The time has come..

[Zach D]

Vermetid snails have won, I’m done. They have infested my rock, my filtration, even other snails.

I have an Innovative Marine 40 fusion. The tank has lost all corals with no explanation. The water has tested perfectly. No temp or salinity swings. It is 3 years old. Current inhabitants include: 2 clowns, 2 Bangaii Cardinals, a royal gramma, a starry eyed Blenny, a yellow coris wrasse and misc. inverts.

I run an MP10, tunze skimmer, and return pump that came with the tank.

I purchased a 10 gallon tank a week ago in preparation for a total breakdown. My plan is to move all fish and rock to the 10G with a HOB to hold the fish while I then drain the 40 and remove the sand. Let the tank and snails dry out for about a week to ensure the demise of the vermetid snails. Buy new sand and rock. Allow the 40 to cycle. Slowly reintroduce my fish and begin coral shopping once again. Paying close attention to dipping and pest removal.

Any advise or conversation is appreciated.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Vermetid snails have won, I’m done. They have infested my rock, my filtration, even other snails.

I have an Innovative Marine 40 fusion. The tank has lost all corals with no explanation. The water has tested perfectly. No temp or salinity swings. It is 3 years old. Current inhabitants include: 2 clowns, 2 Bangaii Cardinals, a royal gramma, a starry eyed Blenny, a yellow coris wrasse and misc. inverts.

I run an MP10, tunze skimmer, and return pump that came with the tank.

I purchased a 10 gallon tank a week ago in preparation for a total breakdown. My plan is to move all fish and rock to the 10G with a HOB to hold the fish while I then drain the 40 and remove the sand. Let the tank and snails dry out for about a week to ensure the demise of the vermetid snails. Buy new sand and rock. Allow the 40 to cycle. Slowly reintroduce my fish and begin coral shopping once again. Paying close attention to dipping and pest removal.

Any advise or conversation is appreciated.

I hear ya. I have a terrible infestation as well. I literally have tens of thousands in my tank.

I've never thought of completely rebooting the tank, however. None of my corals seem to be adversely affected by them...they just steal food from the fish and generally look ugly.

On the other hand, rarely is my water not crystal clear!

 

[Reef Box]

be careful transferring any rock to the 10 gal....those Vermetid snails can be anywhere and everywhere... at one point I restarted my tank with 100% new dry rock and now QT every single thing that goes into my tank. including corals and inverts

 

[Ashish Patel]

just get a long PVC stick and knock them off and scrape their bases best you can. Modify your feeding by reducing liquid diet and eventually they'll be manageable.

 

[maroun.c]

+1 on taking care if u plan to transport any rocks

 

[WVNed]

You cant keep 7 fish in a 10 gallon tank.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I had so many at one point and they disappeared. Probably because aiptasia took there food. When you've had far worst pest these really become a Non-Pest..

 

[Jon Fishman]

You may still very well get vermicious kinids despite whatever quarantine methods or dipping you do. If it were me, and these snails were that bothersome, I would set up a second “holding tank” and remove the rocks one at a time, meticulously go over them with needle-nose pliers (Samual L get medieval on that ***) and place them in the holding tank.

Dump the sand, move the rocks back over and run bare-bottom.


If it were me. Vermitid Snails also don’t really explain the mass die-off of your coral, although they may seem convenient to blame.

 

[Zach D]

be careful transferring any rock to the 10 gal....those Vermetid snails can be anywhere and everywhere... at one point I restarted my tank with 100% new dry rock and now QT every single thing that goes into my tank. including corals and inverts

I plan on transferring the rock just to keep the biological filtration in the 10 gallon. One the new rock is cycled in the 40 I will slowly reintroduce the fish and discard the old rock.

 

[destro]

I had no idea these are pest snails.

 

[Zach D]

just get a long PVC stick and knock them off and scrape their bases best you can. Modify your feeding by reducing liquid diet and eventually they'll be manageable.

I’d love to and have started the process. But the rock is so pores that I can’t reach the snails deep in the rock. That allows them to repopulate the areas I clear

 

[Jon Fishman]

I’d love to and have started the process. But the rock is so pores that I can’t reach the snails deep in the rock. That allows them to repopulate the areas I clear

Adjust feeding. Continue manual removal, and limit feeding. Time, and patience

 

[Zach D]

You may still very well get vermicious kinids despite whatever quarantine methods or dipping you do. If it were me, and these snails were that bothersome, I would set up a second “holding tank” and remove the rocks one at a time, meticulously go over them with needle-nose pliers (Samual L get medieval on that ***) and place them in the holding tank.

Dump the sand, move the rocks back over and run bare-bottom.


If it were me. Vermitid Snails also don’t really explain the mass die-off of your coral, although they may seem convenient to blame.

The only other explanation was the death of a copper band that was in the tank for a very short amount of time. I removed it as soon as I found it dead. At most a few hours. Tested the water and no spikes in ammonia or nitrate.

 

[Jon Fishman]

And what killed the copperband?

 

[Zach D]

And what killed the copperband?

As far as I know just didn’t jive with my tank. He was new to the system. Lasted about 3 days. I saw him eat once. He had been at my LFS for a few weeks.

I assume he starved/wasn’t supposed to be in a 40 gallon to begin with.

 

[Zach D]

Also have had inverts dying recently without explanation.

 

[Zach D]

Part of my motivation is that I have no coral left. Just fish. I have nothing to lose in a total reboot other than a little money. But it’s not too much to justify. If it reduces or eliminates the vermetid snail population I see it as a win. If I see them appear again it will be much easier to handle one at a time as opposed to literally hundreds in and out of the rock

 

[Jon Fishman]

Also have had inverts dying recently without explanation.

Test your tank for Cu

 

[Ashish Patel]

I’d love to and have started the process. But the rock is so pores that I can’t reach the snails deep in the rock. That allows them to repopulate the areas I clear

Dont give up. This hobby has its ups and downs and honestly what your going through is pretty easy to manage. You should pull out the badly infested rock and replace it. Do it in a period of months not days, You will shock them and slowly they will be a non factor. I had 100s and now i don't see any.