How long does it take to starve vermitid snails?

[Billybatz9]

My new live rock is infested with vermitid snails. I am thinking about just holding the love rock in a Rubbermaid container with saltwater (no food) for a while. But how long will it take for them to starve and die? Any way to kill them?

Should I just bleach the rocks?

 

[sabo]

Dab of glue on them will fix it.

 

[Sk8r]

I've never found them a problem, but it depends on your intended reef type.

 

[Billybatz9]

Dab of glue on them will fix it.

There's a crap load. Gluing will be expensive and very time consuming

 

[tomreefer]

you can try kalk paste and inject it in the tube

 

[Indymann99]

I had a bad infestation of vermitid snails... the little tubes covered every rock in the tank... all the rocks looked like pin cushions. I tried manual removal but they always came back..

As I have found with most things in the tank they cycle. The population of anything increases with abundance of food source and environment (lack of predators). After about 9mo I noticed the ones I broke off didnt re-build (the tubes).

Do be careful handling your LR when it has tubes all over it... they are sharp and will puncture your hand easily.

 

[Billybatz9]

I had a bad infestation of vermitid snails... the little tubes covered every rock in the tank... all the rocks looked like pin cushions. I tried manual removal but they always came back..

As I have found with most things in the tank they cycle. The population of anything increases with abundance of food source and environment (lack of predators). After about 9mo I noticed the ones I broke off didnt re-build (the tubes).

Do be careful handling your LR when it has tubes all over it... they are sharp and will puncture your hand easily.

what do you think about bleaching the rocks? I have about 40 lbs

 

[Indymann99]

Bleaching the rocks should kill all life on the rocks.

 

[edinphilly]

I had a moderate infestation and was able to get them under control within about two weeks. I stopped frozen food (they're filter feeds) and fed only freeze dried mysis and flake food, and reduced the frequency of feeding. I still have some but not too many as I seem to have starved some out.