Vermetid Snails!!? How do you eliminate them!!!???

[Dkmoo]

they explode b/c you have excess dissolved organics in your water - i wouldn't go nuts trying to get rid of them artificually b/c they serve a very important purpose of keeping your filter feeder balance in check by competition.

They generally can't outcompete corals b/c corals can photosynthesize so once you control the excess dissolved organics and they will stablize on their own. Reduce feeding coral foods like roids and add a filter sock for a couple of weeks and they'll start restabilizing to more manageable population naturally.

If you must remove the ones that are too cluse to your prized corals and irritating them, then you can use any of the above methods mentioned. But i would not go with the total eradication route b/c they are not the underlying problem of your tank - excess dissolved organics is. And if you remove them completely, you just end up with a "competition" vacuum and risk a worse pest - like hydroids - taking over.

 

[woejillis]

Bumblebee snails may help. I bought some and while they haven't been eradicated, the spread has stopped. Truthfully, unless they're visibly irritating corals, I wouldn't worry too much.

I agree with you.

Generally, my vermetid snails take up residence in my wavemakers, blank areas on rocks, or inside my filtration systems.

Only since they started visibly irritating something did I take action. I think a mix of mechanical removal with bumblebee snails will keep mine in check. I'm not sure I'm intended to eradicate them completely.

 

[king aiptasia]

You sure about that ? I remember wqtching a video on the great barrier reef and one parr showed vermitids were a plague killing corals

I'm not saying they dont directly compete with corals, because some do produce a mucus that is irritating to a few SPS corals (I have no proof of this but my hypothesis is that SPS corals are competition to their preferred food size so they try to exclude them in their areas to keep more food for themselves) . But I am saying for a large amount of home aquarists these snails are a non issue. As for their competitive ability, paleontology hols the point that in the end vermetids lack some of the competitive advantages modern polyps have, and they tend not to become major reef contributors anymore like they used to be. there still are a few notable vermetid reefs like this beautiful example off the coast of sicily.

 

[king aiptasia]

they explode b/c you have excess dissolved organics in your water - i wouldn't go nuts trying to get rid of them artificually b/c they serve a very important purpose of keeping your filter feeder balance in check by competition.

They generally can't outcompete corals b/c corals can photosynthesize so once you control the excess dissolved organics and they will stablize on their own. Reduce feeding coral foods like roids and add a filter sock for a couple of weeks and they'll start restabilizing to more manageable population naturally.

If you must remove the ones that are too cluse to your prized corals and irritating them, then you can use any of the above methods mentioned. But i would not go with the total eradication route b/c they are not the underlying problem of your tank - excess dissolved organics is. And if you remove them completely, you just end up with a "competition" vacuum and risk a worse pest - like hydroids - taking over.

I agree with you.

Generally, my vermetid snails take up residence in my wavemakers, blank areas on rocks, or inside my filtration systems.

Only since they started visibly irritating something did I take action. I think a mix of mechanical removal with bumblebee snails will keep mine in check. I'm not sure I'm intended to eradicate them completely.

You guys said it better than me

 

[Biologic]

they explode b/c you have excess dissolved organics in your water - i wouldn't go nuts trying to get rid of them artificually b/c they serve a very important purpose of keeping your filter feeder balance in check by competition.

They generally can't outcompete corals b/c corals can photosynthesize so once you control the excess dissolved organics and they will stablize on their own. Reduce feeding coral foods like roids and add a filter sock for a couple of weeks and they'll start restabilizing to more manageable population naturally.

If you must remove the ones that are too cluse to your prized corals and irritating them, then you can use any of the above methods mentioned. But i would not go with the total eradication route b/c they are not the underlying problem of your tank - excess dissolved organics is. And if you remove them completely, you just end up with a "competition" vacuum and risk a worse pest - like hydroids - taking over.

Could you describe the dissolved organics issue? I haven't considered it. Are you speaking of elemental organics like carbon chains? Or more complex like polysaccharides? Or amino acids?

Absolutely agree on the reefroids and filter socks -- I was not keen on doing filter socks, but I am seeing a benefit in over all water quality. So I will take that medicine if it manages their populations and makes the water quality better.

Another question: I am also going ZeoVit at the moment to reduce NO3 and PO4, but since that bacterial driven, could carbon dosing add to this problem? I am sure they feed on bacteria caught in the mucus nets.

 

[Dkmoo]

Could you describe the dissolved organics issue? I haven't considered it. Are you speaking of elemental organics like carbon chains? Or more complex like polysaccharides? Or amino acids?

Absolutely agree on the reefroids and filter socks -- I was not keen on doing filter socks, but I am seeing a benefit in over all water quality. So I will take that medicine if it manages their populations and makes the water quality better.

Another question: I am also going ZeoVit at the moment to reduce NO3 and PO4, but since that bacterial driven, could carbon dosing add to this problem? I am sure they feed on bacteria caught in the mucus nets.

I'm referring to all of them - the larger particles like roids, disintegrate fish poop, and detritus will be caught and taken directly by the web. The organic chains at the molecular level, like amino qnd carbon chains,, is more likely going to be directly absorbed by tissues at the cellular level so the question becomes, who's cells absorbed them? If coral cells = good, thats why generally target feed is better than broadcast feed. Otherwise, they are absorbed by the freeflowing bacteria and plankton, and those in turn gets caught by the web.

Socks won't help take out the organics at the molecular level but it's already doing work just by taking out the large pieces. Make sure you change them out every few days

Zeovite is a Blackbox so not sure what their exactly biomechinical process is. But if its doing what you suggested, then its basically recycling no3po4 back into organic matter so I can see it fueling the filter feeder too.

 

[sfin52]

Toby Puffer. I have them 90g I change rock back and fourth to the 55 with the puffer. The rock that went into the 55 doesn't have them any more.

 

[moorjames]

I had it just a couple weeks ago. Noticed the same web and after a little research- found a huge one on the frag I just bought from my lfs. Was able to take the drag out, cut the snail line by the base, pull the rest of it out (looked like a worm) and placed back in the tank. Knowing there were others- I grabbed a couple bumble bee snails and placed them directly on the frag and they stayed there for about 2-3 days before moving off. They come back to it every now and then but haven’t seen any since

 

[schooncw]

Seems a bit more cruel than necessary...

Last year I also had a major vermetid outbreak. I waited it out, doing nothing to remove them, and now they're gone! It must be like the ugly stages in a new tank, except the tank doesn't have to be very new.

I never noticed them causing any harm to my corals.

I've been researching the critters all evening......kill them all now, before it's too late!

I noticed a few but it was not an issue, until I moved a mushroom rock near some other corals and noticed the sizable nets they were casting. I added 10 bumblebee snails to my 125 and am curious, is this enough? I put the plyers and screw driver to a few but realize that if a few are visible, there are bound to be more. I've subsequently seen reports of plagues and I do not want to get to that point. Any advice is appreciated, especially in regards to the bumble bee snail and the amount I should have in my tank.

 

[schooncw]

They harm Acropora and SPS for sure. If you find them on a frag plugs, you’ll see that part where they encrusted, has no coral encrusting around it. There’s a study they harm polyp expansion. They are not good at all.

How to get rid of them:

—biological methods, predators, as the others mentioned above
—superglue their traps
—two part epoxy their traps
—kalkwasser is ok but messy, so aptasiaX is better
—mechanically removing them. Scrape them off with a butter knife. Really scrape them off to nothing.
—starve them, stop feeding your tank with broadcast feedings for corals, only spot feed your fish for what they can eat
—filter sock, remove as much particulates from the water. Don’t give these guys food. Starve them.
—KZ Coral Snow, is said to clog their mucus nets
—inspecting tank nightly for them with a flash light
—QT snails, rocks with corals on them, LPS, SPS, clams before putting them into your tank.
—start with dry rock
—doing everything above religiously everyday and night

These pests are vastly under estimated and can be as difficult to take care of as aptasia. Not as bad as aptasia, but definitely very irritating to SPS.

What about Bumblebee snails?

 

[Biologic]

What about Bumblebee snails?

haven’t tried them. Honestly, I’ve given up at this point. There’s no way to get rid of them completely. I am going to try Bumblebee snails. I don’t ever expect I’ll ever get rid of them.

I mean, I was really diligent in killing them when I saw them. I think over all, filter limited their numbers the most. Removing any food source from the water and not feeding the tank coral was the best choice to limit their numbers. When I started feeding and not using filter socks, their numbers exploded.

if you see one in the tank, it’s over. You’ll unlikely ever get rid of them. Start the tank with dry rock all over again. Dry out existing rock for weeks to kill them.

 

[schooncw]

haven’t tried them. Honestly, I’ve given up at this point. There’s no way to get rid of them completely. I am going to try Bumblebee snails. I don’t ever expect I’ll ever get rid of them.

I mean, I was really diligent in killing them when I saw them. I think over all, filter limited their numbers the most. Removing any food source from the water and not feeding the tank coral was the best choice to limit their numbers. When I started feeding and not using filter socks, their numbers exploded.

if you see one in the tank, it’s over. You’ll unlikely ever get rid of them. Start the tank with dry rock all over again. Dry out existing rock for weeks to kill them.

I'm not quite that pessimistic. I did not have that many to begin with and crushed a few yesterday. Lets see what the Bumblebees do. Starting my tank over is not a consideration at this point.

 

[rantipole]

Do they harm softies? I have a few leathers, clove polyps, and zoas in my tank. I want to try an LPS or two soon. However, my tank is thick with vermetids right now. I spent the last several months combatting dinos, so I kinda let the vermetids get out of control. But, if they aren't really a problem, maybe I should just get a few bumblebee snails and not worry too much.

Cheers,
rant

 

[Biologic]

I'm not quite that pessimistic. I did not have that many to begin with and crushed a few yesterday. Lets see what the Bumblebees do. Starting my tank over is not a consideration at this point.

It's going to be very difficult. I am treating a 28 gallon tank. I work from home. I constantly look at my tank. I shine flashlights at night. Crushing is the most effective to reduce their numbers. HOWEVER, still there are pores, cracks, and tunnels where they live and reproduce. There's noway to get rid of these from these areas. Maybe in a new tank, that's weeks old, MAYBE. I am extremely doubtful.

I want to stress to everyone on this thread who don't believe that these are harmful. Here is a Montipora setosa pictured. You can see how the encrusting on the left. It's normal and healthy. On the right, you can see two vermented snails. Their filaments are not shown. Yes it's a filament, not strictly mucus. You can see how on the right, the growth is upwardly protracted. It's not encrusting down onto the rock as it is on the right.

This protracted growth pattern is similar to how filamentous algae irritates and prevents encrusting. Vermented snails compete for space on the reef. In time, some corals can grow over the tubes of the vermented snails, but it will be a persistent problem for the coral.

Here's a link to ReefBuilders article on the subject that talks about a different species of vermented snails. https://reefbuilders.com/2017/01/31/vermetid-tubeworms-are-bad-for-aquariums-and-coral-reefs/

Now these are a different species and maybe a different different genus of vermented snail all together, but the effect is the same. The webs they put out irritated corals. If your tank healthy, the coral can deal with them, but if the coral is sick, I'd imagine it could cause issue recession in that area. Same how algae does it.

Kill them if you can. Eliminate them you likely will not, especially they are the common small ones that we deal with on a daily basis. They are microscopic and can go unnoticed even in small tanks, by the time you see them, they've likely reproduced.

 

[ThePurple12]

I've been researching the critters all evening......kill them all now, before it's too late!

I noticed a few but it was not an issue, until I moved a mushroom rock near some other corals and noticed the sizable nets they were casting. I added 10 bumblebee snails to my 125 and am curious, is this enough? I put the plyers and screw driver to a few but realize that if a few are visible, there are bound to be more. I've subsequently seen reports of plagues and I do not want to get to that point. Any advice is appreciated, especially in regards to the bumble bee snail and the amount I should have in my tank.

It’s been 2 years, and not a one in sight!

 

[schooncw]

My bumblebees have been working. I only had a few vermetids, with most being on one large mushroom rock.
manually killed as many as possible but when I put 20 bumblebee‘s in the tank-directly placing several on the afflicted rock-I see no vermetid nets, not one. The snails are still on the rock, which indicates they have a food source.

 

[moorjames]

Bumblebee snails worked for me. Haven’t seen any come back

 

[Biologic]

Bumblebee snails worked for me. Haven’t seen any come back

man I need to get 10 of these legendary bumblebee snails. Sounds like that’s a big help.
Do you find they will crawl on the crest of a reef? Like where there’s a bit of flow?

 

[schooncw]

man I need to get 10 of these legendary bumblebee snails. Sounds like that’s a big help.
Do you find they will crawl on the crest of a reef? Like where there’s a bit of flow?

They go everywhere.

 

[Shooter6]

Bumblebee snais. Takes a few months but 6 snails in my 180gal eradicated thousands of vermid snails