Parasitic snails

[Tina]

My 5-inch derasa has been attacked by snails. Anyone out there had experience with this? Am concerned the byssal glad has been damaged.

I've had the clam in my 54 gallon reef tank for 5 months and it's been incredibly healthy.

Yesterday, for the first time, it was partially closed with its mantle retracted all day. I put my hand over the clam and it wasn't reactive.

Same thing this morning, I had to touch inside the clam with something before it reacted.

The aquarium lights had just come on and I saw a bunch of tiny white snails at the base of the clam. The snails are pyramid-shaped and about 1-2 mm. I removed the clam [it wasn't even attached] and have removed all the snails from its surface. It was on the substrate and I have now put it on a stable ledge of the rock. The clam has opened more and is quite reactive, mantle is still retracted.

The Knop book concentrates on the damage cause by these snails to the mantle of the clam. As far as I can tell, the mantle appears fine even though it is retracted. Can't see any tears or sign of damage. The snails were all located at the base of the clam.

Am waiting till my LFS opens this afternoon to see if they'll put it in one of their empty tanks with a six-line wrasse. I intend to buy the wrasse, but it needs to be quarantined before I put it in my main tank [have 5 fish in my reef tank].

Any ideas/suggestions in the meantime. Would appreciate hearing anyone's experience with parasitic snails. Will they attack my corals once the clam is removed? I feed DTs phytoplankton, will the snails be kept alive with this?

Thanks for your help!

Tina

 

[MiNdErAsR]

Manual removal works best. If you search the forum, there are posts outlining various removal methods.

Good luck.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I read somewhere (maybe in the Koop book), that a UV will interupt a key stage in the snails' development, also with a UV there is no need to quartine the wrasse. If you don't like UV, keep it on the tank as a backup and only turn it on when trouble starts (like now).

Good luck

 

[jim norris]

Tina,
The main problem with these snails is that they come out at night to feed on the clams mantle. Wrasses are great but at night they are off work! The best luck I have in dealing with these snails is to remove the clam and take a very sharp pointed knife and go thru the shell's edges and pick the snails out. Then I use a soft bristle tooth brush and give the clam a good scrubbing in the sink.
Hope this helps.
Jim

 

[Tina]

Thanks for your replies!

The clam has been "cleaned", brushed off the snails and moved into another tank with a wrasse.

Hopefully I've caught this in time and the clam will recover.

 

[OrionN]

I would pick him out of the tank at night and check hime every few days. Continue to do this with all the clams in your tank until you got rid of all the snails and not detect any for 2-3 weeks. After that check for snails once in a while at night when all the light are out.
My tank was infested with snails. I got 15 clams. Using this method, I was able to get rid of all the snails from my tank. Needless to say, I got all my clams on sands. I recommend that you keep the clams on the sand so you can check them. Once you got your tank snail free, you can place the clams anywhere you want (if it is the enviroment that meets the clam requirement)
Goodluck