How to reduce/wipe out vermetid snails?

[Lowlandreef]

On one of the first frags I bought when I started this hobby, I had the luck of getting a vermetid snail as a hitchhiker. I didn't know what it was and didn't remove it. It never was a problem in this first year of reefing, until now. They are spreading very quickly and some are annoying corals with their stringy nets. From what I've read there is not so much you can do about it. There are a few theories but I'm not sure which work/are effective.

First I've read about the manual removal. This is pretty hard for me, since I can't just lift some rock out the tank without crushing corals. This might be the best solution from my research, but very hard to do for me.

Second thing I came by was the natural predator "solution". Some people have reported that their yellow coris wrasse eats them. Seems like more people disagree than agree with it. There are also some people who claim that bumble bee snails eat them. This again isn't supported by too many people from what I've read.

The final method I've seen was adding coral snow to the tank. I haven't seen much people who didn't agree, but it hasn't been supported too much either. This makes me wonder how much of a solution this is.

Lastly I would like to mention the "feed less' hypothesis. Although this might work for some people, I don't think that's a great solution. I have a NPS coral which I need to feed daily which makes it hard to feed less and besides that I think that feeding less won't be very effective. Vermetid snails are filter feeders, so they will always find stuff to eat in the water column.

So to all of you reefers the question: whats the best method to reduce (or even better wipe out) vermetid snails?

 

[Nobbygas]

On one of the first frags I bought when I started this hobby, I had the luck of getting a vermetid snail as a hitchhiker. I didn't know what it was and didn't remove it. It never was a problem in this first year of reefing, until now. They are spreading very quickly and some are annoying corals with their stringy nets. From what I've read there is not so much you can do about it. There are a few theories but I'm not sure which work/are effective.

First I've read about the manual removal. This is pretty hard for me, since I can't just lift some rock out the tank without crushing corals. This might be the best solution from my research, but very hard to do for me.

Second thing I came by was the natural predator "solution". Some people have reported that their yellow coris wrasse eats them. Seems like more people disagree than agree with it. There are also some people who claim that bumble bee snails eat them. This again isn't supported by too many people from what I've read.

The final method I've seen was adding coral snow to the tank. I haven't seen much people who didn't agree, but it hasn't been supported too much either. This makes me wonder how much of a solution this is.

Lastly I would like to mention the "feed less' hypothesis. Although this might work for some people, I don't think that's a great solution. I have a NPS coral which I need to feed daily which makes it hard to feed less and besides that I think that feeding less won't be very effective. Vermetid snails are filter feeders, so they will always find stuff to eat in the water column.

So to all of you reefers the question: whats the best method to reduce (or even better wipe out) vermetid snails?

I had an infestation of them before I added Wrasse to the tank. Now, they are gone. I don't know which (or all) of the Wrasse were responsible, but they did it! I have a Melanurus, Banana, Yellow-Tailed Tamarin and a Pastel Green Wrasse. During this period I also had a Leopard Wrasse.

 

[Lowlandreef]

I had an infestation of them before I added Wrasse to the tank. Now, they are gone. I don't know which (or all) of the Wrasse were responsible, but they did it! I have a Melanurus, Banana, Yellow-Tailed Tamarin and a Pastel Green Wrasse. During this period I also had a Leopard Wrasse.

Interesting, have you seen some nipping at the vermetids? I have an ornate leopard wrasse, but he doesn't touch them unfortunately.

 

[ramboisreal]

I’ve heard bumble bee snails eat them. I don’t have experience with bumble bee snails though.

 

[Fishurama]

Hard to find them for sale but if you can.(This is something suppliers need to start collecting)

"Death and life: Muricid snails consume the vermetid gastropod, Dendropoma maximum, and use empty shells for reproduction"

source

Menathais tuberosa

source

Thais (Mancinella) armigera

source

 

[Lowlandreef]

Hard to find them for sale but if you can.(This is something suppliers need to start collecting)

"Death and life: Muricid snails consume the vermetid gastropod, Dendropoma maximum, and use empty shells for reproduction"

source

Menathais tuberosa

source

Thais (Mancinella) armigera

source

Very nice! I had never heard of them before. Unfortunately I don't think my LFS sells them.
This might be a good solution for in the future tho

 

[AKReef]

Vermetids have taken over my tank. I've had bumblebee snails in my tank from day 1 and vermetids still managed to take hold. I've had a six-line, yellow coris, secretive, and now a melanurus wrasse, none of which seemed to eat them. I tried removing them as much as I could, but in a 300 gal tank it's pretty much impossible to get them all.

I will say that coral snow appears to have thinned them out quite a bit. But I don't know if it was the coral snow or just the natural progression of my tank. I've pretty much given up on trying to manage them, but their population does seem to have gone down significantly. Their shells are still stuck all over the rock, but coralline has encrusted over a lot of them. I assume that means they're dead. After a tank cleaning, where I vacuum the sandbed and stir everything up, is when I would notice their strings the most. Again, the number of strings is down significantly, which is why I say they aren't taking over any more.

I don't know how many $$$'s I would shell out for a real solution, but it would be a lot.

Good luck with your battle.

 

[Glass Algae]

On one of the first frags I bought when I started this hobby, I had the luck of getting a vermetid snail as a hitchhiker. I didn't know what it was and didn't remove it. It never was a problem in this first year of reefing, until now. They are spreading very quickly and some are annoying corals with their stringy nets. From what I've read there is not so much you can do about it. There are a few theories but I'm not sure which work/are effective.

First I've read about the manual removal. This is pretty hard for me, since I can't just lift some rock out the tank without crushing corals. This might be the best solution from my research, but very hard to do for me.

Second thing I came by was the natural predator "solution". Some people have reported that their yellow coris wrasse eats them. Seems like more people disagree than agree with it. There are also some people who claim that bumble bee snails eat them. This again isn't supported by too many people from what I've read.

The final method I've seen was adding coral snow to the tank. I haven't seen much people who didn't agree, but it hasn't been supported too much either. This makes me wonder how much of a solution this is.

Lastly I would like to mention the "feed less' hypothesis. Although this might work for some people, I don't think that's a great solution. I have a NPS coral which I need to feed daily which makes it hard to feed less and besides that I think that feeding less won't be very effective. Vermetid snails are filter feeders, so they will always find stuff to eat in the water column.

So to all of you reefers the question: whats the best method to reduce (or even better wipe out) vermetid snails?

What's an nps?

 

[Hincapiej4]

What's an nps?

Coral that eats for it's energy mainly instead of light. Nonphotsynthetic

 

[Glass Algae]

Coral that eats for it's energy mainly instead of light. Nonphotsynthetic

Ohhhh thank you I have never heard that abbreviation!

 

[Lowlandreef]

Vermetids have taken over my tank. I've had bumblebee snails in my tank from day 1 and vermetids still managed to take hold. I've had a six-line, yellow coris, secretive, and now a melanurus wrasse, none of which seemed to eat them. I tried removing them as much as I could, but in a 300 gal tank it's pretty much impossible to get them all.

I will say that coral snow appears to have thinned them out quite a bit. But I don't know if it was the coral snow or just the natural progression of my tank. I've pretty much given up on trying to manage them, but their population does seem to have gone down significantly. Their shells are still stuck all over the rock, but coralline has encrusted over a lot of them. I assume that means they're dead. After a tank cleaning, where I vacuum the sandbed and stir everything up, is when I would notice their strings the most. Again, the number of strings is down significantly, which is why I say they aren't taking over any more.

I don't know how many $$$'s I would shell out for a real solution, but it would be a lot.

Good luck with your battle.

Thanks for sharing your personal experiences. Sounds like you have a pretty long history with them already.
I might give coral snow a try then, hopefully it will set them back a bit!

 

[AKReef]

Thanks for sharing your personal experiences. Sounds like you have a pretty long history with them already.
I might give coral snow a try then, hopefully it will set them back a bit!

Here's a thread on how to mix and dose your own DIY coral snow. It's what I use.
DIY KZ Coral Snow (with >97% purity)

 

[Ian M]

In one of my tanks I had a total infestation of them, they covered every inch of the rock in a 75 Gallon tank. Months and months of scraping, crushing and throwing the kitchen sink at them it did absolutely nothing, so I gave up and let them do their thing. Two months later and out of the blue they just died off all by themselves, the tank is completely rid of them and with the following stock:
Yellow tang, Sailfin tang, Foxface, Flame angel, Mandarin, Yellow Watchmen goby and a pistol shrimp.

Nothing in the tank is credited with eating them so your guess is as good as mine as what eradicate them or whether there numbers overpopulated the tank and starved each other out.

 

[AC1211]

On one of the first frags I bought when I started this hobby, I had the luck of getting a vermetid snail as a hitchhiker. I didn't know what it was and didn't remove it. It never was a problem in this first year of reefing, until now. They are spreading very quickly and some are annoying corals with their stringy nets. From what I've read there is not so much you can do about it. There are a few theories but I'm not sure which work/are effective.

First I've read about the manual removal. This is pretty hard for me, since I can't just lift some rock out the tank without crushing corals. This might be the best solution from my research, but very hard to do for me.

Second thing I came by was the natural predator "solution". Some people have reported that their yellow coris wrasse eats them. Seems like more people disagree than agree with it. There are also some people who claim that bumble bee snails eat them. This again isn't supported by too many people from what I've read.

The final method I've seen was adding coral snow to the tank. I haven't seen much people who didn't agree, but it hasn't been supported too much either. This makes me wonder how much of a solution this is.

Lastly I would like to mention the "feed less' hypothesis. Although this might work for some people, I don't think that's a great solution. I have a NPS coral which I need to feed daily which makes it hard to feed less and besides that I think that feeding less won't be very effective. Vermetid snails are filter feeders, so they will always find stuff to eat in the water column.

So to all of you reefers the question: whats the best method to reduce (or even better wipe out) vermetid snails?

I see two options for you to go: add a yellow coris wrasse or if you have the space a few wrasses from the genus. Add bumble bee snails. I have had success with both methods. Individuals of both methods may not work but odds are that one of them will. The solution is rarely to feed less because lets be honest fish and coral that are nutrient deprived will always result in eventual problems.

 

[piranhaman00]

The best solution I have found is not To view them as a pest, when I’m not looking only for problems in the tank I don’t see them

 

[sikorskys]

Superglue them

 

[Lowlandreef]

The best solution I have found is not To view them as a pest, when I’m not looking only for problems in the tank I don’t see them

I tried that for a while, but they grow on corals now and irritate them heavily. So that's not really an option for me anymore...

 

[Lowlandreef]

Superglue them

I've read that before, but that seems pretty hard to do. Some grow in hard to reach places, and if you leave a few behind they will still reproduce right?

 

[sikorskys]

I've read that before, but that seems pretty hard to do. Some grow in hard to reach places, and if you leave a few behind they will still reproduce right?

Well, it's not about extermination, but management. You won't be able to kill ALL of them when they are introduced to a system, no matter what.

 

[Nobbygas]

Interesting, have you seen some nipping at the vermetids? I have an ornate leopard wrasse, but he doesn't touch them unfortunately.

No. I didn't see who ate them. Only that the infestation cleared up after the arrival of the Wrasse.