Vermetid Snails Help

[Bmezz]

Ok got to get rid of these. Someone just posted they thought Bumble Bee snails wiped them out?? Any opinions on that?
I know about cutting back on food and nutrients. Gluing, etc. I break them off.
Has to be a chemical way or predictor to get them out!!!

 

[TheLadyCrash]

Ok got to get rid of these. Someone just posted they thought Bumble Bee snails wiped them out?? Any opinions on that?
I know about cutting back on food and nutrients. Gluing, etc. I break them off.
Has to be a chemical way or predictor to get them out!!!

You can try superglue or some wrasses will eat them.

 

[Bmezz]

You can try superglue or some wrasses will eat them.

Thanks. Just too many to go around the whole reef and break and glue. Waiting for that suggestion. Heard 6line wrasse? Now the bumble bee snail. Want someone who has this experience thanks!

 

[Thales]

They seem to be hit and miss with the bulk of reports on the miss side. This is the same for every reported biological control for vermetid snails, nothing actually seems to work with any degree of certainty - very hit and miss, mostly miss.
Cutting back on food is only going to end up hurting the animals you want to keep more than it will hurt the vermitid snails. Nutrient control will have no impact.
Manual eradication is the best way to go, crush them with bone shears or needle nose, or split their tube with a screwdriver or dental pick. Gluing also doesn't seem too effective, with the snails often seeming to find another way out.
I would not add a 6 line unless you really like that fish. They can be really mean and even kill other fish and are very hard to remove from a reef once in.

 

[Bmezz]

They seem to be hit and miss with the bulk of reports on the miss side. This is the same for every reported biological control for vermetid snails, nothing actually seems to work with any degree of certainty - very hit and miss, mostly miss.
Cutting back on food is only going to end up hurting the animals you want to keep more than it will hurt the vermitid snails. Nutrient control will have no impact.
Manual eradication is the best way to go, crush them with bone shears or needle nose, or split their tube with a screwdriver or dental pick. Gluing also doesn't seem too effective, with the snails often seeming to find another way out.
I would not add a 6 line unless you really like that fish. They can be really mean and even kill other fish and are very hard to remove from a reef once in.

Thanks for comments. Don't want the six line just got rid of an aggressive clown tang. I do break them off they are just all over tre place I have a lot of live rock. Well keep crushing I guess!

 

[wmo168]

I took the rock out. Can i soak it in something to kill them all?

 

[hybridazn]

I took the rock out. Can i soak it in something to kill them all?

Fresh water, vinegar anything but saltwater haha

 

[Steve509]

I have them everywhere in my biocube 32. I have searched online for hours and have not seen a consistent remedy. Mixed results with bumble bee snails and wrasses but no definitive solution. Some folks say they eventually go away on there own. I started with dry rock about a year and a half ago and they started about six months in and have been continuing to multiply ever since. Early efforts at manual removal were unsuccessful. Eventually I just gave up. They do not appear to be hurting anything...but they do look awful.

 

[msudiver1]

I am in the same situation as I have them all over my rock, I added bumble bees snails and haven’t really seen them eat any. I also added a yellow corris wrasse who I have seen go after a few of them but not enough to control the population. I have just been crushing them and being careful not to blow off my rock work to create a storm, I only really see the webs when I stir up the sand or blow off the rock. Good luck these things are a giant pain,

 

[AQUAM]

Talked to LFS owners and staff at WWC, they generally don't recommend using wrasses or any chemicals. In many tanks they would just come and go if you have enough patience. You can cover the visible ones with kalk or aptasiax

 

[Bmezz]

I took the rock out. Can i soak it in something to kill them all?

I tried coral dip not sure if worked or not. Put 6 bumble bee snails in the tank this week hope they help.

 

[Vahanyos]

I too hate the look of these things - My monti cap coral has grown around them and it actually looks pretty cool.... However, i have a frogspawn who is not really getting any bigger in the past 2-3 months because there's so many of these things on and around it. I've tried breaking them off but of course they will just keep multiplying.

If I break them off, would I need to literally remove the broken piece or snail out of the tank? Some just fall into my sandbed... Is this doing nothing if I don't actually pick up the broken snails and remove them?

 

[Cnidoblast]

I took the rock out. Can i soak it in something to kill them all?

Could try R/O water soaking them in a lidded 5 gallon bucket and then add drugstore peroxide into it every so often

 

[Ranjib]

Manually remove them, make sure the base is gone. I have few of them, its a constant battle, that I dont plan to give up. My 6 line wrasse does not touch them. You can do couple of rounds of major crackdown, followed by regular control, which will be less hassle. Less feeding also helps, but thats not possible always.

 

[Bmezz]

I too hate the look of these things - My monti cap coral has grown around them and it actually looks pretty cool.... However, i have a frogspawn who is not really getting any bigger in the past 2-3 months because there's so many of these things on and around it. I've tried breaking them off but of course they will just keep multiplying.

If I break them off, would I need to literally remove the broken piece or snail out of the tank? Some just fall into my sandbed... Is this doing nothing if I don't actually pick up the broken snails and remove them?

I put in a bunch of bumble bee snails hoping that helps. I will start Vibrant next week for glass algae and hoping for a miracle as well!

 

[USMC 4 LIFE]

From personal experience, Vibrant kills them and in two weeks their spiral tube disintegrates.

I’ve also heard that prazi kills them as well. No experience with this.

Bubble bee snails don’t get rid of these.

 

[Vahanyos]

From personal experience, Vibrant kills them and in two weeks their spiral tube disintegrates.

I’ve also heard that prazi kills them as well. No experience with this.

Bubble bee snails don’t get rid of these.

I’m definitely willing to try vibrant. Aside from the vermetids disappearing, did it have any ill effect on your tank? Or anything different, not necessarily bad.

Have they returned? Have you stopped using vibrant?

Cheers

 

[Bmezz]

From personal experience, Vibrant kills them and in two weeks their spiral tube disintegrates.

I’ve also heard that prazi kills them as well. No experience with this.

Bubble bee snails don’t get rid of these.

I will be so happy for Vibrant to kill them! Good news can't wait! Thanks!

 

[USMC 4 LIFE]

I’m definitely willing to try vibrant. Aside from the vermetids disappearing, did it have any ill effect on your tank? Or anything different, not necessarily bad.

Have they returned? Have you stopped using vibrant?

Cheers

Yeah you’ll have to remove any algae you’re using as filtration. I had to remove my cheato in my refugium.

My coraline algae faded a bit.

I’ve only been using it for three weeks. I have another week before I stop and observe to see if any bubbles come back. But nothing has so far.

No effects to corals or inverts.

My skimmer picked up a lot more gunk though. Probably from the algae die off and the cheato not being in the refugium to consume nutrients.

 

[Vahanyos]

Battle between my vermetid snails and Monti cap... who is winning??? Lol. Just chiming in for an update @USMC 4 LIFE