Pyramidelline Snails (the sods that eat clams)

[Marka]

Hi All.

This is my first post so I hope you lot can sort this out for me.

In my reef with 12 Clams I have got the dreaded Pyramidelline Snails, Has anyone else had these buggers and got rid of them?? If so, please tell me!! I have Knops book and have ordered a wrasse that are suppose to eat them from my LFS.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Mark

 

[ReeferMac]

I had them on a clam that I got in a couple years ago. I acclimated the clam (in the bag) to my water, and then took the thing out and started picking it over w/ a pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass. Wasn't a lot of fun, took me a half hour... Twice! Knock on wood, I still have that clam.... I just got it to close all the way, pulled it out and held it in a towel. Turned it upside down, and went over every inch of the thing. Found most on the underside, near the mantle, and the hole where it's pseudopod comes out. That was the hardest area to clean. There were also a lot of "Bumps" that looked like snails, and I scraped those off. Don't know if they were or not, might have just been imperfections in the shell, but I worked 'em over regardless. After 5 minutes of this treatment, I put the clam back in the bag, and gave it a few minutes, before pulling it out again.

Having so many clams in your tank however, I think puts you in a different boat. Your sandbed is probably loaded w/ them, so even if you are able to clean 1 clam entirely, there's a good chance it will just get re-infected once you put it back in the tank. Do you have a hospital tank, or another system you can place them in after they are cleaned? I would almost suggest setting up a small tank w/ no substrate or rock at all, use the water from your main system so that things are not stressful for the clams, and keep them there until the tank is purged. Best of luck.

- Mac

 

[holeinone1972]

ReeferMac has a decent idea. If you can setup a small system in line with same water as your main system and proper lighting that would be good. Then take each clam out and rid the snails 1 at a time. When clam is clean quarantine in new tank away from snails.

Getting a wrasse may help but if you have alot of snails it could be fruitless.

You are going to have a long road to hoe in front of you. Best of luck, Rob

 

[rxx2]

I've read in Knop's book that these snails have a free floating larval stage, so plumbing a small tank in line may not solve your problem. Knop talks about a UV sterilizer to kill those that are free floating. I know many would be opposed to this. I don't have a good solution. I had 19 calms that died and even after saw many of these snails on the glass at night. I put a Christmas wrasse in there and it seems to have dessimated these little pests. We'll see what happens in a few months when I try to put some clams back in. Good luck.

 

[Marka]

Hi All.

Thanks for the response. I think I might have come up with an idea that could stop the snails, Here goes;

I've got two garden canes across the top of the tank and from these hung a piece of egg crate the light deffuser stuff with nylon fishing line, and put the clams on this after cleaning them all and inspecting them. my thought was that the snails that are left in the gravel after i have cleaned the clam, like some of you said, would just re-infect the clams when put back in the tank. I have made sure that the egg crate does not touch any rock or corals in the tank so that the snails cannot get on the egg crate. i have also put a 25w uv on the tank temporairily to handle the free swimming stage and added a six line wrasse to pick off any snails that i miss.

I can't think of anyting else to try. Let me know what you think of this and if you think it could be better.

Cheers
Mark.

 

[ReeferMac]

Sounds like a great idea! Should work pretty well too! You might have to leave them for a year, I don't know what the lifecycle of these buggers are, but certainly a good idea.. Now so long as none get back onto the clams...

- Mac

 

[Marka]

Hi Mac,

According to Knops book the life cycle is about 5 months. so only got 4 months 3 weeks and 6 days to go!!!:eek1: :eek2::eek1: :eek2:

Cheers

Mark.

 

[jim norris]

Marka,
Also watch if you have turbo snails and etc. the pyramidelline snails will go after them!!! I would also remove the larger snails for inspection and if snails are on them simply brush them off under running water in the sink. This also needs to be done about every 3 days until the pyramidelline snails are wiped out!
Jim

 

[Marka]

Hi Jim
Thanks for that i will go and start checking the turbo's. that a suprise i didn't think the pyramidelline would go for them!!

Cheers
Mark.

 

[dattack]

Do any of the wrasse eat these snails? I was thinking of adding a Harlequin tusk.

 

[K. Lee]

6-line wrasse are reported to eat the pyramidellid(sp?) snails. A spanish hog might also go after them, and will act as a cleaner when young to some degree. Note: I'm not sure how reef safe spanish hogs are, but so far my juvi. 2" spanish hog is harmless. He/she does eat a lot of amphipods tho.

 

[Zoom]

Do any of the wrasse eat these snails? I was thinking of adding a Harlequin tusk.

yes my tuskfish eat these snails.

 

[jim norris]

SteveA,
How big is the tusk?
Jim
AWESOME fish!

 

[Zoom]

i got the tuskfish two year now it was 2" long now mey be 5" here is a good article. http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/l...+Frontiers+--+Outer+Reef+Limits&RecordNo=1022

 

[delafe]

I have a question.. I had a problem with these pests about 2 years ago, the clam died, and I have not had a clam since. But a few nights ago I noticed THOUSANDS of small snails come out of my sandbed. They look similar, but many are a little bigger and the shells are not as "pearly", if I remember correctly.

How long can these pests live without a host clam? Can they survive on other food sources? Are these small snails I am seeing in the sand something else entirely? (I am guessing so, but never hurts to ask)

The last clam I bought was killed by a fireworm/parasitic work. I have been catching them the last couple of nights with a trap I rigged and having loads of "fun". I had no idea how many I had, but I know I have more than just fireworms, because 2 of them were redish orange and covered the shrimp I used for bait with a big blob of slime. (I read about them in TRA) I also wonder how many of these guys there could be in my tank... At the rate of 2 a night, this could take a LONG time.

Thanks,

-Alfred

 

[OrionN]

My 3.5 inche Harlequin Turk fish will decimate the small snail population. I am sure it will help a lot in the parasitic snails problem.
Minh

 

[K. Lee]

The potential problem with having a wrasse act as a biological control of pyrmadelline snail species is that all the wrasses are primarily diurnal, while the snails are nocturnal for the most part. It would be wise to check the animals if any pinching on the giant clams mantle is observed. I wouldn't rely on the/a fish alone to control pyrmadellid snails.

I read the point about the activity of wrasses being counter to the snails in "The Reef Aquarium: A Comprehensive Guide to the Identification and Care of Tropical Marine Invertebrates"by Delbeek and Sprung. It is just a pitfall, not that the wrasses won't help.

 

[firechild]

Mark,

[welcome]

 

[OrionN]

I have a question.. I had a problem with these pests about 2 years ago, the clam died, and I have not had a clam since. But a few nights ago I noticed THOUSANDS of small snails come out of my sandbed. They look similar, but many are a little bigger and the shells are not as "pearly", if I remember correctly.

How long can these pests live without a host clam? Can they survive on other food sources? Are these small snails I am seeing in the sand something else entirely? (I am guessing so, but never hurts to ask)

They are notthe same. These are harmless herbivores. Parasitic snails are highly hose specific. THey won't be able to live without clams. I have lots of these smails that are parasited to snails but they don't attack my clams.

The last clam I bought was killed by a fireworm/parasitic work. I have been catching them the last couple of nights with a trap I rigged and having loads of "fun". I had no idea how many I had, but I know I have more than just fireworms, because 2 of them were redish orange and covered the shrimp I used for bait with a big blob of slime. (I read about them in TRA) I also wonder how many of these guys there could be in my tank... At the rate of 2 a night, this could take a LONG time.

Thanks,

-Alfred

I highly doubt that the clams was killed by the worms and that the worms in your tank are harmful. I have lots of brisstle worma that are orange in my tank. They are just harmless scavengers.

 

[Palmetto]

I agree. I have tons of bristleworms in my tanks, and I have had clams directly on the substrate that had recently lost their byssal gland, leaving an opening on the bottom that I always wondered about being an open invitation. I have never seen any of the worms bother any healthy animal, although they will quickly consume a dead one.

It is sort of like how people used to think maggots killed cows by eating them from the inside out.

It is an understandable misconception, because so much has been written about bristleworms as a pest. I think they are one of the best cleanup creatures available, and they come free with good live rock and sand.

BTW, I am not talking about ALL bristleworms- just the common small ones that populate live rock and sand. I understand there are some monsters that can eat live food, but I have not personally had any experience with any of these.