Hydroids on snail shells?

Sierra_Bravo · Jun 22, 2017

I have two snails that have a covering of what I'm assuming are some type of hydroid. These two are the only ones I see affected. Should these two snails be removed and disposed of or can the shells be cleaned without killing the snails?

Tahoe61 · Jun 22, 2017

Yes to the correct ID.

Remove the snails, put them in a small container of display water, take a soft tooth brush and clean them, rinse and return.

Mike N · Jun 22, 2017

Funny, I had to scrape digitate hydroids off a cerith shell this morning.

gabrielw94106 · Jun 3, 2020

I have this exact problem with a snail. Is this the way they were introduced possibly?

Sierra_Bravo · Jun 6, 2020

gabrielw94106 said:
I have this exact problem with a snail. Is this the way they were introduced possibly?

They came in from a shipment. After cleaning them as suggested I never had the issue again. And that was three years ago now.

gabrielw94106 · Jun 6, 2020

Sierra_Bravo said:
They came in from a shipment. After cleaning them as suggested I never had the issue again. And that was three years ago now.

Yes i used a dental pick to remove them from the zoas. They reappeared on a snail again and i caught it before they hopped off and scrubbed the shell. Have yet to see them reappear.

pendulum · Sep 15, 2022

Sierra_Bravo said:
I have two snails that have a covering of what I'm assuming are some type of hydroid. These two are the only ones I see affected. Should these two snails be removed and disposed of or can the shells be cleaned without killing the snails?

Thanks for this thread! This could be an exact copy of the snail from my tank. Now all scrubbed and fingers crossed.