Vermetid Snail ELIMINATION - In tank Treatments

[pisanoal]

What this thread IS:
A discussion about testing various reef safe (stocked sps tank) chemical treatment methods for eliminating vermetid snails.

What this thread IS NOT:
A discussion about whether these are harmful or not.

A discussion about which fish/snail/crab eats these or not. (Nothing has been found to be reliable)

A discussion about manual removal, superglueing, aptasia lasers, epoxy, nuking rock work, kalk paste injection (did I get them all?) methods. These are not a permanent solutions. And not feasible for a lot of people.

There are other threads out there geared towards the above, please use those to discuss what this thread is not meant to address. If you post any of the above, you will be politely jeared, made fun of, scolded, berated, publicly humiliated and shunned...kidding of course, but please lets stay on topic!


Now that we have that straight, here is the setup.

A 10 gallon tank with an aquaclear filter, a sponge, some ceramic media. A piece of live rock from my display with vermetid snails attached (the small plague like variety). A heater, a powerhead and an incandescent light (mostly for inspection).

And the plan:
To find a chemical treatment method that has already been proven to be reef safe. If snails have to be removed to save them, that is acceptable, what I don't want is something where fish and coral have to be taken out. If there is a solution where that has to be done, but the chemicals can be easily removed after, then that can be a last resort discussion. I don't want to nuke the tank. Ive spent 1.5 years and the tank is finally getting stable, if I cant get rid of these things, then I will live with them. Also, many people have thriving huge tanks with sps reefs with lots of fish, and I want to find a solution that works as well for them as it does for someone that has a 20 gallon long with a few fish and coral (If one exists).

I plan to test and have already started a few:

Sentinel Spectrum
Prazipro at stronger then normal doses
Fenbendazole

If you know of something that is generally reef safe, but harmful to snails, that would be helpful. If you have any other ideas of things you think could work, even if they haven't in the past at whatever dosage you tried, please post them and the dosage. I will try them at higher doses if possible.

Thanks for joining me, hopefully we are successful!

 

[pisanoal]

Sentinel Spectrum:

I dissolved one large dog pill in 500 mL of RODI water.

1 large dog pill = 23mg Milbemycin Oxime, 460 mg Lufenuron, 228 mg Praziquantel.

This has been found to be reef safe, although the lufenuron reportedly decimates copepod populations.

Typically used for red bugs at dosages usually around 1 large pill per 300 gallons of water. But has been successfully used at much higher dosages with no "other" ill effects, only what was expected. We will call a standard dose .076 mg MO (milbemycin oxime) per gallon.

I dosed 25 mls of my solution into the 10 gallon tank (0.115 mg per gallon). Still alive 24 hrs later, dosed a second 25 mls, still alive. Doesn't appear to be working...

I have seen a report of interceptor spectrum working, but was unable to get it. I just found out its called interceptor plus now. It is 23mg MO and 228mg prazi. I cant see lufenuron saving the vermetids, so should be as effective?

I sent a PM to the user who reported this working on two tanks, but no response.

 

[RobZilla04]

Following...

Also with a 1.5 year old tank. These little guys are getting out of hand. I thought I was going to have to deal with them in hopes they will phase out, but that doesn't look to be likely.

I agree the solutions you've banned discussing either won't work with a guarantee or are not feasible.

 

[Grimreaperz]

Following as well.....sick of seeing these guys. I have done manual removal methods only to miss a tiny one and they come back..

 

[jda]

I have treated using Sentinel and Interceptor for red bugs. They did not kill any of my "good" snails. I am looking forward to seeing if this works on these particular snails since I have a few nasty verms here and there.

 

[pisanoal]

I have treated using Sentinel and Interceptor for red bugs. They did not kill any of my "good" snails. I am looking forward to seeing if this works on these particular snails since I have a few nasty verms here and there.

What dosage did you use? And what versions? Regular interceptor and sentinel? Or the spectrum versions? That info will help me run a trial.

My next move is to do a little research and see what the highest safe dosage people have used and see how that compares to what I've tried already. If I can increase to a dose that will still be safe for a tank I will try that. The alternative is to do a super dose and see if this stuff will do anything at all then try to evaluate how safe it is before coming up with a dosing strategy for my tank

The other thing I might be missing is I'm running a sponge in the a.c. filter. Ive noticed my sentinel solution has some solids to it and in wondering if the Verms need to ingest it directly. My gut says the solids are fillers and not active ingredients, but its a possibility.

 

[pisanoal]

Following as well.....sick of seeing these guys. I have done manual removal methods only to miss a tiny one and they come back..

I feel you. I tried hard to keep these things out of my new setup. Had them all over in my old. Started dry rock and sand, acid cleaned all equipment, carefully removed all I could see from coral bases and dipped in Bayer. They still popped up on the coral and I would get then when I saw them. Eventually they escaped to the rock work. And here we are...

 

[jda]

OG interceptor way back when Dustin first released the formula. ...whatever that dosage was.

I cannot remember what the sentinel was.

I have interceptor tasty chews, but never had to use them... I have gotten better at keeping pests out.

 

[Kayvon]

I've tried Prazipro at higher than recommended doses (can't remember the exact amount). It doesn't work I'm afraid. I remember it eliminated the slime trails for a while, so it might have caused them to retreat temporarily.

 

[pisanoal]

I've tried Prazipro at higher than recommended doses (can't remember the exact amount). It doesn't work I'm afraid. I remember it eliminated the slime trails for a while, so it might have caused them to retreat temporarily.

Thanks for your input. I also tried prazipro. I added it a couple of days ago at about 4x reocommended dose. There is also praziquantel in the sentinel spectrum, so the dose is even higher. Didnt notice a reduction in webs, but there is not a lot of suspended detritus in the test tank, so I dont notice them anyway. Maybe prolonged exposure to prazipro if it has an effect on their feeding could be a solution to evaluate.

I'm out of town for the next few days and havent done any wc's or added any carbon. So the meds are still floating around in the test tank. We will see what things look like when I return.

Anyone know any treatments for other pests that are not considered snail safe?

 

[pisanoal]

OG interceptor way back when Dustin first released the formula. ...whatever that dosage was.

I cannot remember what the sentinel was.

I have interceptor tasty chews, but never had to use them... I have gotten better at keeping pests out.

I've read multiple times that regular interceptor doesn't work for these guys. I was hoping the anecdotal evidence of spectrum would be accurate, but it appears not to be.

Good to hear on keeping pests out. Much easier to deal with that way.

 

[pisanoal]

Quick update, large dose of sentinel spectrum and rxtra dose of prazipro did not take these out. I'm headed on vacation for a week, so I did not do any more testing in preparation. When I return, the next thing on the list is fenbendazole.

 

[iced98lx]

Anecdotal at best but I noticed a significant decrease in webs and growth/multiplication when my dosing of Lanthanum Chloride spilled over the filter sock and the tank became cloudy with the precipitate. Most agree it's not healthy for fish/filter feeders however. It's my guess that the vermetid snails did not appreciate it in their webs. Might be worth trying if you've got the setup to do so. Nothing in my tank appeared worse for wear though I did not have any clams/many filter feeders.

 

[kainic]

Subscribed. I don't think a chemical aproach will be our final solution to this battle. This snails can protect themselves from the environment due to its door type shell. If they feel they are in danger they retract to the base and close and I think it's near to hermetic.
Will you do tests with a biological approach such as natural predators?

 

[pisanoal]

Anecdotal at best but I noticed a significant decrease in webs and growth/multiplication when my dosing of Lanthanum Chloride spilled over the filter sock and the tank became cloudy with the precipitate. Most agree it's not healthy for fish/filter feeders however. It's my guess that the vermetid snails did not appreciate it in their webs. Might be worth trying if you've got the setup to do so. Nothing in my tank appeared worse for wear though I did not have any clams/many filter feeders.

Thanks for the info, ill add it to the list to try if the fenbendazole dewormerr does not work.

I agree that its pretty well thought that LaCl particulate is bad for the tank, so we can work on that hurdle if it appears to be effective.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

 

[pisanoal]

Subscribed. I don't think a chemical aproach will be our final solution to this battle. This snails can protect themselves from the environment due to its door type shell. If they feel they are in danger they retract to the base and close and I think it's near to hermetic.
Will you do tests with a biological approach such as natural predators?

No I will not be testing natural predators, please reread my initial post.

As for your comment about them being able to protect themselves, that is only true for a finite amount of time. They can't seal themselves forever. They need to respire like any other living creature and need to exchange water to do so. There is anecdotal evidence of killing them with various treatments for other pests.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

 

[jda]

Treated my acropora isolation tank with Interceptor Spectrum a few days ago at normal Red Bug doses (23mg of MO per 300G). V snails are mad and have not been out making any webs, but I doubt that they are dead. If for some reason they end up dying, I will post back, but I doubt it too...

 

[pisanoal]

Sorry for the long delay folks. I went on vacation, had to travel a week for work, and have had some other home projects going on.

So here's the update... I really was hoping something less potent was going to work on these suckers, so that's what I tested first. But I was pretty confident that fendbendazole would work. Well, I was wrong, at least at the dosage I tried. As I have said a few times, my main source for this chemical working is a thread on another forum called "Here it is! Fendbendazole use against hydroids". The OP used a product called safeguard 4, which has the active ingredient, fendbendazole. The catch is, there are granules in the packet and there is powder. The granules are the fenbendazole. So he painstakingly separated out the granules, crushed them up, and dosed it that way. Later in the thread, someone found a new source of fendbendazole, a pure packet on amazon that can be dosed as is. The product is called fish bendazole. I purchased that product in hopes of trying it, but later in that thread, and on RC, users stated that it was not affecting the vermetids. So I came to the conclusion that it was another chemical in the safeguard 4 that was actually killing them. So based on this theory, I decided I would use the safeguard.

I went through the process of separating the granules, and placed them in 100 ml of RODI water. I then put it through the blender to thoroughly crush and disperse the granules. Now lets talk about dosage for a second... In the original account, the OP of the "other" thread said they used 1-4 gram packet (separated) to treat 125 gallons of water. But later, they stated that they used pure fendbendazole at 250 mg for 175 gal and was recommending a dose of 1.5 mg/gal. The safeguard 4 packets say they are 22.2% fendbendazole. So if the granules are the fenbendazole, then 22.2% of 4 grams is 888mg. For 125 gallons, this is 7.1 mg/gal. They argue this in the other thread, but never come to a consensus.

Anyways, I dosed the approx. 1.5 mg per gallon in my ten gallon test tank and waited 48 hours. Guess What!! nothing... So dosed another 2 doses. So if you are doing the math with me, that's 4.5 mg per gallon or 3x the "recommended" (?) dose. In 48 hours, guess what now?? Yep, good job, nothing! Those little b-words (the longer one) still poke their little indignant heads out of their annoying little shells.

Now I have ordered a couple more fish for my display, and im trying a clam for the first time, so I need my qt tank back to set up for the clam to sit in to make sure he's not carrying any ich cysts. I think before I throw this rock back in the tank in exasperation, Ill put it in a bucket with a powerhead and try 8 mg/gallon of fenbendazole, heck maybe 10 just because I can...

Ill check back in, but if that doesn't work, then this is "To be continued at a later date". Please keep the discussion going if someone else finds this thread and thinks they have something that is worth testing.

 

[Mrs. Music]

Has anyone tried running a wire brush over the visible verm snails while doing the treatment? My thinking is that the brush would damage them a bit and allowe medication to penetrade the shell.

 

[pisanoal]

Has anyone tried running a wire brush over the visible verm snails while doing the treatment? My thinking is that the brush would damage them a bit and allowe medication to penetrade the shell.

I haven't tried this, but typically before I administer medication, I feed the tank so they are out and active. They dont stay holed up for days when I have done these treatments, may be maybe a few minutes, but then they come out and are fully exposed to it.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk