Help - pest eating wrasse for in 30 gallon

[bues0022]

I just found a small Pyramidellid snail problem in my 39 gallon tank. I do not have clams, but they are picking off my snails. I have a peaceful tank (peppermint and cleaner shrimp, pair of clowns, firefish, hectors goby, and diamond goby). I've been reading a lot lately about what wrasse May work, and I feel like I'm trying to thread a needle. Most wrasses that seem to work for the snail problem are no bueno for my shrimp. Wrasses which are readily acceptable for a 39 gallon tank wont touch the Pyramidellid snails. So, I need some help/advice.

No 4, 6, or 8 line wrasse - too many seem to be mean.
What about a red-lined wrasse? Will it go after my shrimp?
A small melanarus wrasse perhaps? I know they get too large eventually, but a small one might do the trick for a good while?
Scarlet pin striped wrasse? These seem a bit more rare and harder to find (and aren't very chromatically gifted)

Something else?

 

[bues0022]

One more thing I forgot to mention - I’ve never actually seen my hectors goby eat anything I’ve put in the tank. Since it’s really fat, my assumption is that it’s finding enough pods cruising my rocks. Will the wrasse I’m trying to find decimate my pods and starve my hectors goby? I know wrasses eat pods, but some more than others.

 

[journeyman]

Try a yellow coris wrasse.

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[Chuckd76]

I know from personal experience that a melanurus will work for clearing out just about anything slimy and gross. Small snails, chitons, limpets, vermitids, small feather dusters, bristle worms, etc. They're almost annoyingly efficient.
Before I gave it to a lfs due to a temporary tank breakdown I had it in a tank with a pistol shrimp that it never bothered and it actually seemed kind of wimpy as it would only go after defenseless invertebrates, i.e.no claws.
Also, the one I had ignored every other fish in the tank, including the ones that would try to bully it. It just went about it's business as if it was alone in the tank.
Their size may not be an issue for your tank as the time they spend moving is generally just constantly searching the rocks for food and if you have enough nooks and crannies it'll find something to stay occupied.
Mine may have been different but it would work half the tank at a time, spending a couple days on one half and then switching.

 

[bues0022]

I think I’m on the fence - either a scarlet pin stripe wrasse, or a melanarus wrasse. I think the scarlet is more reef safe and will fit in the tank for the long haul, but it’s a bit drab and not easily found at my lfs. The melanarus is a beautiful fish, but gets too large to be a forever fish in my tank, and from reports I’ve seen online there exists a possibility of my shrimp/CUC falling victim.

I was looking after lights out last night and found a bunch more Pyramidellid snails. They actually seem to be attacking not only my turbo snails, but also the swarm of those little collonista snails that swarm my rock at night.

 

[wrott]

If i remember correctly, not all pyramid snails are the same, even ones parasitical to snails may not infest clams.

 

[bues0022]

I’ve also read similar things about the different species of snails. There are hundreds of species, but a gamble to know which ones you have (species specific parasites or non specific).

Whelp, I asked Bob from WWM about my conundrum, and it looks like I’m hosed. He didn’t recommend any wrasse which readily eats Pyramidellid snails due to the size of my tank. Also, the small tank size means more likely aggression to my shrimp. Wrasses which fit my tank aren’t likely to eat the snails. Finally, since I don’t have or plan on clams, and the bad snails are a problem for only a few dollars worth of snails, getting a wrasse puts my hectors goby (starvation risk from eating pods) and my shrimp (predatation) at risk. Trying to solve a minor problem will more than likely end up with a more expensive problem.

Looks like I’m just doomed with these buggers.