Tiny vermetid snails; is it possible to remove from a clam shell?

[Dawsokj1988]

Evening,

I'm upgrading my tank soon and trying to plan out how to QT everything before transferring to the new tank. I have vermetid snails currently (the big and small ones) and I'd like to avoid these in the new build. The issue I see is I believe I have several baby snails (the size of a grain of sand) on my Clam's shell. Would these be possible to remove? Moreover, has anyone had success keeping these out of their tanks long-term? It seems like they're one of the most common hitchhikers that people tend to just live with.

 

[Tahoe61]

You can remove the clam and either carefully put just a small glob on the vermetid, or snip them off with pliers. Burp the clam while returning to display.

 

[Dawsokj1988]

Thanks.

 

[Tahoe61]

Glob of super glue gel, sorry.;Shy

 

[Dawsokj1988]

These things are so small, I'm not even sure if they're snails. They look like tiny little white half coils. I was thinking of just using my dental tool and scraping them off. I'm just afraid if I miss a tiny little one, it'll contaminate my entire new display lol.

 

[Tahoe61]

No those are not vermetids, probably Spirorbid Worms, harmless, if you remove them they will probably just come back.

http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/

Put up an image if able for clarification.

 

[Dawsokj1988]

That's them! I have hundreds of them.. I always thought they were baby vermetid snails. Thanks for the help!

 

[Tahoe61]

You're very welcome.