Will Limpets scratch my acrylic?

[xxkenny90xx]

Just picked up a few from reefcleaners and I came across a thread that said they'll scratch my tank. Anyone have any first hand knowledge of this?

World's worst picture here you go!

 

[fishguy242]

what thickness is panel and age?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

3/8" I'd guess. Who knows, I bought the tank used a few yrs ago and buffed out all the scratches (of course it's got plenty of new ones now anyways)

 

[vetteguy53081]

They are hard shelled and low to the surface and likely can

 

[Phycodurus]

i also have an acrylic tank and i saw those limpets offered at reefcleaners. i was really tempted (more for the sake of adding diversity to my tank invert fauna than for algae help), and i was aware that limpets are likely to scratch acrylic.

not firsthand knowledge, but i did find an old 2010 post at RC stating that limpets can scratch acrylic quite badly.

maybe i should buy a couple too ... and you & i both will be the guinea pig test tanks! :D;Hilarious

 

[xxkenny90xx]

They are hard shelled and low to the surface and likely can

The answer we were looking for is actually "of course not, limpets will actually buff acrylic and get rid of all your old scratches"!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

i also have an acrylic tank and i saw those limpets offered at reefcleaners. i was really tempted (more for the sake of adding diversity to my tank invert fauna than for algae help), and i was aware that limpets are likely to scratch acrylic.

not firsthand knowledge, but i did find an old 2010 post at RC stating that limpets can scratch acrylic quite badly.

maybe i should buy a couple too ... and you & i both will be the guinea pig test tanks! :D;Hilarious

Lol maybe we should! I spent a whole day buffing this tank to perfection only for my 6yr old to grab the glass mag float from the sump and drag it all over my acrylic display tank so I can probably live with a few more scratches. But I donno, they might be sump bound we'll see. Ya I got all kinds of cool stuff from reefcleaners today, the best is my 2 new marine giant hermit crabs (aka the reef destroyers)

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Thanks for the info guys!

 

[JohnGP]

I have several in my acrylic tank and haven't noticed any scratches or not yet anyway, I've only had them in there for a few months. They seem to stick to the rear panel and move so slow that I can't imagine them doing much damage. I've had them in acrylic tanks in the past as well and never noticed any scratching, maybe I just got lucky?

 

[Timfish]

Not unless they are crushed against the sides. They have a thin mantle between their shell and any surface.

 

[AquaticEngineer]

Just to bump this, limpets ABSOLUTELY scratch the glass. Their teeth are made of a material much harder than glass or acrylic and they use those teeth to scrape the algae off the sides of the tank. I have a cold water tank that the previous owner had several limpets in it for years and I can see all the little teeth marks as scratches in it. The scratches will look like an area where a normal snail will have eaten algae off of the glass but the bite mark from their radula is actually into the acrylic.