How should I deal with vermetid snails?

[Kongar]

There's surprisingly not a ton of threads regarding these guys. What's the best way to deal with them (or not at all)? So far I've got:
1) super glue the holes shut (pain to do, and some of them are really hard to reach/hidden in the holes in the rock)
2) cut them off (this is surprisingly hard to do - they attach themselves rather firmly to things)
3) Bumblebee snails (hit or miss?)
4) do nothing - they aren't that big of a deal. Some people report they go away on their own?
5) Crush them (sounds like there's eggs and stuff in the base and probably a bad practice?)
6) ?

I picked up the little ones somewhere along the line. When I first noticed them, there were a few. Within a few months there are now dozens. They don't seem to be bothering anything, but I'm worried about nipping a plague in the bud. What's the best practice here?

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

I've had luck squishing them with a flathead screwdriver. Doesn't seem to make them spread, and my six-line wrasse slurps up whatever is left after the squishening

 

[Pkunk35]

Personally I just remove them with bone cutters whenever I take something out of the tank bc they are always on something. Usually I find a ton on my mp wetside. If you clip them at their base, they usually pop off in one piece when using bone cutters. This is the easiest way I have found to remove them.

 

[SPS2020]

3) Bumblebee snails (hit or miss?)

For me, this was a miss. The only thing they seemed to eat was other beneficial snails.

 

[Uzidaisies]

Idk there’s a few in my tank that I’m aware of, but I haven’t done anything about yet. I feel like more are going to pop up anyway, so why bother. I’m not broadcast feeding the corals much anymore though. If I see one on a coral or bothering I will deal with it though.

 

[Lowlandreef]

Around 1 year ago I started a thread about this subject. Maybe you can find some useful information there.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-reduce-wipe-out-vermetid-snails.752892/page-4#post-9430577

In my final post in the thread I wrote how I got rid of them, so I will give a short summary here:

One of the most effective things for me was stopping with broadcast feeding. That's where they got all of their food from. Try to find out where your vermetids get their food from, and make sure you tackle it.
I also went with the good old hit & smash technique. IME it didn't cause them to multiply in any way. It just killed them. I couldn't reach all the places on the rock to smash them, so I also introduced bumble bee snails. They are a little bit of a hit or miss but when you get enough of them, at least a couple of them will eat them I think. Most effective way is starving them, so cutting out their food source will always be my number one advice.

Good luck!

 

[Uzidaisies]

There is a species of snail that predates vermetid snails in the wild and lays eggs in the tube. Someone posted a link about it a week or two ago somewhere. I don’t remember which thread it was. I don’t think these snails are typically available in the pet trade though.

 

[attiland]

3) Bumblebee snails (hit or miss?)

For me, this was a miss. The only thing they seemed to eat was other beneficial snails.

miss so fare for me

 

[attiland]

There is a species of snail that predates vermetid snails in the wild and lays eggs in the tube. Someone posted a link about it a week or two ago somewhere. I don’t remember which thread it was. I don’t think these snails are typically available in the pet trade though.

So you are saying there is somebody who know something about a thing not available anywhere. Hmm but what if I want that thing?

 

[Gtinnel]

I have gone with approach #4. I have a lot of the tubes in the tank but rarely do I see the mucus webs. I also don't broadcast feed reef roids as often as I used to so it could be that I've starved most of them. If I see any that are pestering corals I will remove those with bone cutters, but otherwise I'll just leave them alone.

 

[Kongar]

I switched from pellets and reef roids to exclusively Rod's frozen. IMO Rod's is still a form of broadcast feeding as it cloudies up the water. Also my corals love it. I've often wondered if this is contributing to the vermetid snails' proliferation and if I should change things up. I dunno - I'm pretty happy with Rod's and reluctant to change food.

I don't have a wrasse or similar fish to clean up anything that lives through a squishing. I think i'd rather try to cut them off and remove them with a bone cutter than a squish. But I'll never get the ones inside the holes in the live rock.

I do see mucous threads, but again, they don't seem to be bothering my corals. I should have mentioned that I'm letting leptastrea, leptoseris, and some chalices encrust my rocks. The leptasrea is a weed, and I'm thinking in about another year - most of the rocks will be 100% encrusted. Maybe this is a solution not talked about too often. I was afraid the leptasrea would overrun my acros - but this has proven to not be the case. The acros are holding their ground and the leptasrea grows around the base. But it does cover up everything else - including vermetid snails. This leads me to "just let it be"

=\

 

[Gtinnel]

I switched from pellets and reef roids to exclusively Rod's frozen. IMO Rod's is still a form of broadcast feeding as it cloudies up the water. Also my corals love it. I've often wondered if this is contributing to the vermetid snails' proliferation and if I should change things up. I dunno - I'm pretty happy with Rod's and reluctant to change food.

I don't have a wrasse or similar fish to clean up anything that lives through a squishing. I think i'd rather try to cut them off and remove them with a bone cutter than a squish. But I'll never get the ones inside the holes in the live rock.

I do see mucous threads, but again, they don't seem to be bothering my corals. I should have mentioned that I'm letting leptastrea, leptoseris, and come chalices encrust my rocks. The leptasrea is a weed, and I'm thinking in about another year - most of the rocks will be 100% encrusted. Maybe this is a solution not talked about too often. I was afraid the leptasrea would overrun my acros - but this has prven to not be the case. The acros are holding their ground and the leptasrea grows around the base. But it does cover up everything else - including vermetid snails. This leads me to "just let it be"

=\

I have a cyphastrea that has encrusted over some vermetids and it's cool looking IMO

 

[attiland]

I have a cyphastrea that has encrusted over some vermetids and it's cool looking IMO

now that is cool

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

i am starting to win my 2-month old battle against them. First is to stop broadcast feeding, that alone at least stops them from spreading. Then use forceps/screwdriver/anything, and start mowing down those tubes before your water changes. After 2 months, I still have just a few left, but not like it was before (bumblebee snails didnt work for me at all). Good luck

 

[dvgyfresh]

I just bought bumble bee snails , went from 100s of vermitid to less than 10

 

[chadfish]

I snap them off with tweezers then use the pointy end of the tweezer to stab the base. I’m playing whack-a-mole, but their numbers are kept in check

 

[Daniel]

Removal is the best bet, I've had some mixed success with crushing (only to find them coming back sometimes b/c I couldn't get deep enough to actually kill it); also, if you've ever smelled a rotting vermetid snail, it's something I personally wouldn't want volumes of left in the tank.

One tip that helped me, was to find the largest most mature vermetid snail. Typically, they're the ones spawning and causing the infestation to continue. Once I removed the largest vermetids from my system, I am seeing a drastic reduction in presence.

Good luck!

 

[sixline]

I'd recommend nipping it in the bud.

Having a few of them is interesting, and not too bad but they can reach plague proportions and start interfering with the health of your corals. I got rid of my infestation by first attaching them with a longhouse pliers and then blocking the holes on the remaining ones with reef epoxy.

Not that when attacking them with pliers, just breaking off the tube is not enough. The snails will sense you coming and withdraw into the base. Breaking off the tube does nothing - they will build it again. Instead, crack the base open with the pliers and get the snail inside. Crush the meaty little guy and your fish will clean up the mess. Once you've gotten all you can reach, glue the remaining ones shut.

 

[Daniel]

The neat part is ... while ur crushing them at the base, sometimes the entire thing pops right off!

 

[attiland]

I am just wondering when you can not reach the rock face they are on what would you do?