Vermetid snails. Is time/stabilty a factor?

[Auquanut]

My tank is about 10yrs old and I've had vermited snails for most of that time. I can remember they used to be everywhere and would poke me all the time but these days I barely ever see them. I feed heavy and have high Po4 so I definately haven't starved them out. I also have 3 wrasses but they've all been in the tank for less than 2 yrs so I don't think they did it either.

I'm not sure what the solution is, they just don't seem to thrive in established systems.

It seems that in many cases they do tend to become less of an issue over time. With all of the removal ideas, including gluing over hundreds just to have them reappear, or even entire tank breakdowns with no guarantee that they might not accidentally be reintroduced, there may be a more holistic approach.

 

[bcarl77]

It seems that in many cases they do tend to become less of an issue over time. With all of the removal ideas, including gluing over hundreds just to have them reappear, or even entire tank breakdowns with no guarantee that they might not accidentally be reintroduced, there may be a more holistic approach.

I have considered a breakdown with a rigorous Coral QT prior to introduction, however a common theme with those have tried it is that one seems to sneak through somehow.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I’ve noticed an explosion of them recently, I glue the ones I can reach. My tank is a little over the two year mark. The only wrasses I have are a fairy and flasher. Considering adding bumblebee snails to my next reef cleaners order.

 

[Cell]

iirc John considers them coral eaters

 

[xxkenny90xx]

It seems that in many cases they do tend to become less of an issue over time. With all of the removal ideas, including gluing over hundreds just to have them reappear, or even entire tank breakdowns with no guarantee that they might not accidentally be reintroduced, there may be a more holistic approach.

I should mention that even though I used to hate them I've never really made much of an attempt to get rid of them. No mass gluing or anything like that. I actually enjoy having them these days, they are just another filter feeder to me!

 

[fish farmer]

Running those tanks for so long, have you ever seen an increase/decline in their numbers on the rockwork over time? Have they ever become a serious issue?

In my small reef tank they seem to colonize new frags, like they populate the base of one of my hammers which is only a few years in the tank. For me though, I have mostly softies and some LPS. I see more irritation from a few aiptasia and my robust red and green mushroom population which smothers most anything in their path.

 

[George81]

I’ve recently noticed I had these in My tank. As I notice them I clip Them with bone cutters as close to the rock as I can and try to pull them out. Sometimes they float away, I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I haven’t noticed them coming back. the one day I cut up 20 or so. I haven’t noticed them in my tank for a few weeks now, I can’t say for sure if they are gone but they definitely aren’t as noticeable

 

[Suesea]

This is good to know. I am on tank 3, only 1 tank though. Started with a 50g, transferred everything over to a 55g bow front acrylic tank that my boyfriend modified for me, which he cut the wrong piece, which made the straight side bow, made him buy me a new 75g transferred over again, now I'm good going on 3rd year 3rd tank and pesky vermedid snails. But I think they are less and less lately. You all might have something there with the idea of a mature tank. I also just started getting coraline growing.

 

[Auquanut]

This is good to know. I am on tank 3, only 1 tank though. Started with a 50g, transferred everything over to a 55g bow front acrylic tank that my boyfriend modified for me, which he cut the wrong piece, which made the straight side bow, made him buy me a new 75g transferred over again, now I'm good going on 3rd year 3rd tank and pesky vermedid snails. But I think they are less and less lately. You all might have something there with the idea of a mature tank. I also just started getting coraline growing.

Maybe coraline does play a role. Good to hear they're numbers are going down.

 

[Suesea]

Maybe coraline does play a role. Good to hear they're numbers are going down.

You know come to think of it I noticed them start to thin out (cutting the ones I could see of course) after my tank ugly stages stopped and I stopped water changes.

 

[Particle]

My population exploded at about the 2 year mark, came in on a frag. I didn't know what they were until I noticed them all over my euphyllia and the corals started closing up more and more over months. Then I went to town with bone cutters, and they came back... did it again and added 4 bumblebee snails after another pruning session. A few have popped back up but the population seems to be more in check. Will see. My euphyllia are still very unhappy, but at least they haven't died. Other harder to keep corals are perfectly happy and growing, goniopora, monti cap, war coral, etc. Go figure.

 

[TronChief]

My tank is 5 years old. These suckers snuck in and exploded all over my tank. There are thousands of them. I’ve tried bumble bee snails with no luck. I love to feed so my tank is definitely high nutrient lol. I’ve got sponges everywhere. There mucous nets aren’t upsetting anything so I just ignore them. They definitely seem to prefer the darker areas of my tank. I did just pull my manifold pump and there were a good bit in the intake cage.

 

[Spare time]

I have seen them in tanks that are several years old and they were thriving. I utterly hate these things.

 

[David S]

I've had them for years, in my well established tank.
They grow on everything. Occasionally I have to take out the rocks near the surface to eradicate them.
They grow on my acro colonies etc.
I have a Melanarus who shows no interest in them.
Have used a homemade version of marine snow with no effect.
Will ask my LFS if they can get some Bumblebees.

 

[ReefRondo]

I just stripped my Reefer 425xl down to sell and my rocks were almost entirely coated in them. I actually found it almost impossible to remove the rock without puncturing my skin with them. Used thick gloves in the end. Tank was 2 years old and had 2 anemone disasters with power heads that lead to total wipeout twice...honestly the snail population was crazy in the end and was certainly not diminishing.

 

[Cwentz758]

My tank has been moved 3 times in 5 years with these snails coming on a block of live rock I got 7 years ago when I got into the hobby. They never really were noticeable to me until recently. I’ve been battling Dino’s for about 6 months and finally have come out on top but I have noticed an explosion of these snails over the past 2-3 months with no new added rock. I would say my feeding remained the same however, I did dose a bacteria pack and phyto from algae barn at one point. Not sure if that caused them to thrive or what but now they’re all over my rock and even onto my hammers which are on their death bed now. (Not 100% on the cause). I also dosed Silicates for the Dino’s causing a sponge party, not sure if the snails thrive on that too?

 

[Auquanut]

My tank is 5 years old. These suckers snuck in and exploded all over my tank. There are thousands of them. I’ve tried bumble bee snails with no luck. I love to feed so my tank is definitely high nutrient lol. I’ve got sponges everywhere. There mucous nets aren’t upsetting anything so I just ignore them. They definitely seem to prefer the darker areas of my tank. I did just pull my manifold pump and there were a good bit in the intake cage.

My tank has been moved 3 times in 5 years with these snails coming on a block of live rock I got 7 years ago when I got into the hobby. They never really were noticeable to me until recently. I’ve been battling Dino’s for about 6 months and finally have come out on top but I have noticed an explosion of these snails over the past 2-3 months with no new added rock. I would say my feeding remained the same however, I did dose a bacteria pack and phyto from algae barn at one point. Not sure if that caused them to thrive or what but now they’re all over my rock and even onto my hammers which are on their death bed now. (Not 100% on the cause). I also dosed Silicates for the Dino’s causing a sponge party, not sure if the snails thrive on that too?

I have seen them in tanks that are several years old and they were thriving. I utterly hate these things.

Sounds like the "tank maturity" theory is starting to take a serious nose dive. If that's the case, it seems like the coraline choking them out might be questionable as well.

I wonder what other factors might contribute to a reduction or explosion of vermetids.

 

[Neurotic Neptune]

You know come to think of it I noticed them start to thin out (cutting the ones I could see of course) after my tank ugly stages stopped and I stopped water changes.

Sounds like the "tank maturity" theory is starting to take a serious nose dive. If that's the case, it seems like the coraline choking them out might be questionable as well.

I wonder what other factors might contribute to a reduction or explosion of vermetids.

3 years ago i broke down a tank because of these guys started with dry rock. Just one came in on a frag, two months later had them on every rock couldn't get them under control taking rocks out every other day just to dig them out of the rock. So i started a new 120gal seemed like a good thing to do.Again no matter how much guarenteen i did i ended up with those you know whats again. My tank is now two years old looking great don't have the energy to break down and start over. I now just go in with bone cutters chip them out or stick a long needle in them and let my bumblebee snails take care of the rest.

 

[kev.2013]

This is a topic that has been on my mind for some time. I'll try to keep it brief. Shortly after setting up my 125, I had a pretty serious issue with vermetid snails. I started the tank with about 50% live rock from an established tank. Upon doing some research, I came across a post (can't find it now) that ran along the lines of "This too shall pass" so I did nothing.

Over time the population of vermetids declined. To be honest, I haven't seen any in a couple of years until I did some aggressive fragging a couple of weeks ago and found a couple. I do have a melanaurus wrasse that I've had since the tank was very young.

So. Just a topic for discussion:

Could time/tank age be a factor in vermetid snail management?

Could wrasses be the answer?

Has anyone with a well established tank had an unmanageable infestation arise?

I personally tend to feed heavy and my nutrients tend to run slightly toward the high side. So at least in my case, I don't think nutrient control was the answer.

I was just wondering: With all of the posts about vermetid snail removal (some of which can be pretty drastic), does anyone have any experience with vermetid snail management?o

bumblebee snails. I took a picture not too long ago of a BB snail eating Vermtid snails.

Link to thread mentioned

 

[McPuff]

Tank maturity... I'd say No to the theory though give you credit for bringing it forward. My system is about 15 years old and I've had vermetids for quite a while. I think they came in on some LPS about 6 years ago.

Bumblebee snails - they work! BUT, only on the smaller species of vermetids. I have about 80 bb snails in my 300DD and I rarely see any of the small vermetids. BUT BUT BUT there are larger species of vermetids too and I have those. The BB snails do NOT seem to eat them in any great abundance so the large ones must be dealt with manually. There are snails that do consume them but they are not readily available in the hobby and would probably decimate the snail population in your tank as well.

There is another very large thread on vermetid snail elimination that you should check out. I've covered some of the main points here but definitely check it out.