Vermitid Snails?

Cole_Voeller

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Hello all!
So about half a year ago I purchased some astrea snails, and have never had any issues with them, except for two of them would have some sort of string come off their shell. I’d worry that it was a vermitid snail, so I’d try to cover with with super glue, but they always seemed to come back at some point. But they have never spread anywhere, they have always remained just on the snail shell. Does this look like a vermitid snail? If so, I will likely just remove the snail from the tank.
I see now that the pictures I took arent great, Ill get some better ones with the white light on tomorrow if I see the stringy bit again.

1711AFA6-8663-4CC0-92BA-45F48D423B74.jpeg 623B85BF-E612-4FAD-A613-9F3A4F698E87.jpeg
 

BeanAnimal

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There are very few really bad things… It amuses me to see the “must superglue it or flush it‘ list change every few years. Vermatid, Asterina, bristles, Spirobid, various sponges, tube worms, limpets, chitons, Etc etc.

Sure there are some bad worms and snails (fire bristles, giant polychaetes, etc) but most of the stuff in our tanks is beneficial or benign.
 
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Cole_Voeller

Cole_Voeller

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There are very few really bad things… It amuses me to see the “must superglue it or flush it‘ list change every few years. Vermatid, Asterina, bristles, Spirobid, various sponges, tube worms, limpets, chitons, Etc etc.

Sure there are some bad worms and snails (fire bristles, giant polychaetes, etc) but most of the stuff in our tanks is beneficial or benign.
I don’t know much about Vermitid, other then that people hate them. I’d like to avoid pests/hitchhikers like those if I can, as I like having some level of control of what is thriving in my tank.
 

Jason Scalise

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Looks like it is on the “don’t worry about it” end of the spectrum to me.
Vermatids bodies are very obvious and visible. If you have a stray mucous string but can’t see where it is coming from then I would not fret, personally.

As an aside, I had a massive vermatid infestation in a 100g but they never caused an issue for me. I am NOT saying therefore they are not worrisome. But they never seemed to disrupt anything despite being a heavy infestation. A lucky break perhaps but that was my anecdotal experience.

Observe and perhaps not worry about it in this case.

You could QT your suspicious snails if you are worried however.
 
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Cole_Voeller

Cole_Voeller

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Looks like it is on the “don’t worry about it” end of the spectrum to me.
Vermatids bodies are very obvious and visible. If you have a stray mucous string but can’t see where it is coming from then I would not fret, personally.

As an aside, I had a massive vermatid infestation in a 100g but they never caused an issue for me. I am NOT saying therefore they are not worrisome. But they never seemed to disrupt anything despite being a heavy infestation. A lucky break perhaps but that was my anecdotal experience.

Observe and perhaps not worry about it in this case.

You could QT your suspicious snails if you are worried however.
Yeah, kind of what I was thinking. The “muscous” I’ve seen has only ever been a single strand, and I’ve had the snails forever and there hasn’t been an increase in them. Just figured I’d ask about this since I say it again today.
 

BeanAnimal

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I don’t know much about Vermitid, other then that people hate them. I’d like to avoid pests/hitchhikers like those if I can, as I like having some level of control of what is thriving in my tank.
I never considered them pests. I would imagine if they get out of control, then there are other problems contributing, like anything else that becomes that unbalanced.

Yes the list of things people hate is ever changing… my point was that the list is usually driven by hearsay, anecdote and conjecture more than it is fact based.
 

BeanAnimal

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Looks like it is on the “don’t worry about it” end of the spectrum to me.
Vermatids bodies are very obvious and visible. If you have a stray mucous string but can’t see where it is coming from then I would not fret, personally.

As an aside, I had a massive vermatid infestation in a 100g but they never caused an issue for me. I am NOT saying therefore they are not worrisome. But they never seemed to disrupt anything despite being a heavy infestation. A lucky break perhaps but that was my anecdotal experience.

Observe and perhaps not worry about it in this case.

You could QT your suspicious snails if you are worried however.
Usually when people blame something like Vermatid snails or Asterina Stars or hermits, or most anything for killing their coral, the problem is something else and the harmless critter gets the blame for being close by or cleaning up the mess, etc.
 

thatmanMIKEson

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I been rockin the vermited for a long time, it takes allot of meticulous control not to get them, but they are not fun! They mess with allot of corals they grow right through most of mine, they irritate most sps that way and with their mucus strands can irritate them too.

But they are not a end of tank pest, they may even have some benefit lol, but if you don't have them try to keep it that way.
 

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vetteguy53081

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Hello all!
So about half a year ago I purchased some astrea snails, and have never had any issues with them, except for two of them would have some sort of string come off their shell. I’d worry that it was a vermitid snail, so I’d try to cover with with super glue, but they always seemed to come back at some point. But they have never spread anywhere, they have always remained just on the snail shell. Does this look like a vermitid snail? If so, I will likely just remove the snail from the tank.
I see now that the pictures I took arent great, Ill get some better ones with the white light on tomorrow if I see the stringy bit again.

1711AFA6-8663-4CC0-92BA-45F48D423B74.jpeg 623B85BF-E612-4FAD-A613-9F3A4F698E87.jpeg
Place a dab of gel superglue from dollar store over each opening
 
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