best way to prevent pyramidal snails?

[macreefster]

i have three crocea clams, all about 4inches and had a bout with pyramidal snails a couple of months ago and still find a couple every now and then. i physically removed all the snails and egg masses i could find back when the snails were more prevelant. the clams are doing great, but wondered if there were any good pyramidal snail predators or treatments to prevent another outbreak. i have a leopard wrasse, but with wrasses being diurnal and the snails noctornal, do they really control them? thanks for your advice.

here you can see my clams are happy..... sorry for the poor pics.

 

[a4twenty]

unfortunately no but the wrasse may help pick off the odd straggler. if you still have pyramids then you need to keep cleaning the clams or they will repopulate over time.


awesome tank

 

[bigleman]

WOW! Beautiful tank!

 

[TheH]

I have heard of some people using putty to seal the opening under the clam. I'm not sure what effect this has on the clam and/or what effect it would really have against pyram snails.

 

[mscarpena]

Just keep monitoring your clams. Also monitor any new additions before putting them in your tank. Also snails can carry pyramids into your tank as well.

 

[Maximus Clammus]

Here is a very good write up on pyramid snail control. I have used it myself with great results on my clams.

Good luck

 

[Americanreef]

Get your clams to mount the a rock the snails will not usually get them if there off the sand but they could still just keep checking them thats the best idea

 

[macreefster]

thanks everyone for your suggestions. somehow i knew there wasnt an easy solution...lol.

great link maximus, looks like i have a lot of scrubbing to do over the next month and a half. luckily the problem isnt severe yet as i only found three snails this morning.

one question though....my clams are firmly attached to the rock. is the stress caused by removing them from the rock worth it to remove them from the tank to remove snails, or would i be better off just removing whatever snails i find near their mantle every morning?

thanks again for the advice.

some better pics of my babies...

 

[a4twenty]

can you remove the clam with his rock???

picking the snails off each morning will probably still slowly kill the clam and their population will likely increase rapidly. when you remove the snails, you need to remove the eggs sacks too or you will never win the battle. this should also be done at night as the pyramid snail is nocturnal.

HTH and good luck

 

[Maximus Clammus]

No problem, happy to help.

I second what twenty said.