vermetid snails

[ellarose]

Hey everyone having a bit of a vermetid snail issue and i’m just wondering what everyone did to remove them or if they didn’t really bother the tank too much just worried about them killing my coral as i have read.

 

[aggrofish]

My tank was full of em at one point I think they kinda self regulate and eventually go away. I did remove them from the base of corals, mainly hammers

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Hey everyone having a bit of a vermetid snail issue and i’m just wondering what everyone did to remove them or if they didn’t really bother the tank too much just worried about them killing my coral as i have read.

Some have luck with bumblebee snails. Vermetids don't kill coral, but their webs can irritate some corals and contribute to recession. Unfortunately, once you get vermetid snails in your tank (as most of us do), there's not a great way to ever totally eliminate them.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

My tank was full of em at one point I think they kinda self regulate and eventually go away. I did remove them from the base of corals, mainly hammers

Yes, good point. If you can remove them from actual corals/frags, this is the best option. A lot of times they are in the rocks which makes them harder to remove. I just watch when feed or blow off the rocks to make sure no big webs are touching the coral. If I do see that, I break the tube (if it's on a rock). Doesn't kill the snail, but makes him have to start over.
*Some people use super glue to plug the ends of the tube; but this only works if the tube is on a rock... If it's on a coral skeleton, the snail will just burrow down through the skeleton to get out.

 

[Spare time]

Avoid particulate food. Crush them with bone cutters if you have them

 

[Jaybeastin]

You can never take them out of your tank. I did a whole tank transfer cleaned all the corals of the snail with new rocks and sand. It surely coming back as I see it growing on my corals again.

 

[Becks17]

I’ve given up trying to manual control them and I can’t imagine ever being rid of them, but they don’t really seem to bother my corals. I’ve got acros and montis encrusting over them.

 

[MoshJosh]

I only have/had a few, initially I left them alone, but then one (ore more) kept releasing a "web" that would lay across some coral right in the middle/front of the display. . . very unsightly.

I used a metal scraper to remove or crush the ones I could see. . .

 

[Miami Reef]

I had them in many of my tanks in the past and they never bothered my corals and they didn’t bother me visually.

The more I read the forums the more anxiety I get for uncontrollable things. I’m trying to QT to prevent them, but I just know it’s a fruitless endeavor. They never bothered me before, so why should I start obsessing now? Sigh…

 

[Sean Clark]

I thought that I was good at qt and I would be different. Then I found this guy taunting me...

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I thought that I was good at qt and I would be different. Then I found this guy taunting me...

Wow! Great photos! I've never actually seen the snail :)

 

[Sean Clark]

Wow! Great photos! I've never actually seen the snail :)

Thanks. I have some video as well. Give me a min to find it.

 

[Sean Clark]

Thanks. I have some video as well. Give me a min to find it.

 

[homer1475]

Thats actually a barnacle, not a vermetid.

I can tell you how I got them out of my tank, but I wouldn't suggest anyone try it. I had a cheapo LED grow light on an ATS that fell into my water. Plume of smoke, a few sparks, trip of the GFCI, and the light was toast. How I didn't loose the entire tank that day, I have no idea. The only thing that perished was a single head of hammer, and every freaking vermetid in my tank. That was 3 years ago, and have never had them since.

 

[Alexraptor]

In my case I have a tank infested with fulgida worms that go around munching up any and all snails. Downside is I can't keep snails as part of my Cuc... which sucks, nor can I keep clams. But going after the vermetid's is probably their one and only redeeming characteristic.

For those interested, here's an actual vermetid snail, living inside a monti.

 

[Sean Clark]

Thats actually a barnacle, not a vermetid.

I can tell you how I got them out of my tank, but I wouldn't suggest anyone try it. I had a cheapo LED grow light on an ATS that fell into my water. Plume of smoke, a few sparks, trip of the GFCI, and the light was toast. How I didn't loose the entire tank that day, I have no idea. The only thing that perished was a single head of hammer, and every freaking vermetid in my tank. That was 3 years ago, and have never had them since.

I just looked it up and I believe you are correct which makes me feel a bit better about the situation.

 

[billyocean]

 

[mcdrichj]

My 15 nano had these it was a complete infestation. The tank is mostly torn down but I snapped a few pictures. They were growing in my overflow, in my pipes in my sump everywhere. You can see the square behind where my hob oveflow used to be is filled with tiny ones. I only took my mp10s and my return pump and my carbon filter from the system and soaked everything in citric acid for more than 24 hours. The only livestock I removed from this tank was my 3 fish that i transfered to 2 different 5 gal buckets before going into my new tank. Whatever variant of the snail I had it was extremely invasive. I think Im going to just have to nuke all the remaining inhabitants of this tank. Even all the regular snails has these on their shells even the limpets have them on their shells.

 

[Spare time]

My 15 nano had these it was a complete infestation. The tank is mostly torn down but I snapped a few pictures. They were growing in my overflow, in my pipes in my sump everywhere. You can see the square behind where my hob oveflow used to be is filled with tiny ones. I only took my mp10s and my return pump and my carbon filter from the system and soaked everything in citric acid for more than 24 hours. The only livestock I removed from this tank was my 3 fish that i transfered to 2 different 5 gal buckets before going into my new tank. Whatever variant of the snail I had it was extremely invasive. I think Im going to just have to nuke all the remaining inhabitants of this tank. Even all the regular snails has these on their shells even the limpets have them on their shells.

You could scrub the outer layer of the snails/crabs and QT. Same with coral. You can keep them on a rack and try to monitor them daily. It MIGHT work after a while. Softies can be saved easily.

 

[mcdrichj]

You could scrub the outer layer of the snails/crabs and QT. Same with coral. You can keep them on a rack and try to monitor them daily. It MIGHT work after a while. Softies can be saved easily.

For how invasive these were Im not taking any chances. I will frag the leather and I dont really care about the pulsing Xenia. i guess I can try to save a few snails but im incredibly worried about it. Im not sure its worth the risk.