Vermetid gastropods. Time to get mid-evil!

[3_high_low]

These things came in on my LR and have proliferated in my young SPS tank to the point where they are doing damage to my corals. I'm fed up and no longer will I just sit back while they reek havoc. I have planned a multi pronged attack against these slimy insurgents. This will not be easy as they have me outnumbered at least twentyfold and their defenses are stout. But I know I must kill the gastropods!

phase one: Recon.

I will begin the operation with a recon mission. I will stir up some debris in the tank and wait for the slime nets to come out. This will make their positions easy to identify.

phase two: Multi prong offensive.

1) I will attack their positions with precision guided injections of hot kalk paste right through their front door. The element of surprise is key, I must inject them before they slam their doors shut as the 19 gauge needle cannot penetrate their armor.

2) I will cement them over with epoxy. I can live with the white spots of epoxy all over my tank, after a while they will become covered with coraline.

3) I will physically remove as many as possible, using a pair of hemostats I will gouge them out.

Wish me luck!:smokin::rollface:

 

[3_high_low]

The kalk injections are not effective. The enemy is somehow able to detect the approaching needle. They have secured all entry points and repelled the attack - zero kills. Perhaps a night time operation would be more effective.

Now I will attempt to epoxy their arses shut!

 

[3_high_low]

No good! They are able to push the epoxy out of their holes! I may have gotten lucky and killed a couple of the large ones but there are so many of them! Too many to remove manually.

This is not unlike Bill Murray, in Caddy Shack, vs the gopher. I may need explosives!

I wonder if pyramelids snails would eat them? Or can I poison their feeding nets? Help!

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

Doing a search, I found a recommendation from Dr. Ron, to use Copperband butterflies, and or certian types of hermit crabs to eat them. Maybe bringing in some of these Allies will help with the war effort.

 

[3_high_low]

I filled their tubes with kalk paste. The combined effort may have a killed quite a few of them. We'll see.

I'd like to try a copperband but I doubt my PB tang would welcome that idea. Dr Ron told me months ago that the gastropods would wax and wane. He was wrong! He also said that the corals would overgrow them. That has happened in a couple of instances but the gastropods are relentless with their nets and more often than not they damage the corals and stunt their growth.

Thanks for chiming in. Anyone else with ideas?

 

[zanemoseley]

So what do these little fellas look like, are they the skinny tubes that go fishing for food with those strings.

 

[New_Noob]

"and when i get to Heaven to Saint Peters i will tell "another kalk mix reporting sire, i have served my time in hell""


:rollface:

i have ons of these, dont harm my frags? not that i know of. maybe they are lurking in th shadow, to stab me in the back>?!?!

 

[3_high_low]

Extreme left side of photo, embeded in the purple stag. You can see the two antenae. This is one that was overgrown by the coral. You can see another in the orange digitata.

I have no photos of them with their nets cast, a sight I prefer not to record:mad2:

 

[zanemoseley]

You may want to watch that digitata, itl looks like it may have bleached some due to getting so close to the milli. I can't really see what you're talking about but it appears its not the tube fellas that go fishing.

 

[3_high_low]

Sorry for the confusion. I'm not blaming the VG's for the digi damage. It is indeed the A. milli that is causing the digi to retreat.

 

[3_high_low]

So what do these little fellas look like, are they the skinny tubes that go fishing for food with those strings.

Correct! More like nets, not single strings.

 

[ReeferMac]

Can you remove the rocks from the tank?
I have found this method 100% effective at removing all manner of pests (Brown star polyp infection like you wouldn't believe).

- Mac

 

[irishpete]

flame thrower. you guys have no limits.

 

[iceman16238]

Mac did u really use that? With no ill effects from the gas and potential oil in the gas? If so, i need that for some out of hand brown and green star polyps.

 

[ReeferMac]

It's butane powered (refillable for a few bucks, too), and burns with a very strong blue flame.. I dunno if it leaves any residue, but yes, I torched square feet worth of LR on any given 'treatment', and didn't have any troubles (other than the die-off of brown star polyps). Go over the rock in a bucket of water w/ a brush of some sort afterwards to help with that.... You can actually control the flame pretty well w/ this thing, and I could get remarkably close to corals I wanted to keep, and do very little to no harm. It was all in the angle.
You knew the vermatids were 'dead' when the top popped off w/ a squirt of steam!

- Mac

 

[SeanT]

Medieval.

 

[Ewan]

Mac, I'll do my best to stay on your good side.

-E.

 

[3_high_low]

Flame thrower lol! Now that is medieval. I might try that for mushroom control. :furious:

The combined efforts of kalking, epoxying, and gouging did pretty well and most of the VG's are dead. Hooray!

 

[iceman16238]

It's butane powered (refillable for a few bucks, too), and burns with a very strong blue flame.. I dunno if it leaves any residue, but yes, I torched square feet worth of LR on any given 'treatment', and didn't have any troubles (other than the die-off of brown star polyps). Go over the rock in a bucket of water w/ a brush of some sort afterwards to help with that.... You can actually control the flame pretty well w/ this thing, and I could get remarkably close to corals I wanted to keep, and do very little to no harm. It was all in the angle.
You knew the vermatids were 'dead' when the top popped off w/ a squirt of steam!

- Mac

I cant take these rocks out of my tank. Can i use that in the tank?

 

[Jive Turkey]

Good work, Slayer. I am glad I killed the few I had back in the day.

BTW, go SOX!! I had wanted to see a Twins/ Sox ALCS, but the GDMFSOB Yankees did it again!!