Need Vermatid Snail Eradication Methods

[Fishresponse]

Tagging along

 

[ScottB]

A longspine urchin will eliminate any & all.

My urchin does what he can, that is for sure. There are none where he grazes. But there are many areas of the rockwork that he cannot (or will not) reach and I will get a large cluster in those spots. Like 5-10 in just a couple square inches.

 

[Hallowhead]

I found that removing the rock work and manually removing was the best solution.. it's husbandry now tho if I want to eradicated completely. I'll probably do another scrub in August

 

[MabuyaQ]

My urchin does what he can, that is for sure. There are none where he grazes. But there are many areas of the rockwork that he cannot (or will not) reach and I will get a large cluster in those spots. Like 5-10 in just a couple square inches.

Cook them with a steam cleaner.

 

[ScottB]

Cook them with a steam cleaner.

OK, I'll bite. Can you explain this method? (Or did I miss the joke?)

 

[Boonz28]

I had just a few in one of my tanks, went in and smashed them up (rock still in the tank). Big mistake, within a couple weeks there were hundreds. I’ve got bumblebee snails but they don’t seem to do much if anything. Funny enough what killed the vermatid snails was a cyano outbreak. It didn’t bother anything else in the tank but it clogged up all of their little webs and starved them as far as I can tell. Good luck on your quest!

 

[Tamberav]

When I upgraded to a larger tank I went wrasse dominate...mostly Halichoeres and Leopard. Most of those snails disappeared. I am not sure which ones are eating them....they all are constantly searching the rocks.

 

[bcarl77]

Following!

 

[Leadfooted]

!!Muricid snails!!!

This is very promising news for us and they're apparently arrive to many LFS as hitch hikers.

Death and life: Muricid snails consume the vermetid gastropod, Dendropoma maximum , and use empty shells for reproduction

 

[MabuyaQ]

OK, I'll bite. Can you explain this method? (Or did I miss the joke?)

No joke. A steamcleaner with hose and small nozzle is great to get rid of pests in hard to reach locations. The hot RODI water will cook anything.

 

[ScottB]

No joke. A steamcleaner with hose and small nozzle is great to get rid of pests in hard to reach locations. The hot RODI water will cook anything.

something like this?

 

[Dan Watson]

I made a 20” long 3/8” diameter 303stainless rod and sharpened a point onto it to crush them at the base. i do this every 6-12months depending if there are any troublesome vermetids that steal food from corals. i also made one thats 6” long for hard to reach places but often just wind up moving the rock to get to the stubborn ones. my mated scooter blennies have a field day picking up the scraps.

 

[Cali-Saltwater-1st-Timer]

They suck! I've literally removed every rock manually removing them with pliers, etc. Problem is, if you don't get every single one they will repopulate and you'll be in the same predicament several months down the line. They're definitely a PITA!

 

[Phycodurus]

!!Muricid snails!!!

I believe muricid/murex snails generally are not reef safe ... inverts and clams are at risk.

 

[Leadfooted]

I believe muricid/murex snails generally are not reef safe ... inverts and clams are at risk.

This is true. My LFS said it would be wise to move snails to my sump for safety.

 

[Snoopy 67]

There is no known cure for these @ this time.
Some say Bumblebee snails, some say they don't work????

 

[Leadfooted]

I believe muricid/murex snails generally are not reef safe ... inverts and clams are at risk.

For what it's worth, the only reason the Muricid Snail is not "reef safe" is mostly because they eat other snails like your clean up crew and yes other things too. However, this THREAD explains how plenty of people do not use snails in the system and have no issues. Also, if you have to remove a few inverts to save the whole system, it's worth it IMO. If anything, maybe it's best to remove snails (clean up crew) or inverts until the muricid Snail can help eradicate the Vermetids? Just keep be sure to closely inspect anything the goes in and out during transfer for Vermetids. And yes folks, my gosh, bumble bee snails do eat Vermetid snails, but you must help them by breaking the Vermetid snail tube. The bumble bee snail can only reach so far into the tube to eat them, this is why crushing tubes helps. I get it, most vermetid's are under rocks where you can't reach, that's why I'm telling you about the Muricid. The Muricid Snail can reach far waaaaay down inside the tube and even documented to lay eggs in the empty Vermetid snail tube AFTER it east them. Just keep in mind, you can't add both Bumble bee snail and Muricid snail , the muricid will also eat Bumble Bee. Though not the cure all, this Muricid gives much hope based off the science we know about them. Again, here's the main article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-014-1141-6

 

[ScottB]

For what it's worth, the only reason the Muricid Snail is not "reef safe" is mostly because they eat other snails like your clean up crew and yes other things too. However, this THREAD explains how plenty of people do not use snails in the system and have no issues. Also, if you have to remove a few inverts to save the whole system, it's worth it IMO. If anything, maybe it's best to remove snails (clean up crew) or inverts until the muricid Snail can help eradicate the Vermetids? Just keep be sure to closely inspect anything the goes in and out during transfer for Vermetids. And yes folks, my gosh, bumble bee snails do eat Vermetid snails, but you must help them by breaking the Vermetid snail tube. The bumble bee snail can only reach so far into the tube to eat them, this is why crushing tubes helps. I get it, most vermetid's are under rocks where you can't reach, that's why I'm telling you about the Muricid. The Muricid Snail can reach far waaaaay down inside the tube and even documented to lay eggs in the empty Vermetid snail tube AFTER it east them. Just keep in mind, you can't add both Bumble bee snail and Muricid snail , the muricid will also eat Bumble Bee. Though not the cure all, this Muricid gives much hope based off the science we know about them. Again, here's the main article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-014-1141-6

Reading with interest. I have crushed maybe a 100 vermetids. I've also stopped particulate feeding, Reefroids and rinsing mysis which seems to have slowed the growth considerably. But many remain in hard to reach spots. So my questions is, how small and agile are the Muricids?