turbo snail eating corals

[Beemo]

i just bought a mexican turbo snail yesterday, he adjusted well so well that he decided to eat my yellow polyps today.
i saw him last night on the coral for awhile but i didnt think anything of it. now today he was back on and i got a little nervous, i took a shot of him and the healthy full of life coral.
within 2 hours and to my horror he has devoured half of the yellow polyp!
he has to go, hes doing damage. now how do i remove him? i tried but he clung so tight that the rock he was on actually lifted, i felt squeemish thinking he will be ripped from his shell so i stopped.
how do i get him out?
hes the only one thats been on this polyp, i have 2 hermit crabs in there for 2 weeks and they never touch anything
heres the before and after pics taken at a 2 hour interval

 

[Freed]

I really don't think he is eating the polyps. Turbos are algae eaters exclusively but I could be wrong. They are probably just shrunk because they have been harrassed.

 

[scrmbld33]

i second the harassed, mine ruyn over my zoos all the time and the retract and come back, to get him off just pull him off or use a twisting motion back and forth

 

[Beemo]

well i believe retract but try totally gone????
hubby just got him out for me, he was returning back to the polyp
gotta realize i watch my tank all day i see whos eating and whos eating what. every time he was on it there were polyps gone, i dont mean retracted i mean totally gone from the rock! he plucked them like daisy's
sure their reef safe but this one had to be starving to death or something to do this, and im not risking expensive corals for a 1.99 snail. that polyp cost be 30 bux so its money down the drain, well half drain he only ate half the colony.
will the colony spread and fill in the bald spots that he devoured?

 

[scrmbld33]

they will spread in time,do you have a sump to but the snail in? some polps retract into holes too so maybe they will show up again soon

 

[Beemo]

no i dont have a sump but i found a one gallon plastic tank and hes in there right now
i feel bad for him but i cant risk all my corals
im afraid to get another snail now, im sure hes just one in a million though. my only guess is that he was starving in the petstore and with my lack of algae he just took what was soft and tasty
i have found no information that says turbo snails damage corals, just one site said not every "reef safe" animal should be considered 100% reef safe, allthough rare these things can happen

 

[Freed]

It really just looks as though the polyps in the first pic are opened quite a bit more than the ones in the 2nd pic. I really think you are overreacting to the polyps just being scared and shrinking a bit from being harrassed. I really don't think the snail ate any of them. They definitely don't eat corals either.

 

[Beemo]

ive never seen shrunken polyps so i dont know what they would look like
i see them at night and they dont look that skimpy
do you really think this is a possibility? and he really truly did not eat anything?
hes always in them tho is that not healthy for the polyps? it seems like he doesnt want to leave them alone

 

[Freed]

It won't bother them at all and they will still grow as if he weren't even there. The snail only eats algae and is probably just unknowingly coming back to spots he thinks he will find more algae in.

 

[Beemo]

well the snails been out since last night and the polyps look normal again.
should i return the snail?
hes in the little one gallon container half way out of the water
should i just get a tiny one instead? this guy was 2"

 

[sinkingbeach]

The snail was attempting to eat the algae between the polyps as I've seen mine do just that. I would place him back in the tank without hesitation or worry.

 

[Beemo]

will do thnx
sorry i caused so much trouble to the snail.
is he half out of the water because he is dying?

 

[ACBlinky]

Sometimes they'll climb above the waterline, my Astraeas do it all the time, don't worry. As said, your snail was just cleaning between the polyps. Turbos are herbivores, and other than knocking things over occasionally they're completely harmless IMO.

 

[Beemo]

i put him back, this time i placed him on the glass. he seems ok, he doesnt like to get his "foot" on the substate tho. if hes still on the glass by tomorrow ill place him on the rocks again

its a good thing i didnt throw him in the garbage lol