Vermetid Snail infestation

[14 foot reef]

I've tried a lot of options but my Vermetid Snail infestation is getting out of control and I'm dreading the idea of a tear down and start over to rid them. My system is 850 gallons the main display is 650 gallons. Run full Apex, Trident, DOS with 200 watt UV, 6' Dual Beckett skimmer and mechanical filtration in pads and cups.
I put in 200 Bumble Bee snails about a month ago and they really are busy everywhere but the Vermetid Snails.
Looking for any other ideas I might try besides a tear down. gluing shut, cutting off is out of the question because there are literally thousands of them in my system.
Thanks in advance for any of thoughts and ideas, I've included pictures (edited the best I could). The coral growth is strong in the tank as evident in the photos as the are growing over the Vermetids, but really distorting the corals natural growth patterns.

 

[TheDuude]

I also have a large vermatid population. I started dosing coral snow a couple times a week and seems to be helping just a bit. I don't have fewer yet but seem to be multiplying slower. Wish we could find something that eats these things more than bumblebees

 

[spsick]

I’m right there with you and feel your pain. Every nice mature colony I have has them.

I believe SunnyX mentioned marine snow clogs up their webs and starves them. It’s dirt cheap to make yourself even for a system your size.

I made some and only used it a few times out of laziness (which is dumb it takes seconds) but I for sure saw them collect it in their webs. I think sticking with it would render results.

 

[moz71]

I feel your pain!! Had bad infestation myself. Tried everything. The only thing I can say is if you are feeding any coral foods (reef roids, reef energy, etc or amino acids. STOP! definitely causes them to multiply tremendously. I tried coral snow for several months and felt didn’t do to much then bumblebee many of them. But only saw true population reduction was after months of no feeding dosing reef roids etc. now there still is a few that I can live with. MAybe combination of the snails and no food Best of luck

 

[KoiTang]

I found this article and was going to try the fish option at the end of the article. https://modernreefer.com/getting-rid-of-vermetid-snails-in-a-reef-tank-complete-guide/

I am going try a saddleback puffer first to see if it eats the vermetid snails.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

No fish can get to all the worms I tried keeping them out of tanks but some how they always show up, the only thing I've found to work is not worrying about them unfortunately, I break the tubes in the front of the rock work and where I can, but its a losing battle to try and fight them once they are there.

All my corals look crazy because of them, here's a poor monti just covered. Your not alone!

 

[KoiTang]

No fish can get to all the worms I tried keeping them out of tanks but some how they always show up, the only thing I've found to work is not worrying about them unfortunately, I break the tubes in the front of the rock work and where I can, but its a losing battle to try and fight them once they are there.

All my corals look crazy because of them, here's a poor monti just covered. Your not alone!

Dang. I hate those things. It's an eyesore and they irritate my SPS. I was hoping a fish would take care of it even if it means losing my shrimps and snails.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

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.

 

[Mrjsmith33]

My tank is nowhere on you level but i had some come in on a couple of malnourished frogspawn heads that i took in to salvage ...luckily it didnt spread but my emerald crabs worked on them for months to the point where they are non existent onmy frogspawn now or in the tank

 

[Rubblereefer]

I killed all mine, accidentally. I had just dosed reef roids, so all thier webs were out, and then I had an accidental kalk overdose that turned the tank milky, and they must have sucked in the kalk and died. My ph shot from 8.1-8.5 in about a minute. Not that I would suggest this by any means, but all my corals lived, and all the vermetids seem to have died.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I killed all mine, accidentally. I had just dosed reef roids, so all thier webs were out, and then I had an accidental kalk overdose that turned the tank milky, and they must have sucked in the kalk and died. My ph shot from 8.1-8.5 in about a minute. Not that I would suggest this by any means, but all my corals lived, and all the vermetids seem to have died.

Hmmmmmmm

 

[Bot587]

Bumblebee snails eat them. Always keep a few around for that

 

[ryshark]

Bumblebee snails eat them. Always keep a few around for that

I think the trick with bumblebees is to have a bunch of them before the vermetid get out of control. Luckily my current tank has no vermetid, but I’ve dealt with the micro version in the past. They suck.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I have the large variety of vermited as well. And tried everything that has been suggested.

Superglue/putty: they borrow a new hole and then spawn

Reef snow: zero effect

Ozone reactor: water is crystal clear but the vermiteds are still there

Bumblebee snails: didn't touch them (I concluded that they help with the thin vermiteds but not this variety)

My copper band loves to eat them, but he needs me to crack open the tube to get at em. Which means every time I have my hand in the tank, the cbb is following along looking for a free meal. Unfortunately we can only take care of the ones that are easily accessible.

I live with them, one thing I noticed is that when I had a diamond goby that stirred the sand, the nets were extremely visible, now that he's gone, I don't notice the nets.

People say they annoy corals, but it's hard to agree with that. I have a tank full of large colonies, and perhaps they would've grown faster if the vermiteds weren't around, but that's pure speculation.

Taking it to the extreme and nuking the tank from space may be a bit extreme. I've toyed with the idea of resetting, but the effort isn't worth the reward. But to each their own.

 

[areefer01]

I have the large variety of vermited as well. And tried everything that has been suggested.

Superglue/putty: they borrow a new hole and then spawn

Reef snow: zero effect

Ozone reactor: water is crystal clear but the vermiteds are still there

Bumblebee snails: didn't touch them (I concluded that they help with the thin vermiteds but not this variety)

My copper band loves to eat them, but he needs me to crack open the tube to get at em. Which means every time I have my hand in the tank, the cbb is following along looking for a free meal. Unfortunately we can only take care of the ones that are easily accessible.

I live with them, one thing I noticed is that when I had a diamond goby that stirred the sand, the nets were extremely visible, now that he's gone, I don't notice the nets.

People say they annoy corals, but it's hard to agree with that. I have a tank full of large colonies, and perhaps they would've grown faster if the vermiteds weren't around, but that's pure speculation.

Taking it to the extreme and nuking the tank from space may be a bit extreme. I've toyed with the idea of resetting, but the effort isn't worth the reward. But to each their own.

Sensible post and well thought out. I tend to agree based on my experience with them. The long and short of it is that we coexist. Mixed reef here and as you noted with regards to coral announce I don't think they do. Doesn't matter if they are soft, fleshy, or SPS, the coral adapts. Unsightly I guess they are. Address them upon first sight so they don't become a problem. Going about it lazily then we get plague proportions.

I would not recommend bumblebee snails but this is just me. They are predatory and used often in fresh water planted tanks. Why? To kill the unwanted snails that eat the plants

Oh - only other thing I'd add is that my rock boring urchin seems to mow them down a bit when doing its thing. I only have one in my 210 gallon but I can see his/her path from time to time and it clears them. Just what I see. I wanted to get a couple more to see if it put in any dent but don't think my system can manage another one or two of them. I prefer my rocks with corraline and they tend to clear it. If you do have urchins take a look and see what they do, do not do.

TL; DR - we coexist. I see them when diving so just shrug it off. I have them because I didn't address the problem when I first saw them. No coral loss either.

 

[ninjamyst]

Don't bother rebooting. You will get them again. Even with new rocks you will get them from corals you move over or when you buy new corals. I seen them on frags from every sponsor here that I bought from. Unless you willing to qt all your corals and snails for 3+ months and inspect every inch, you will get them again.

 

[Cory]

Mine are the large ones. Started with one, didn't think much about it. A year later there are hundreds. We must get those predatory snails in order to get rid of them.

 

[Dkmoo]

Address the root of the problem - too much dissolved food particles and not enough other types of filter feeders. Stop feeding your corals for a while, they can survive on photosynthesis for a long time.

Get some other filterfeeders, or even more corals, to help compete against it

Get some live rock with sponges to seed and grow sponges. Get a clam, some feather dusters.

If you just focus on removing the worm population without addressing the underlying cause, not only will it be that much harder, but you might also get an even worse filter-feeding pest, like hydroids, that take its spot.

 

[Cory]

Address the root of the problem - too much dissolved food particles and not enough other types of filter feeders. Stop feeding your corals for a while, they can survive on photosynthesis for a long time.

Get some other filterfeeders, or even more corals, to help compete against it

Get some live rock with sponges to seed and grow sponges. Get a clam, some feather dusters.

If you just focus on removing the worm population without addressing the underlying cause, not only will it be that much harder, but you might also get an even worse filter-feeding pest, like hydroids, that take its spot.

Ive got sponges, and feather dusters. What vermintids eat is my large fishes poo.

 

[msreefer]

I have had them for about 10 months now. They were spreading like wild fire until I got rid of all my fish and did not feed my tank a single thing for 6 to 8 months. I also added 50ish bumblebee snails to the tank (260g). After 6 months I felt like the snails didn't do anything but closer to the 8 month mark I started noticing a difference in the population. After doing a lot of reading it seems as the common denominator is feeding. If you have a way to get your fish out and stop feeding the tank for a long period of time seems like the key. I haven't lost any coral but I have to keep a eye on my nitrates as I have really good filtration and without feeding they can get low. I'm starting to have hope now. I actually bought a used tank to setup and very slowly transfer a little rock at a time and glue every one of the Snails shut. I understand I will not get 100% of them but that mixed with the no feeding just might work.