Vermited snails- help!
- Thread starter Burrito
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I have some of the smaller ones. Aiptasia laser will get the ones that you can see - this is not a good solution, but it makes you feel good. A massive amount of blue leg hermits will steal food from them and they can really die back quite a bit - this is also not a good long term solution when you end up with several hundred blue legs that have grown and need new shells and stuff.
vetteguy53081
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I use coral snow and it does control them but not kill them. gel glue has been the best but often does not adhere due to water current
Maybe a dumb question- but are these things a big deal? They have been my latest pest scourge, and I guess I’m just hoping they’ll run their course and find their balance. I’ve also wondered about trying to add a bunch of bumble bee snails.
wayhighcoral
New Member
Watching... got a bunch of these guys. Not sure what to think of these guys though, because they don't really seem to bother anybody if my observations hold water. A favia grew right around one and engulfed it (not sure if it had died previously). Then my Pink Floyd acro did the same thing. Still, I see new ones appearing regularly... Currently defaulting to SOP: do nothing but observe (and occasionally crush one).
You will never win the battle without completely killing the rock. I just made that mistake in my current 75 gallon. I had rock in an old tank i had running for 15yrs with them on it. Completely infested my new tank. Finally pulled all the rock and bleached them. Here is the kicker with the whole deal: I still have my old tank running with Vermetid snails on the overflow and in the tank. This tank has been up and running for over 2yrs now with nothing "living" in it. I haven't fed the tank ANYTHING. No water changes, haven't checked the salinity and only topped off the water. These things are still alive!
McPuff
Valuable Member
Bumblebee snails will eat them. A friend of mine found this to work really well so I gave it a try. Took several weeks but there are 2-3 spots in my tank where the vermetids used to be plentiful and are no longer there. Shells and everything have been consumed. I only added 12 snails to my 300 so the results were not immediate, but I know it was the snails. Planning to get a couple dozen more (unfortunately not always available) to try and rid the tank (for now) of this little scourge. The larger vermeditds... I'm not sure if the bumblebees consume them or not. They are easier to manually remove so that's what I do when I get ambitious.
I got bumblebees for this purpose as well a couple months ago (12 in 50g tank). It is interesting, because maybe the vermetids are disappearing, but I have not ever seen a bumblebee snail eating one. Have you? They are weird snails. They don't eat algae like other snails, and they don't seem to eat fish food or dead stuff like nassarius snails do. And they don't seem to eat other mobile snails, like whelks do. I cant figure out what they eat. Maybe it is vermetids, but I havent seen it.
1stNoel
Well-Known Member
Bumblebee "assassin" Snails will eat good snails too.
McPuff
Valuable Member
I've heard this too but my snails are pretty huge in comparison so I don't worry about it. The bumbles are quite small. My guess is they won't go for the good snails unless the easier, sessile, options are no longer available.
I have seen one or two in a patch of the small vermetids for days on end. Those are the same patches that ended up without even a shell remaining. It's possible they eat at night. My friend has actually seen the bumbles actively consuming vermetids on the base of euphyllia.
McPuff
Valuable Member
I had my LFS order some. Believe that Live Aquaria has them at times too. I'd probably put 6 in your tank to start.
I tried the bumblebee snails and they did not work for me, but thats just my experience w/ them. Have not tried the KZ snow yet, and did not try a fish to eradicate these things, I saw someone mentioned a saddled toby puffer as an option, any one else ever have luck w that fish in regards to the vermitid removal?
TB Nano
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I’ll have to check with a few of the LFS here. I see they are cheap online but shipping them is spendy. Someone else told me they use AptasiaX and that worked for them but I have not tried it yet. Maybe I will finally give that a shot this weekend and let others know if I see anything.
Its going to be one of those things you will just have to try and see if it works for you. I tried the bumblebee snails but they didnt work for me but they have worked for others. You my have success w/ the KZ snow, you may not. Some have actually used AptasiaX w/ positive results. Others have had success w/ using fish to eliminate these things, an earlier post someone mentioned a black saddle toby puffer. This seems to be trial and error territory for us wanting those out of our systems...
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