What are these? Limpit snails? Is like theyre drilled on the walls right now as I can barely scratch them out, I have white dots too(could it be their eggs?) this tank however is gonna be a freshwater soon
maleks.reef
Well-Known Member
Looks like barnacles
Zoa_Fanatic
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Limpets. They’re like clams kinda. Don’t bother anything. They’re all over my snails shells and back wall
Uzidaisies
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If they don’t move then they’re probably barnacles. Do they have little holes at the top of the pyramid?
+1 limpets...
SaltyShel
Active Member
These things I circled are all the same exact critter that you can see zoomed up (with the black spot on it). That picture is the underside of whatever it is. It’s definitely a snail, I can see it’s mouth moving in the video, but I can’t post videos on here since they won’t load. But it’s all the same thing in all three pictures, just different angles. The zoomed up underside is a super magnified image, they’re very small creatures. Some are even tinier. I haven’t been able to get an official ID, I was incorrectly told it’s a pyramid snail (by the same LFS which told me to kill all my livestock, bleach my tank, and basically get over it because “there is no difference between one life and another) and was then showed what an actual pyramid snail is, thanks to Facebook and the Pest Database website. If your critters look like mine, yes I think that is a limpet. Best guess at least lol. Some don’t have holes in the top of their shell though. Unless I just can’t see if there’s a hole or not.
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Uzidaisies
Well-Known Member
If there’s no tide in a reef tank do limpets just stay in one place all the time?
Uzidaisies
Well-Known Member
Yeah it’s a certain type of limpet with the hole. I was thinking there’s a barnacle that looks like a limpet that has a small hole but now I don’t remember if that’s right. Those pictures are limpets.
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Uzidaisies
Well-Known Member
I read that limpets move out with the tide but return to the same spot when the tide comes back in. Or something like that. So I don’t know if they just sit in one place in an aquarium or what. But certainly looks like limpets to me.
UnrealReefer
Community Member
Pretty sure those are Chilton's
Limpets, they move but slow. They are eating your algae and helping out. You can see the mouth and eyestalk things in your pic.
SaltyShel
Active Member
Yes they definitely move, just slowly. So they’re not a pest? I don’t need to get rid of them? Also, do they harm coral? If these guys are eating all the algae, are they going to starve out my urchin, turbo snails, and red hermits?
SaltyShel
Active Member
Thank you, after seeing them on the pest database I thought that’s what they were. Where do they even come from? I haven’t added any new corals, all I have is a couple mushroom coral that came from my dads tank but the coral have been in my tank for a while.
Darren in Tacoma
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Limpets are very cool. They do in fact graze all night, then return to the exact same spot. As they grow their shell will take on the contour of the rock they are resting on and create a seal that is not only water tight, but is impervious to predators. They are able to fix themselves so securely that If a limpet is removed from a rock it may kill it due to the force required.
They are good algae eaters in your tank but are likely too small to have any real impact. They can, however, get into power heads and such, requiring a little extra maintenance.
They are good algae eaters in your tank but are likely too small to have any real impact. They can, however, get into power heads and such, requiring a little extra maintenance.
Your converting to freshwater what
Not a pest, no. They will get into places your bigger cuc can’t. They also breed and are self sustaining. I would consider hitchhiker snails often better then ones we can buy.
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