Best way to remove Vermetids from tank...?

[ajespo85]

So they have been reproducing like mad. The large one "slimes" out all the time. I have two that are growing on my LPS. What's the best way to remove these? Crush their shells? Is there a crab will eat them? Please and thanks.

 

[Kearnel]

I had one that I destroyed because it kept sending it's food catching snot all over the place. I had to just demolish it's shell to the point I could rip it out. I've tried just crushing it's shell but the little bugger survived so I went further. Not a bad thing to have but very annoying.

 

[ajespo85]

I must have atleast 3 good sized ones and maybe another 5 smaller ones. I just want them gone. They are irritating my corals.

 

[dg3147]

I must have atleast 3 good sized ones and maybe another 5 smaller ones. I just want them gone. They are irritating my corals.

Just reach in there with some cutters ("bone cutters" used for fragging) and cut them in half.

 

[rgulrich]

Use a set of needlenose pliers or diagonals to crush the shells if accessible, or if they are in the middle of a colony, punch out the oporculum (the trap door they pull in when they retract) with a jeweler's screwdriver. The corals and fish will appreciate the snack, and the eradication of the snails, too.
If you have stony finger corals such as acropora, millepora, stylophora, etc you could stock up on Trapezia sp. crabs to help keep the vermetids out of the coral heads.

Guard crabs alleviate deleterious effects of vermetid snails on a branching coral
(A. C. Stier, C. S. McKeon, C. W. Osenberg, J. S. Shima)
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-010-0663-9

Coral associated decapods
(Matthieu Leray, PhD)
http://matthieuleray.com/welcome/creatures/moorea-pocillopora-coral-heads/

Seems to be a popular topic today...

Cheers,
Ray