What is growing on my frag plugs?

[Lexton]

Noticed these weird purple growths on my zoa and duncan frag plugs. Can anyone tell me what this is?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The hard, spiralled, reddish tubes are Vermetid Snails - they feed by sending out mucus nets to catch food, and the nets from some species can irritate corals. Between that and the fact that small species like this tend reproduce invasively quickly, Vermetid Snails are generally considered pests, and it's generally recommended to remove them before they can take foot in your tank.

Some removal ideas:

manual removal, bumblebee snails, glue, injecting vinegar/lemon juice/kalkpaste, coral snow, etc. If you only have a few, then manual removal should work fine, otherwise I’d say to look at some of the methods used on the forum here and try out the ones you think would work best.

I’ve heard mixed reviews on the super glue method (but, most methods get mixed reviews with Vermetids).

For the vermetids, some people report success with emerald crabs, bumblebee snails, coral snow (there's a DIY recipe on here somewhere for this that's super cheap - I believe it's made from chalk), etc.

Probably the best results I’ve seen with small numbers of vermetids come from crushing the tube and setting a predator (like an emerald crab or a bumblebee snail) by the crushed tube immediately after.

The following may be helpful too:

Some people swear by bumblebee snails for vermetids, others say they’re useless, and still more say they’re effective but only over long periods of time (like 8+ months long). It may depend of the species of vermetid you have.

 

[Lexton]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The hard, spiralled, reddish tubes are Vermetid Snails - they feed by sending out mucus nets to catch food, and the nets from some species can irritate corals. Between that and the fact that small species like this tend reproduce invasively quickly, Vermetid Snails are generally considered pests, and it's generally recommended to remove them before they can take foot in your tank.

Some removal ideas:

Thank you for all the information! I only have about 6 so hopefully I can get rid of them before it's too late. Are people just dousing coral snow to reduce their numbers?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Thank you for all the information! I only have about 6 so hopefully I can get rid of them before it's too late. Are people just dousing coral snow to reduce their numbers?

Some people do - most seen to use super glue or crush the tube at the base with pliers (the pliers are probably the best idea with a small number).

 

[DanyL]

Calcium Carbonate (or “Reef snow”) does indeed help to reduce their quantities, but it’s usually being used when there are large populations of them across the tank.

Otherwise, you can simply snip them with a bone cutter, or use a bit of glue to block the entry into the their tube.

It’s also not as a big deal to have them as some people describe, they can indeed blow up in population rather quickly when they have the perfect conditions, but they can also almost completely disappear by their own. Either way, they’ll be in your tank in some form or another.

 

[Lexton]

Some people do - most seen to use super glue or crush the tube at the base with pliers (the pliers are probably the best idea with a small number).

I will keep that in mind. Thanks again.

 

[Lexton]

Calcium Carbonate (or “Reef snow”) does indeed help to reduce their quantities, but it’s usually being used when there are large populations of them across the tank.

Otherwise, you can simply snip them with a bone cutter, or use a bit of glue to block the entry into the their tube.

It’s also not as a big deal to have them as some people describe, they can indeed blow up in population rather quickly when they have the perfect conditions, but they can also almost completely disappear by their own. Either way, they’ll be in your tank in some form or another.

Yeah, I don't really have a problem with them existing, it's just that they all seem to be growing very close to or on my coral and I'd rather take action before it becomes an issue in the future.

 

[DanyL]

Removing them from corals is a good approach, I agree.

I just wouldn’t go out of my way to try and eradicate them like some do.

Hope this clarifies my previous reply.