Vermetid snail HOW to kill them help!

Leadfooted · Sep 9, 2018

Follow along. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/vermetid-snail-control.303841/#post-5035347

gencarson · Sep 9, 2018

Nburg said:
I've learned the best way to deal with pests that are invasive but don't directly harm things is to learn to ignore them. Vermatids and red turf algae are just a part of my tank. They don't hurt anything so why pull my hair out.

I would do the same if they weren't stressing out the Corals with their snot nets. I assume they are also a calcium thief. I've tried cutting back on feeding, but I'm to the point where I think cutting back anymore would be harmful to the animals. I'm not going to cause undue suffering when a scorched earth policy against the invaders works just fine.

Nburg's Reef · Sep 10, 2018

gencarson said:
I would do the same if they weren't stressing out the Corals with their snot nets. I assume they are also a calcium thief. I've tried cutting back on feeding, but I'm to the point where I think cutting back anymore would be harmful to the animals. I'm not going to cause undue suffering when a scorched earth policy against the invaders works just fine.

My population of vermatids never really bother corals. Sure their snot webs may touch them, but the acros usually grow over the tubes and all the LPS and softies could care less. Plus they only snot a lot when i stir up the sand or it there are lots of particulates in the water.

Leadfooted · Sep 10, 2018

Nburg said:
My population of vermatids never really bother corals. Sure their snot webs may touch them, but the acros usually grow over the tubes and all the LPS and softies could care less. Plus they only snot a lot when i stir up the sand or it there are lots of particulates in the water.

I have to strongly disagree so others understand that Vermetids can irritate a coral enough to kill it. I've had them slice Litho's right in half (which I was able to frag the sliced off piece (so that's a unique bonus), they've killed many of my blasto colonies as well as a few Acan's. Many say these don't hurt corals and it makes my head spin because I believed it and searched for other reasons why corals were dying and hurting because I listened to others that said they don't bother them. This caused me to loose some really nice pieces, very costly too I might add. Perhaps there's species that don't hurt corals, but the one's in my tank do.

Leadfooted · Sep 10, 2018

pic to support what I said. This is not your typical irritating pest

The piece dangling is what I snipped off and fragged, which it growing nicely. Again, just showing how harmful these Vermetids can be.

Nburg's Reef · Sep 10, 2018

I must have an inert species then. They have a purple tube that rarely extends too far outward unless something grows over them. Look like purple dog poop piles on the rocks with holes in them.

RandyT5 · Sep 10, 2018

So today I was watching where my longspine urchin chowed on the rocks, I have a LOT of vermitid snails, and I have been cutting back feeding but not running filter socks, so that's probably why. But if you look closely, you can see where the urchin mowed down, the snails are gone.

Brew12 · Sep 10, 2018

RandyT5 said:
So today I was watching where my longspine urchin chowed on the rocks, I have a LOT of vermitid snails, and I have been cutting back feeding but not running filter socks, so that's probably why. But if you look closely, you can see where the urchin mowed down, the snails are gone.

Very cool.

I've noticed some have disappeared from my tank, my urchin could be why. I don't have nearly the numbers that you do though so I would never have made the connection.

RandyT5 · Sep 10, 2018

Brew12 said:
Very cool.

I've noticed some have disappeared from my tank, my urchin could be why. I don't have nearly the numbers that you do though so I would never have made the connection.

Yeah I have quite the... collection? It got real bad when my tank was fallow for ich/velvet. But this guy is definitely chewing them off all the way to the rock. I don't think it's going after them specifically but don't get between an urchin and its algea!

nightmarepl · Sep 10, 2018

RandyT5 said:
Yeah I have quite the... collection? It got real bad when my tank was fallow for ich/velvet. But this guy is definitely chewing them off all the way to the rock. I don't think it's going after them specifically but don't get between an urchin and its algea!

I have a 10 gallon think i can get a urchin like that? Will it hurt anyone else in my tank?

RandyT5 · Sep 10, 2018

Luke iskra said:
I have a 10 gallon think i can get a urchin like that? Will it hurt anyone else in my tank?

Other than long spines needing a ton of algae to graze on, these guys get HUGE, like basketball sized. Mine is in a 90 gallon and I know for sure it's not going to be able to live in there its whole life. Maybe if you found a small one, it would be ok for a while, but they eat a ton of algae, constantly grazing. They might knock over frags but they aren't too destructive.

nightmarepl · Sep 10, 2018

RandyT5 said:
Other than long spines needing a ton of algae to graze on, these guys get HUGE, like basketball sized. Mine is in a 90 gallon and I know for sure it's not going to be able to live in there its whole life. Maybe if you found a small one, it would be ok for a while, but they eat a ton of algae, constantly grazing. They might knock over frags but they aren't too destructive.

Maybe get a different urchin? Always wanted one think other species would eat them like yours does?

Brew12 · Sep 10, 2018

RandyT5 said:
Other than long spines needing a ton of algae to graze on, these guys get HUGE, like basketball sized. Mine is in a 90 gallon and I know for sure it's not going to be able to live in there its whole life. Maybe if you found a small one, it would be ok for a while, but they eat a ton of algae, constantly grazing. They might knock over frags but they aren't too destructive.

My long spine has tripled in size in the last 6 months. My 187g has a very open aquascape so I think he will be ok... but only if he stops growing soon.

RandyT5 · Sep 10, 2018

Brew12 said:
My long spine has tripled in size in the last 6 months. My 187g has a very open aquascape so I think he will be ok... but only if he stops growing soon.

Crap. mines like baseball sized. Guess ill be rehoming faster than I thought.

Brew12 · Sep 10, 2018

RandyT5 said:
Crap. mines like baseball sized. Guess ill be rehoming faster than I thought.

I'd guess the spines on mine are in the 9" to 10" range. I also have a ton of coralline algae which he plows through. He has an unlimited food source. It's pretty amazing how good he does keeping coralline off my glass.

SteadyC · Sep 10, 2018

I have a blue tuxedo in my 110, I don’t have a bad snail issue so maybe he is taking care of that. It also eats corraline algae. I have needed to take the snot off of a plate coral a few times, it completely surrounded the coral. Because of this the coral wouldn’t put out it’s tentacles, so in my opinion they can/do irritate some corals. I manually removed that snail, that was close to the plate coral.