Vertimid snails out of control, advice needed.

[Larry L]

I would add, many members report very good success with the addition of coral snow. It binds floating organics and allows them to be skimmed and trapped in socks and floss.
Removes the food , and then smash em.

Not only does the coral snow appear to remove enough floating particulates that it helps keep the population down, but there's also some anecdotal evidence that if you use coral snow while they are feeding, it actively irritates them and might discourage their growth. But I think the latter applies mainly to vermetids (the ones that feed via a stringy mucus net) and not necessarily tube worms.

 

[pga7602]

The most sustainable solution is to throw out the rocks that they're colonizing and try to salvage corals attached.

IMO, parasites (and every other living thing in our aquariums) thrive in safe, stable, and habitable environments. And this is why you should snap off all the remaining tubes you see on random rocks / frag bases in the tank and add flatworm exit. I believe that destroying their homes / disrupting their feeding mechanisms is a great way to expose them to tank predators & makes it more difficult for them to survive in your system.

Is this method something you have done? The first part sounds exteme, and I know for a fact that flatworms exit has no affect on this snail.....

 

[lickyricky]

Not only does the coral snow appear to remove enough floating particulates that it helps keep the population down, but there's also some anecdotal evidence that if you use coral snow while they are feeding, it actively irritates them and might discourage their growth. But I think the latter applies mainly to vermetids (the ones that feed via a stringy mucus net) and not necessarily tube worms.

I’ve heard coral snow a few times so I’ll try that along with patience.

 

[jwshiver]

I would add, many members report very good success with the addition of coral snow. It binds floating organics and allows them to be skimmed and trapped in socks and floss.
Removes the food , and then smash em.

This worked for me in combination with crushing the ones I could get to. I dosed Coral Snow every night. It took sometime but completely wiped them out.

 

[stacksoner]

Is this method something you have done? The first part sounds exteme, and I know for a fact that flatworms exit has no affect on this snail.....

I wrote on the follow up post that the flatworm exit reco was based on my belief that OP misdiagnosed his worm infestation as a verm snail issue. Everything, including photos) points to the fact that these aren't vermetids, which doesn't seem to matter for some reason. I assumed that an 'out of control' issue of this type meant that the bottom of his rocks look like pin cushions (as mine once did). After vieiwing the photos, it doesn't seem that intense.

Unlike tube building snails, similar looking tube building worms burrow inside the live rock. The bigger issue is that the worms turn live rock into a septic tank. As someone else on this thread mentioned, when you crack open your infested live rock, the inside is a stinky, muddy slurry (combo of burrowing, decomposing worm crap & carcasses I presume). I believe this is one reason why many people complain about softer rocks like Pukani "leaching phosphates" and can't seem to pinpoint the source.

 

[pdiehm]

i too used pukani, and I had a massive infestation. I just up and removed all the rock out, and will sell it. I just got some new reef cleaners rock, and will go from there. I'm sure Pukani is fine rock, but I've had nothing but issues with it since I set it up.

 

[JBKReef]

Hey everyone,

Am I really just “feeding too much”? What else could cause this outbreak? Anyone had any success with another method??

t.

Alright I'm going to take a wild stab at this because I dont see any photos. I've been reefing for only a year now, so I'm still learning every step of the way. Is there any chance you have spiroid worms and not vermetied snails? I recently had a post similar to this where I could not understand how these guys were blowing up in my tank because I was not feeding a bunch, and even after stopping reef roids they continued to spread. Turned out I did not have the dreaded snail but a harmless filter feeder. Just going for the long shot good outcome here.

Best of luck getting them cleared out, does your wrasse munch on them? I've heard that yellow corris wrasses can pick at them but not destroy a colony that it sounds like you have.

 

[hatfielj]

I had these small vermetid snails at plague levels as well. I couldn't defeat them. I salvaged what corals I could and threw out the rock. Quarantined the remaining corals in individual small tanks and treated with various methods including, scraping/crushing, starving, increased heat, and poison over a period of months. They would just repopulate. Nothing killed them all. Ended up throwing all the coral out, bleached the tank, and rebuilt it. Will now quarantine absolutely everything that goes into the tank going forward.

That’s completely insane that you did that. Totally unnecessary. These arent even that big of a deal in a mature tank. I agree with the plier technique. It works well but takes time and patience. Just crush a bunch for a few minutes at every water change. Eventually they will start to disappear.

 

[Haberdasher]

That’s completely insane that you did that. Totally unnecessary. These arent even that big of a deal in a mature tank. I agree with the plier technique. It works well but takes time and patience. Just crush a bunch for a few minutes at every water change. Eventually they will start to disappear.

Thanks for taking the time to provide some feedback but unless you've dealt with this specific species of small vermetid at these population levels it's not really relevant. Spending a few minutes crushing tubes isn't going to do squat when there are thousands and thousands of them. The feedback of "just crush them" or "just glue the tube closed" or "you're overfeeding the tank" or "they're harmless" is prevalent in the community and indicative of not having first hand experience with this specific horror. I put the corals I salvaged in small individual tanks with no food and they persisted and spread. I had already spent years fighting them before resorting to the drastic measures I described. The time came to cut losses and move on so I could enjoy the hobby again.

 

[Mattrg02]

I had these small vermetid snails at plague levels as well. I couldn't defeat them. I salvaged what corals I could and threw out the rock. Quarantined the remaining corals in individual small tanks and treated with various methods including, scraping/crushing, starving, increased heat, and poison over a period of months. They would just repopulate. Nothing killed them all. Ended up throwing all the coral out, bleached the tank, and rebuilt it. Will now quarantine absolutely everything that goes into the tank going forward.

Bleached?!

These things come and go on my tank. Been the least of my worries, by far. Just cut back on feeding and don’t broadcast feed coral food.

 

[livingcolors]

I've seen my hmu-hmu picking at them. I also use the same laser on them I use on the aptasia and mojano population. I just aim it at the base and it seems to be killing them off

 

[ryshark]

My Vermitid snail infestation (was REALLY BAD... like EVERY rock in the tank looked like a pin cushion)... lasted about 6mo then they died out. This was 10 yrs ago and none have come back. DUE NOTE... the "tubes" are VERY VERY VERY sharp... when handling infested rock it is VERY easy to puncture your skin... and get an infection... no bueno.

I'm assuming you had the tiny kind where the tip can't be glued and there are 1000s which makes breaking them all unlikely. When yours died out, did the tubes go away too? Or they just stopped with that net thing but the tubes are still there? Same question to anyone who beat this tiny tune variant.

 

[Haberdasher]

Bleached?!

These things come and go on my tank. Been the least of my worries, by far. Just cut back on feeding and don’t broadcast feed coral food.

Tank was empty when bleached. I fed my fish only what they would eat; every other day. No broadcast feeding of fish or corals. Still, the snails persisted at this level of feeding, for years.

 

[dragon99]

I crush them all the time, but I can't reach 90% of them. They are under the ledges, under coral branches, growing thru coral tissue.

 

[Bfaxi]

Here’s my Montipora growing over one. Haven’t decided if I want to crush it yet.

 

[mta_morrow]

To clarify, I don't believe these are vermetid snails. Chaetopterid and annelid tube worms are both commonly misdiagnosed as vermetid snails.

The difference between the worm and snail tube shells is that vermetid shells are shiny inside and have three shell layers, whereas the annelid worm tubes are dull inside and have only two shell layers. Chaetopterids cast mucus nets like Vermetids.

Let's look at the facts. OP says he has exhausted every vermetid elimination approach and the infestation has only gotten worse as the tubes are now covering almost every square inch of his rocks. You said it yourself that vermetids are one of the easiest pests to get rid of. Lastly, he has yet to observe any signifcant evidence of them feeding and cites rare instances where he has seen their "long stings" protrude from the tubes.

I will wait for OP to post photos of his tank infestation before advising any further. I agree that my advice is bad, but it's no worse than anyone else's given limited information provided to correctly diagnose the issue.

The OP gave a very general description with no pics.

How are you arriving at a tube worm conclusion?

I see you attached pics, but the OP did not?

 

[stacksoner]

The OP gave a very general description with no pics.

How are you arriving at a tube worm conclusion?

I see you attached pics, but the OP did not?

Based on the fact that he's been trying to erradicate them as vermetids to no avail and that he hasn't seen any indication of them feeding. He mentioned a rare instance where he observed "long stings" emerging from the tube. What would be the downside in dosing flatworm exit after snapping off the tubes if I was wrong?

 

[Rakie]

Search for "R2R DIY Coral Snow <97% purity"

It kills them by starvation. And it's reef safe. Check it out.