Rock growth??

Charlie G · Jul 17, 2023

Hi all,

Fairly new to the hobby. Been doing this for about 18 months. Can someone identify for me the growth on this rock. This was a rock in my coral QT but I also have it in my display all over my rock. Been there for a long time. Doesn’t seem to be doing anything. Just wanted some direction as to what it is so that I can research further.

Any danger to my aquarium?
Is it beneficial? Do I need to do anything?

Thanks in advance

twentyleagues · Jul 17, 2023

Vermetide snails. Can bother corals. Most people don't like them but from what I've seen it's almost impossible to have a reef without getting them.

littlefoxx · Jul 17, 2023

Charlie G said:
Hi all,

Fairly new to the hobby. Been doing this for about 18 months. Can someone identify for me the growth on this rock. This was a rock in my coral QT but I also have it in my display all over my rock. Been there for a long time. Doesn’t seem to be doing anything. Just wanted some direction as to what it is so that I can research further.

Any danger to my aquarium?
Is it beneficial? Do I need to do anything?

Thanks in advance

Ahhh! Pyramid snails!!! Get rid of them, they get all over. Bumblebee snails eat them

Charlie G · Jul 17, 2023

littlefoxx said:
Ahhh! Pyramid snails!!! Get rid of them, they get all over. Bumblebee snails eat them

Are they harmful?

littlefoxx · Jul 17, 2023

Charlie G said:
Are they harmful?

Yep! Destroys corals!! Lost all my corals I got with a tank I bought to these little s-!!! Have a ton of bumblebees they are super helpful. They are hard to get rid of manually especially when they get big! If you pull them off you have to make sure every part is gone. These nasty things eat corals and take nutrients away from them.

twentyleagues · Jul 17, 2023

Those are not pyramid snails.

twentyleagues · Jul 17, 2023

Again they are vermetide snails. They do not eat coral but they do irritate corals.

littlefoxx · Jul 17, 2023

twentyleagues said:
Those are not pyramid snails.

whats the common name then? They are like tube snails and a pest

littlefoxx · Jul 17, 2023

twentyleagues said:
Again they are vermetide snails. They do not eat coral but they do irritate corals.

Oh sorry always heard them referred to as pyramid snails and cant ever remember their scientific name!

Charlie G · Jul 17, 2023

littlefoxx said:
whats the common name then? They are like tube snails and a pest

I think I have that also all over the rock in my DT. I have to check if I have a good enough picture. I will post.

Wow. I didn’t think they would be a problem. Have had that (or something similar - again I’ll check) on my rock for a long time.

twentyleagues · Jul 17, 2023

Pyramid snails are little pyramid shaped snails that look kind of like a grain of rice. They do eat clams and some lps.

littlefoxx · Jul 17, 2023

twentyleagues said:
Pyramid snails are little pyramid shaped snails that look kind of like a grain of rice. They do eat clams and some lps.

Ah good to know. These snails OP has like decimated the corals I got in the tank and started growing through them with their nasty tubes!

twentyleagues · Jul 17, 2023

littlefoxx said:
Ah good to know. These snails OP has like decimated the corals I got in the tank and started growing through them with their nasty tubes!

They tend to grow in areas like overflows and pipes. When I see them near corals I scrape them off. If you have enough of them near a coral they could cause it to close up and not open, which could kill the coral. The more floating particulate (food) the higher possibility of them growing. Once I set up a cryptic zone I stopped seeing them in the dt as much.

Charlie G · Jul 17, 2023

littlefoxx said:
Ah good to know. These snails OP has like decimated the corals I got in the tank and started growing through them with their nasty tubes!

This is a pic of my DT rock.
Just to confirm is that the same? Is it Vermitide snails?

littlefoxx · Jul 17, 2023

Charlie G said:
This is a pic of my DT rock.
Just to confirm is that the same? Is it Vermitide snails?

Yep! Beautiful tank and I love those clowns

Charlie G · Jul 17, 2023

twentyleagues said:
They tend to grow in areas like overflows and pipes. When I see them near corals I scrape them off. If you have enough of them near a coral they could cause it to close up and not open, which could kill the coral. The more floating particulate (food) the higher possibility of them growing. Once I set up a cryptic zone I stopped seeing them in the dt as much.

Is there anything I should do to get rid of them?

Now that I think about it it may be irritating one of my Zoas.

What do you mean cryptic zone?

littlefoxx · Jul 17, 2023

Charlie G said:
Is there anything I should do to get rid of them?

Now that I think about it it may be irritating one of my Zoas.

What do you mean cryptic zone?

For the ones left over in my tank I put a ton of bumble bee snails in and they are helping! Theres a way to manually pull them off but I forget what it is

twentyleagues · Jul 18, 2023

Charlie G said:
Is there anything I should do to get rid of them?

Now that I think about it it may be irritating one of my Zoas.

What do you mean cryptic zone?

Use a dental pick or flathead screwdriver to scrape off any that are bothering corals.

If you broadcast feed your corals with anything you will get more of these. So try to limit that.

A cryptic zone is an area usually in your sump with rocks no or little light usually before any mechanical filtration. You let sponges, pods, and things like these grow. They catch food particles and debris.

Charlie G · Jul 18, 2023

Ah. I get it. I don’t have a sump as I have a Biocube all in one. I guess the first chamber.

I had a zoa on a gray that stopped opening. I thought it was overgrown with some corraline algae (there may have been a couple of vermatid on them). I did scrape it as I thought whatever was growing on it was irritating it and the zoa opened and looked happier.

I can do that again. Thanks for the tip.

Also I may try littlefoxx’s suggestion with bumble bee snails.

I do appreciate the information you all provided. Thank you.

If you have any others please provide. I really do enjoy getting on R2R. Very helpful. I’m learning a lot. Thanks

twentyleagues · Jul 18, 2023

Charlie G said:
This is a pic of my DT rock.
Just to confirm is that the same? Is it Vermitide snails?

Looks like algae of some sort on the zoas. Use a turkey baster to blow it off and any detritus that's trapped at their bases. Hard to tell what kind of algae from the pic might be a little cyano. Hard to tell if there is vermetides or not. If there are tubes like it your first pics scrape them off.