Vermetid Snail Removal

skinsncanes · 09/01/2016, 01:53 PM

I've spent the last six months trying to get rid of these a$$holes. I had a pest free tank with all dry rock, and literally got one tiny piece of live rock to see coralline and they overran my tank

I spent 30 hours manually breaking off every single one I could find and in weeks they were back everywhere. I spent the 30 hours again once I realized my sump and skimmer were filled with egg sacks

Eventually I just removed every single piece of rock I had, and threw in a couple new prices for bio filtration and just watched my tank for months. They eventually go all in the three new pieces of rock

I wish I understood how they reproduced. If you look at this pic sometimes the egg sack thing is five times the size of any of the snails.

I've cleaned all my equipment multiple times but they still are around. I have a frag rack and they'll show up on the plugs. Two original pieces that were in there, a acro and green star polyp seem to always have a ton of eggs in them. Like somehow the spores or something is in the rocks.

I'm dying to reaquascape my tank and put the 20 frags I got in place. But I don't want to just come home one day and all the rocks be covered again.

My tanks 300 gallons, bare bottom, with just a couple fish. I can't believe how hard these things are to get rid of and how fast they grow and spread with very clean water with minimal food.

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skinsncanes · 09/01/2016, 01:55 PM

If you look in the center of the pics you'll see how big that one sac is compared to the snails below and to the left of it. There's also some smaller sacs on there, which is more the normal size. I have three trochus snails and every few weeks I have To scrape a dozen eggs or snails off

Also if you know more about how they reproduce please tell me. I'll get thousands of hard white spirals all over my glass that looks like tiny vermetid fossils. They don't turn into the snails but it's a really hard material and annoying to scrape off

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skinsncanes · 09/01/2016, 02:04 PM

I've read hundreds of threads on these things. You can't glue them, they're tiny and usually thousands. And as someone that's taken all his rock out several times I can say they're so deep and everywhere in the rock you can never get them all. Here's all my rock in acid making sure they're dead but I can't get them out of my tank.

Also I tried dr Tims refresh or renew. I spoke with him at a conference and he said in high doses his product kills snails. I tried that and didn't do anything.

Trying to get a copper band or six line or puffer is always hit or miss and at best just eats some of the surface ones.

I know they aren't the end of the world but I'm trying to have a nice sps tank. They keep the corals for growing. They're just annoying.

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Potatohead · 09/01/2016, 02:04 PM

Following. Mine are not plague proportions but I definitely have a few and they're super annoying. I do have lots of the spirals too but I'm pretty sure they're just harmless filter feeders and I was under the impression they will go away in time when nutrients get really low.

Edit - I do have a six line and he doesn't touch them.

jayball · 09/01/2016, 02:11 PM

that round thing looks more like a pinnapple sponge than anything (espically related to verminid).

skinsncanes · 09/01/2016, 02:17 PM

It did seem bigger than normal. But looked the same as the smaller ones. I'd be happy I guess if It's a sponge. It also explains why there would be hundreds of them in my sump and skimmer but no adult vermetid snails

But with that being said they're always next to snails in the tank. A regular snail will have two of the brown/purple vermetid and the. Ten of these with it.

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skinsncanes · 09/01/2016, 02:26 PM

The first photo is just better contrast to see all the white fossils that I said show up everywhere. The last two you can see the normal things that I said are I thought were egg sacks.

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jayball · 09/01/2016, 04:10 PM

Those are spiorbord(spelling?) worms. They are not a problem.

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skinsncanes · 09/01/2016, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayball

Those are spiorbord(spelling?) worms. They are not a problem.

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And you think the white egg sack thing on the bottom two is a sponge? I'd feel a lot better about my snail removal if those aren't the snails reproducing. But they def reproduce fast either way.

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jayball · 09/01/2016, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skinsncanes

And you think the white egg sack thing on the bottom two is a sponge? I'd feel a lot better about my snail removal if those aren't the snails reproducing. But they def reproduce fast either way.

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Google pineapple sponge. A high resolution picture and you eyes will be able to tell better than I can with your pics.

Honestly, you have not posted a picture with vermited snails yet. Have you seen them casting their mucous nets?

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skinsncanes · 09/01/2016, 07:25 PM

The very first picture definitely has several of them but it's hard to see. I had just crushed and broken off most of them. But yes they had the nets, spiral shape, def vermetid snails. Though I've apparently been trying to eradicate two other things in the process.

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homer1475 · 09/02/2016, 06:34 AM

Although I have yet to see an vermetid snails in any of your pics, you do know you have to crush/remove the base to eradicate them, and not just crush the tube structure?

starkii · 09/04/2016, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayball

Google pineapple sponge. A high resolution picture and you eyes will be able to tell better than I can with your pics.

Honestly, you have not posted a picture with vermited snails yet. Have you seen them casting their mucous nets?

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+1 the small white circles you have a spirobid worms. Extremely common and completely harmless. There is no evidence of vermited snails which are normally much larger in comparison.

ReefsandGeeks · 09/06/2016, 07:39 AM

I also don't think those are vermentid snails, though still annoying as they don't look good. I did notice that after adding a sea urchin he did happen to eat a lot of the easy to reach vermentid snails I had in my tank. I'm guessing just luck as he was eating other algea on the rocks, but I'll take it.

tmc1313 · 09/06/2016, 08:00 AM

I've had and still have vermetid snails pop up once in a while. I make a kalkwasser solution to eradicate them. I make the solution thin enough to suck up into a syringe and then simply inject the solution down into their tube. Works like a charm and has never failed me yet. This is what the little pests look like in case you're not sure.

image upload no compression

mcgyvr · 09/08/2016, 10:27 AM

Nothing like wasting all that time on the wrong assumption..

Life is fun like that sometimes..

Bookmark this site for your future reference..
It covers most of the common creatures and says a little about them (good/bad,etc...)
http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker.shtml

juanm2592 · 09/18/2016, 02:53 PM

I have a few big ones in my tank, they seem harmless except for bugging corals?

biecacka · 09/19/2016, 08:29 AM

Todd, I am going to try that method. I have a few but I don't like them and wor webs hey cast.

Corey

ssick92 · 09/20/2016, 09:15 AM

I have to agree with the others in that I don't see any vermetid snails in your pictures... Vermemids are MUCH larger than what you show in your pictures (which are actually spirorbid worms).

If you say you've seen them with their nets out, then I guess you are probably right, but nothing in the pictures suggests vermetids...

I think those white things are actually just harmless pineapple sponges, but it is a little difficult to see.

cubbyman60 · 09/21/2016, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssick92

I have to agree with the others in that I don't see any vermetid snails in your pictures... Vermemids are MUCH larger than what you show in your pictures (which are actually spirorbid worms).

If you say you've seen them with their nets out, then I guess you are probably right, but nothing in the pictures suggests vermetids...

I think those white things are actually just harmless pineapple sponges, but it is a little difficult to see.

Agree with this ^^^.

How exactly do you inject the vermetid snails? Their tube diameters are very small.

biecacka · 09/28/2016, 08:29 PM

2 days ago I was epoxying some frags and decided to use a little on a few snails in my tank. Not removal, but hopefully it will work.

Corey

pisanoal · 09/28/2016, 09:16 PM

I have vermetids in my 40b. I am planning on moving corals over to my new 125 and trying to not transfer vermetids. In my research I found their reproductive methods. The males cast sperm in their nets and close by females take it in to fertilize the eggs. The eggs mature in the females tube and then the larvae crawl out of the tube and crawl around on the rock until they find a suitable spot. My plan is to cut my coral from the rocks they are on and put them on clean frag plugs. In the process if I see any on the coral, I'll remove it. Either way, everything will be dipped in Bayer and rinsed several times before going into the new tank. Based on what I've read, Bayer should kill any I miss. The only concern was eggs, but since they develop in the tube, there shouldn't be concern for them being on the coral. Anything that might be too small to see the Bayer should kill.

tmc1313 · 09/30/2016, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cubbyman60

Agree with this ^^^.

How exactly do you inject the vermetid snails? Their tube diameters are very small.

I just use a 10ml syringe (I forget what gauge the needle is) and stick it right down the tube and squirt until it starts flowing out the opening. for snails in hard to reach places or that are growing in weird angles I use a curved needle syringe.

Scottedontknow · 10/09/2016, 01:33 PM

i had them in my small tank, all you have to do is reduce nutrients in the tank so they are filter feeders. They reproduce under the right conditions IE... nutrient rich tank. at least this is what i have noticed i may be wrong but i just added an extra skimmer for a few weeks and they seemed to disappear and are no longer an issue for me.

skinsncanes · 11/17/2016, 09:15 PM

Sorry for the delay but I definitely removed hundreds of vermetid snails. Pic attached. I just didn't know what the pineapple sponges were. I was worried those were the snail spreading. Which caused me to over react a little and nuke all my rock.

I've basically gotten rid of the snails. I just put all my rock back in a week ago and finally mounted 35 frags that were waiting for rocks. Ill occasionally see one or two of the snails so it's manageable enough to pop them off when I see them. Hopefully they don't have enough presence to take over my rocks again

09/01/2016, 01:53 PM	#1
skinsncanes Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 156	Vermetid Snail Removal I've spent the last six months trying to get rid of these a$$holes. I had a pest free tank with all dry rock, and literally got one tiny piece of live rock to see coralline and they overran my tank I spent 30 hours manually breaking off every single one I could find and in weeks they were back everywhere. I spent the 30 hours again once I realized my sump and skimmer were filled with egg sacks Eventually I just removed every single piece of rock I had, and threw in a couple new prices for bio filtration and just watched my tank for months. They eventually go all in the three new pieces of rock I wish I understood how they reproduced. If you look at this pic sometimes the egg sack thing is five times the size of any of the snails. I've cleaned all my equipment multiple times but they still are around. I have a frag rack and they'll show up on the plugs. Two original pieces that were in there, a acro and green star polyp seem to always have a ton of eggs in them. Like somehow the spores or something is in the rocks. I'm dying to reaquascape my tank and put the 20 frags I got in place. But I don't want to just come home one day and all the rocks be covered again. My tanks 300 gallons, bare bottom, with just a couple fish. I can't believe how hard these things are to get rid of and how fast they grow and spread with very clean water with minimal food. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

09/01/2016, 01:55 PM	#2
skinsncanes Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 156	Vermetid Snail Removal If you look in the center of the pics you'll see how big that one sac is compared to the snails below and to the left of it. There's also some smaller sacs on there, which is more the normal size. I have three trochus snails and every few weeks I have To scrape a dozen eggs or snails off Also if you know more about how they reproduce please tell me. I'll get thousands of hard white spirals all over my glass that looks like tiny vermetid fossils. They don't turn into the snails but it's a really hard material and annoying to scrape off Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

09/01/2016, 02:17 PM	#6
skinsncanes Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 156	Vermetid Snail Removal It did seem bigger than normal. But looked the same as the smaller ones. I'd be happy I guess if It's a sponge. It also explains why there would be hundreds of them in my sump and skimmer but no adult vermetid snails But with that being said they're always next to snails in the tank. A regular snail will have two of the brown/purple vermetid and the. Ten of these with it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

09/02/2016, 06:34 AM	#12
homer1475 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 5,313	Although I have yet to see an vermetid snails in any of your pics, you do know you have to crush/remove the base to eradicate them, and not just crush the tube structure? __________________ 80G SCA Build: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2560256 Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht: "He's just taking his lunch to work"

09/06/2016, 08:00 AM	#15
tmc1313 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bristol, Connecticut Posts: 1,530	I've had and still have vermetid snails pop up once in a while. I make a kalkwasser solution to eradicate them. I make the solution thin enough to suck up into a syringe and then simply inject the solution down into their tube. Works like a charm and has never failed me yet. This is what the little pests look like in case you're not sure. image upload no compression __________________ --Todd Last edited by tmc1313; 09/06/2016 at 08:16 AM.

09/01/2016, 02:04 PM	#3
skinsncanes Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 156	I've read hundreds of threads on these things. You can't glue them, they're tiny and usually thousands. And as someone that's taken all his rock out several times I can say they're so deep and everywhere in the rock you can never get them all. Here's all my rock in acid making sure they're dead but I can't get them out of my tank. Also I tried dr Tims refresh or renew. I spoke with him at a conference and he said in high doses his product kills snails. I tried that and didn't do anything. Trying to get a copper band or six line or puffer is always hit or miss and at best just eats some of the surface ones. I know they aren't the end of the world but I'm trying to have a nice sps tank. They keep the corals for growing. They're just annoying. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

09/01/2016, 02:04 PM	#4
Potatohead Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Vancouver Posts: 1,596	Following. Mine are not plague proportions but I definitely have a few and they're super annoying. I do have lots of the spirals too but I'm pretty sure they're just harmless filter feeders and I was under the impression they will go away in time when nutrients get really low. Edit - I do have a six line and he doesn't touch them.

09/01/2016, 02:11 PM	#5
jayball Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,671	that round thing looks more like a pinnapple sponge than anything (espically related to verminid).

09/01/2016, 02:26 PM	#7
skinsncanes Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 156	The first photo is just better contrast to see all the white fossils that I said show up everywhere. The last two you can see the normal things that I said are I thought were egg sacks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

09/01/2016, 04:10 PM	#8
jayball Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,671	Those are spiorbord(spelling?) worms. They are not a problem. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

09/01/2016, 07:25 PM	#11
skinsncanes Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 156	The very first picture definitely has several of them but it's hard to see. I had just crushed and broken off most of them. But yes they had the nets, spiral shape, def vermetid snails. Though I've apparently been trying to eradicate two other things in the process. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

09/06/2016, 07:39 AM	#14
ReefsandGeeks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,708	I also don't think those are vermentid snails, though still annoying as they don't look good. I did notice that after adding a sea urchin he did happen to eat a lot of the easy to reach vermentid snails I had in my tank. I'm guessing just luck as he was eating other algea on the rocks, but I'll take it.

09/08/2016, 10:27 AM	#16
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Nothing like wasting all that time on the wrong assumption.. Life is fun like that sometimes.. Bookmark this site for your future reference.. It covers most of the common creatures and says a little about them (good/bad,etc...) http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker.shtml __________________ Who me?

09/18/2016, 02:53 PM	#17
juanm2592 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Santa Rosa Posts: 17	I have a few big ones in my tank, they seem harmless except for bugging corals?

09/19/2016, 08:29 AM	#18
biecacka Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Columbus Ohio Posts: 6,361	Todd, I am going to try that method. I have a few but I don't like them and wor webs hey cast. Corey

09/20/2016, 09:15 AM	#19
ssick92 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: San Clemente, CA Posts: 911	I have to agree with the others in that I don't see any vermetid snails in your pictures... Vermemids are MUCH larger than what you show in your pictures (which are actually spirorbid worms). If you say you've seen them with their nets out, then I guess you are probably right, but nothing in the pictures suggests vermetids... I think those white things are actually just harmless pineapple sponges, but it is a little difficult to see. __________________ John IM Nuvo 10g Mixed Reef Nano \| Kessil A160we \| Mp10QD \| Osmolator Nano

09/28/2016, 08:29 PM	#21
biecacka Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Columbus Ohio Posts: 6,361	2 days ago I was epoxying some frags and decided to use a little on a few snails in my tank. Not removal, but hopefully it will work. Corey

09/28/2016, 09:16 PM	#22
pisanoal Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 705	I have vermetids in my 40b. I am planning on moving corals over to my new 125 and trying to not transfer vermetids. In my research I found their reproductive methods. The males cast sperm in their nets and close by females take it in to fertilize the eggs. The eggs mature in the females tube and then the larvae crawl out of the tube and crawl around on the rock until they find a suitable spot. My plan is to cut my coral from the rocks they are on and put them on clean frag plugs. In the process if I see any on the coral, I'll remove it. Either way, everything will be dipped in Bayer and rinsed several times before going into the new tank. Based on what I've read, Bayer should kill any I miss. The only concern was eggs, but since they develop in the tube, there shouldn't be concern for them being on the coral. Anything that might be too small to see the Bayer should kill.

10/09/2016, 01:33 PM	#24
Scottedontknow Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Bethelehm, PA Posts: 138	i had them in my small tank, all you have to do is reduce nutrients in the tank so they are filter feeders. They reproduce under the right conditions IE... nutrient rich tank. at least this is what i have noticed i may be wrong but i just added an extra skimmer for a few weeks and they seemed to disappear and are no longer an issue for me.

11/17/2016, 09:15 PM	#25
skinsncanes Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 156	Sorry for the delay but I definitely removed hundreds of vermetid snails. Pic attached. I just didn't know what the pineapple sponges were. I was worried those were the snail spreading. Which caused me to over react a little and nuke all my rock. I've basically gotten rid of the snails. I just put all my rock back in a week ago and finally mounted 35 frags that were waiting for rocks. Ill occasionally see one or two of the snails so it's manageable enough to pop them off when I see them. Hopefully they don't have enough presence to take over my rocks again