everywhere - sump, overflow, pumps, attached to the bottom of hammer corals etc :(

For your hammer skeleton, the back side of a butter knife is good for scraping them clean. Do quarantine them for a few weeks after though to make sure youve gotten rid of all of them

 

[Timbo13]

Oh that's unfortunate, but thank you for setting me straight on this.

Are there not Chinese vendors you can buy from?

You can pick up Jecod/Jebao stuff occasionally on Amazon but that's about it. Most of the imported brands are sold at premium prices here. I tend to but things second hand

 

[Timbo13]

Thanks for your replies everyone!

 

[Fish Fan]

You can pick up Jecod/Jebao stuff occasionally on Amazon but that's about it. Most of the imported brands are sold at premium prices here. I tend to but things second hand

I was thinking maybe for livestock.

I think eBay and Alibaba also sell Jebao/Jecod equipment, maybe they deliver to your location?

 

[carri10]

Hi.
I also had several vermatids, although not as many as you.
I crushed as many as I could find and added 10 bumble bee snails to the tank (1000L).
I am not sure if the bumblebees are truly responsible, but I now have almost zero in the display tank, whilst still having several in the sump.

Good luck!

 

[Timbo13]

Oh that's unfortunate, but thank you for setting me straight on this.

Are there not Chinese vendors you can buy from?

If there are any Chinese vendors I'm yet to find them. Thanks for the ideas :)

 

[Timbo13]

Also does anyone know if pistol and cleaner shrimp would transfer vermatids? Would eggs stick to their shells?