i did that. it did not work. couldnt tell you why though. it sure seemed like a sterile environmentI just added 15 bumble bee snails to my 80 gal DT. I hear more people say they do not work then people that claim they do, but figured why not try, also need to beef up the cuc anyway.
I also pull rocks and chip as many off at the base as I can find and reach. But most of my rocks can’t come out (Easily).
Not even the Bayer dip or anything else if tried will kill them if they are on a frag or rock.
Im always searching to see if anyone found a “cure“. Best thing I have found was a write up of how someone removed all fish, and stopped feeding corals, or adding any kind of food supplements- keeping water coloum free of what they feed on in order to starve them out. He claimed to have good success, I just don’t see how that’s possible in 99% of tanks.
IMO, they aren't bad enough to warrant too drastic of action.
I had a ton of them.. I put a dozen bumblebee snails in and starry blenny and two wrasses
If you've been in this hobby long enough...you often hear reefers boast about how they defeated a particular pest with a natural predator. However, Vermetid snails seem to be the exception. The really don't have many natural predators.
I've had them in a few of my systems over the years and they are the most annoying pest out there other the AEFW. They will irritate Acro's and stunt their growth, they will grow up through the coral, they multiply like crazy if nutrients are left unchecked and they ruin your photos.
You hear people Bumblebee Snails work. I haven't personally witnessed that to be true. You hear Emerald Crabs work. Emerald Crabs actually help tremendously with the Vermetid's on your rocks, but some Emerald Crabs have a palate for corals. Recently, I had 4 out of 5 Emeralds go for my corals and I took photos of one crab on top of an Acro and also where it ate the base of the coral. Anyway, there's not too many options for dealing with Vermetid snails. It's depressing. Even if you killed them, they will leave behind their hard little tubes which would need to be broken off the rocks. You can put super glue on 20K snails so that's out of the question for most of us.
These guys are microscopic too. The only way to possibly avoid them is to only introduce "live tissue" or microscopically check everything going into a new system after it's been quarantined for months which is way too difficult for most. The best way is to cut all frag plugs off the corals, keep only live tissue, and quarantine the corals. You might get lucky for a while just doing the first two steps.
If anybody has heard of a sure way to eliminate these snails, please let me know.I think about 75% or more of hobbyist have these in their tanks.
What size tank?
If they're easily accessible on the rock surface, try a tuxedo urchin.check out my overflows , covered in them . I hate them too.
Don’t try the no food no fish experiment. I let a reef aquarium go for 8+ years no fish no food nothing . All I got was every rock covered in colonial hydroids and vermited snails.I just added 15 bumble bee snails to my 80 gal DT. I hear more people say they do not work then people that claim they do, but figured why not try, also need to beef up the cuc anyway.
I also pull rocks and chip as many off at the base as I can find and reach. But most of my rocks can’t come out (Easily).
Not even the Bayer dip or anything else if tried will kill them if they are on a frag or rock.
Im always searching to see if anyone found a “cure“. Best thing I have found was a write up of how someone removed all fish, and stopped feeding corals, or adding any kind of food supplements- keeping water coloum free of what they feed on in order to starve them out. He claimed to have good success, I just don’t see how that’s possible in 99% of tanks.
The horror
They do if you bludgeon and scrape them
. But, you do have to get all the way to the base.
