Vermetid snails equals tank restart

[BighohoReef]

There are many out there who don’t consider vermatid snails to be pests. I am one of those. When I started the hobby about 12 years ago nobody cared about them, they came and went. This hate on them seem to be a newer development. I view them kind of like diatoms, they pretty much always come with a new tank then tend to die back or disappear when the aquarium matures and finds balance. That said, so many aren’t interested in balanced ecosystems or letting processes play out anymore. Everything is about adding additives and bacteria products to shortcut the natural cycles, which is maybe why some of these pests are taking a greater hold now than they used to. Now aiptasia, that’s a different story, bloody stuff is the devil!

I mean there could be worse things in the tank... aptaisa, flatworms, acro eating flatworms...

 

[BighohoReef]

There are many out there who don’t consider vermatid snails to be pests. I am one of those. When I started the hobby about 12 years ago nobody cared about them, they came and went. This hate on them seem to be a newer development. I view them kind of like diatoms, they pretty much always come with a new tank then tend to die back or disappear when the aquarium matures and finds balance. That said, so many aren’t interested in balanced ecosystems or letting processes play out anymore. Everything is about adding additives and bacteria products to shortcut the natural cycles, which is maybe why some of these pests are taking a greater hold now than they used to. Now aiptasia, that’s a different story, bloody stuff is the devil!

I mean there could be worse things in the tank... aptaisa, flatworms, acro eating flatworms...

 

[Oropher]

My BB tank has a lot fewer vermetids than Tank with sands.
only in one or LPS that i transferred from sandy tank.
could it be because of BB tank with high flow, there aren't much particles that vermetids can catch?

 

[A Reef Creation]

I've heard of multiple people having success using Valentini Puffers to eat the Vermetids. They can start nipping at other corals so remove it after he eats them all. Someone in this thread mentioned the Leopard Toby puffer as well.

 

[Snoopdog]

It was super hard to scrape them off.

What? How? How is a vermetid hard to kill / scrape off? I think I can kill 20 in less than a minute with pliers.

 

[Mattman1977]

I bought a complete 90 gal setup a few years back. After I got everything back to the house I put all love stock in qt’s I had setup and started cleaning the tank. Pulled the overflows and there must of been 50+ vermetid snails in there. So that’s definitely a place I check now for the little guys. I dislike them as well but there part of nature as long as they don’t interfere with the health of the tank I leave them be.

 

[Snoopdog]

I bought a complete 90 gal setup a few years back. After I got everything back to the house I put all love stock in qt’s I had setup and started cleaning the tank. Pulled the overflows and there must of been 50+ vermetid snails in there. So that’s definitely a place I check now for the little guys. I dislike them as well but there part of nature as long as they don’t interfere with the health of the tank I leave them be.

Exactly. If one is irritating a coral just go in there with some type of crushing utensil and smash it. I mean it only takes a few seconds. I can see having a worry about something like a gorilla crab but vermetid snails? Do not sweat those. That is like worrying about bristle worms.

 

[CindyKz]

Most of the "pests" people catastrophize over are really just nuisances, IMO. Vermetid snails, some varieties of flatworms, even aiptasia and majanos, are harmless most of the time. I just deal with issues as they arise - a dot of superglue on a problematic vermetid or a syringe full of kalk paste for aiptasia now and then - and don't sweat the small stuff.

Of course some stuff is a big deal - acro eating flatworms in an SPS tank or pyramid snails in a tank full of clams come to mind.

 

[TaiN]

Im my opinion vermatid snails are unsightly. When I had a 30 gallon I started with live rocks and had an infestation of them. I tried to remove as much as I could but their numbers always seemed to be multiplying. I hated how they cling on to power heads and grew right next to corals( unsightly in my opinion). I would say a restart is a good way to get rid of them.

 

[Mattman1977]

Exactly. If one is irritating a coral just go in there with some type of crushing utensil and smash it. I mean it only takes a few seconds. I can see having a worry about something like a gorilla crab but vermetid snails? Do not sweat those. That is like worrying about bristle worms.

Yeah I have a gorilla crab in my tank. He came in on some gulf live rock. I’ve tried to catch him several times and he’s faster then you would think. Haven’t lost any livestock so guess he’s being a good boy for now. I qt the live rock a few weeks and though I had gotten all of them but nope maybe one day. I’m infested with bristle worms I’m pretty sure. I know I added a bunch of them from one of my other systems. Good little clean up crew member.

 

[Softhammer]

The best way to control vermetids, if you are that concerned about it is get another hobby. This domination of biology and parameters has gotten way out of control. If you are doing thing right, the pests will not dominate. When was the last time you heard of an expert break down a 2,000 gallon reef over trivial things... Never.. Small tanks, almost daily..

 

[Paul B]

I have had gorilla crabs, bryopsis, vermerids, flatworms, roundworms, bristleworms, tapeworms, spaghetti worms, hair algae, magano's, aiptasia etc.
My tank is very old and I have never, not once used any extraordinary means to eliminate any of them.

I certainly never broke down my tank or removed rocks to wash.
Last year my tank was covered in flatworms, thousands of them on everything.

They all disappeared on their own with no "help" from me. IMO this is one reason there are so few old tanks still running. Worrying about these silly things.

They are all natural and normal and they came from the sea just like our corals. I also never lost a coral to any of them

 

[McPuff]

My advice regarding bumblebees is to get more. Try for around 20 and you'll see a more pronounced response.

I am a biologist by training so I love the hobby for many reasons... one of them is to try and recreate a "natural" and balanced ecosystem. That might mean my system isn't always perfect but it's more pleasing to me. A lot of people like to have the super clean, super "sterile" look and that is fine if that's what they want. It's just a LOT harder to keep something like that on the longer term. A well-thought assemblage of fishes and inverts will go a long way toward keeping your system "stable" for a long time. I say "stable" because natural systems are always going up or coming down, rarely ever in a stable state. So making abrupt changes will only exacerbate a trend, whatever it may be... and it's not always easy to see what's happening.

I'd say to keep going with your system and let it play out a while. You'll be happy to not have to start over and take another year + to get where you are now.

 

[Msteven1]

This is disheartening, because I too am in the process of an upgrade but definitely planning on taking all measures to avoid vermetid snails as well. Wasn’t even planning on transferring over corals from old tank which is infested.

Same here. Upgrading to a 40 breeder from a 29cube that was infested with them. Starting with all new rock. Going to quarantine inverts and corals this time.

 

[Bleakborn]

Lots of bumblebee snails work wonder.

I second this, they don't seem to remove every last one but the keep the numbers way down.

 

[Bleigh]

Interesting thread. I hate them in my tank, but I'm not sure I would start completely over. My bumble bee snails seem to keep the numbers more manageable.

When I see a coral looking funny, it has almost always been irritation from another organism... fish pecking, shrimp sampling, aiptasia, asterinas, veremtids... most recently some hydroids. I know I will be far more careful with what I put into my next tank, but I also think I have gained a lot by having a mature tank. I have always been able to find a way to help manage the populations (or remove it in the case of fish or shrimp). And none of these pests I got intentionally. Likely a mixture of not knowing what to look for and the pest being hidden. I cannot imagine it is very feasible for most people to keep them out permanently.

 

[saltnut]

I just checked reef cleaners and they do have bumble bee snails in stock because of people requesting them to help with vermetid snails. They have mixed reviews on how good a job they do and are asking for more input from reefers. Also they caution adding BB snails because they eat other little sessile invertebrates. You guys got my thinking it is time to smash a few of those vermetid snails and reduce the qty.

 

[ScottB]

I just checked reef cleaners and they do have bumble bee snails in stock because of people requesting them to help with vermetid snails. They have mixed reviews on how good a job they do and are asking for more input from reefers. Also they caution adding BB snails because they eat other little sessile invertebrates. You guys got my thinking it is time to smash a few of those vermetid snails and reduce the qty.

Yeah, at WC time, I blast the rocks and sand with a powerhead to kick up detritus dust, making their mucus nets very visible. Then just get to work with some bone cutters. That is good enough to protect adjacent corals, but doesn't really dent the population much. For that, you have to pull the rock out of the tank, smash them and replace. That used to be easy enough but now all the rock is fused together with SPS so much more disruptive to do.

 

[ChrisNH]

Never figured out exactly what it is. Because petco misslabled it. They labled it as a red fromia. But clearly it wasnt red lol Its two shades of grey in stripe pattersn with bubbles on it.

Ivd had him for a year ina half now.. and he does good.

Here isa picture when i got him. I believe is a Friant ,nardoa variation of starfish. I see him cruising around my tank all the time. He stops and squishes into tight spots to get to vermitids and sponges.

tht is a super cool looking starfish

 

[saltnut]

I will probably pull a couple small rocks out and then if for any reason I pull any thing out for some other reason try to also rid it of the vermetid then just to keep them in check if I can.