VERMITIDS :( need plan of action.

seaplane · Dec 28, 2016

My current situation : BC 29, 4 months up, currently on day 46 of fallow ( Ich) period. Have about 14 different frags that I can remove and put into another tank . The vermitid demons have begun to flourish #@%& ! I've been breaking off their tubes and plugging what I see with glue or putty which seems only to encourage them to multiply.
So , what would be the most effective way to go? remove all live rock and boil it, acid bath, or drop it into a nuclear reactor,, hate to have to kill off the rock if I don't have to. I have been feeding the corals 2- 3 x/week , would it be possible to starve the snails to a miserable death by not feeding and continue going after them in the tank?

Tori · Dec 28, 2016

Following!

Reefer1978 · Dec 28, 2016

For me nothing worked other than manual removal. What sucks for them - the web makes it so easy to spot them

Waters · Dec 28, 2016

If they are not bothering the coral, I would leave them. They tend to come and go in waves as nutrition levels increase/decrease. My tank was covered with them at one point..now I cannot find one.

Reefrookie220 · Dec 28, 2016

How ever you do it, DON'T boil rock!

ahiggins · Dec 28, 2016

Reefrookie220 said:
How ever you do it, DON'T boil rock!

For the LOVE OF GOD do not boil rock

tankstudy · Dec 28, 2016

Scraping them off was my best method.

Use to super glue them shut but there were times they managed to survive somehow.

Triggreef · Dec 28, 2016

If you can find a nuclear reactor that's probably the best way.

Many years into the hobby i still cluck on all these vermatid threads to see if someone found a way, but I'm fairly certain these buggers have no natural preditors for some reason. Pretty much impossible to not re introduce them, so you'd be wasting your time trying to eliminate them in the first place.

ahiggins · Dec 28, 2016

tankstudy said:
Scraping them off was my best method.

Use to super glue them shut but there were times they managed to survive somehow.

I scrape them off as well. Its hard but I have a flat scraping tool from the frag kit I use.

Lionfish Lair · Dec 28, 2016

How big are they, @seaplane ? Do you have a picture?

seaplane · Dec 28, 2016

Lionfish Lair said:
How big are they, @seaplane ? Do you have a picture?

They look to be about 1/2 - 1 cm.

Lionfish Lair · Dec 28, 2016

Those can be hard to get rid of. I have them in my tank and there's no waste of food from my fish. I don't feed coral and the bioload is extremely low. It's frustrating.

seaplane · Dec 28, 2016

Lionfish Lair said:
Those can be hard to get rid of. I have them in my tank and there's no waste of food from my fish. I don't feed coral and the bioload is extremely low. It's frustrating.

OOOOOO NOOOOO!

sad-upset-emoticon-very-crying-emoji-smiley-face-character-tears-shooting-out-63440199.jpg

Lionfish Lair · Dec 28, 2016

I'm figuring I would need to get something that eats them, if I cannot get rid of them through restricting their food availability. :-( It's impossible to crack them off and epoxy them all, as there are too many and they are too small.

seaplane · Dec 28, 2016

Lionfish Lair said:
I'm figuring I would need to get something that eats them, if I cannot get rid of them through restricting their food availability. :-( It's impossible to crack them off and epoxy them all, as there are too many and they are too small.

Do you think some kind of Puffer might do it? Or I've read of mixed results with 6 lines... Maybe worth a try. I can get one now, QT it , and have it ready to go in when the fallow period is up.

Robink · Dec 28, 2016

Melanarus wrasse. Mine eradicated a tank full. He will also eat any ornamental shrimp that are small enough...

hawkinsrgk · Dec 28, 2016

Following. I have a vermetid snail problem as well. Was told an arrow crab would take care of it, but no luck so far. Six lines haven't done anything either. Guess I will try the Melanarus wrasse that Robink suggested

Triggreef · Dec 28, 2016

No luck with Melanurus or any others here and i have about a dozen different hunting wrasses.

I have a dusky in another tank I'll have to check if there's any vermatids in there.

Lionfish Lair · Dec 28, 2016

I probably would start with not feeding the coral and see what it does.

pdt7361 · Dec 28, 2016

With wrasses, I've previously read that they can't eat through the outer shell of the snail...that it takes you scraping the shell off/open to expose the snail. Then any hunters can pick the snail out of the rocks.