Vermetid Snail ELIMINATION - In tank Treatments

Im not seeing any hope in infestation control after over a yr of these but at least ive got the small ones.
Lowering feeding & less mucking about the substrate didn't really slow them down much so starving them out isn't going to work.
Going to just poke & crush the ones that are bothering my corals & add an additional Bumblebee snail and live with my natural infestation from the Ocean since they do not seem to really bother anything usually, more a visual nuisance mostly.
 
I took out most of my live rock and went on an intense squashing mission a while back. That and switching to mainly pellet feedings with limited frozen over a period of months helped. They will multiply like mad when anything is suspended in the water column.


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Im not seeing any hope in infestation control after over a yr of these but at least ive got the small ones.
Lowering feeding & less mucking about the substrate didn't really slow them down much so starving them out isn't going to work.
Going to just poke & crush the ones that are bothering my corals & add an additional Bumblebee snail and live with my natural infestation from the Ocean since they do not seem to really bother anything usually, more a visual nuisance mostly.

Changes to feeding won't help because fish poop... and the snails will always have that source. Add as many bumblebee snails as you can. One here and there won't matter. I've got 80-100 in my 300 gal tank and may get more.

Crushing and cutting the snails DOES work. The manual removal is one aspect but crushing or cutting down the siphon attracts the bumblebees like crazy. They will literally swarm around the fresh meal.

If you've eliminated the small ones then the battle is well within your control. The larger ones are easier to manage. Just be persistent and go in about once a week to try and chop up more of them. But definitely get more bumbles.
 
Its been forever since i looked at this thread, and gave up looking for an in tank treatment.

But I do have an update for what its worth...

I recently changed up my aquascape, pulled all my old rock out, and built a bonsai/NSA style aquascape with dry rock. I did that probably 6 months ago and have not seen a single new vermetid colonize the new rock. I also looked at some of my euphillia and duncan skeletons that are normally covered with them and there a few dead snails, but none spreading!

I have been fighting dinos in this tank for probably 18 months without realizing it. I was "waiting the uglies out" and the sand bed just never cleared up.

Last summer, i went on vacation. When i got back, the dino population had gone crazy, i had a ton of hair algae (tangs wouldn't touch it since it was covered in dinos), urchin was dead, etc. My fish were super sluggish and had really poor appetites. I did a WC, ran some carbon, siphoned the dinos and the fish were doing well again shortly after.

I think this even killed all of my vermetid snails!! Not the most practical, but interesting none-the-less.
 
I want to post an update.. ������
After the nuke and been free for over a year.. Last night I saw a group of
snails, recognized the flipping web
I almost crapped myself
After what I went through.. They are back again
So I went to buy stai less steel
Diagonal Nail clipper, and started chopping, there are a couple that. Can't reach, unless remove a few rocks, so I will do it leaving them means new population growth
 
Did you kill the whe tank???


Everything in the tank died due to COVID complications.


I caught the rona and was QT in my RV and the people who live in the house I pay for thought that filling the ATO reservoir was optional because after a day or so the return pump stops making noise.

Well eventually they did put water in the ATO reservoir and an hour or so later the return pump started making noise again...at which point she remembered that you can quiet that pump by adding water to the underneath tank (sump).... which primed the pump and filled the tank with 2-3 hrs of kalkwasser that hat accumulated in the sump.

Fish were jumping out of the tank in agony. It was all over rather quickly 90% died within minutes 10% hung on for a week.

I did come up a lot of live rock and calcium reactor media though!

EWeMw2.jpg


And all my germinated snails and aptasia are dead!
 
I tried the bumblebee snails... and they have been noticeably effective! There are several areas where I've noticed a massive difference pre- and post-snail addition. Even the small shells are gone. Only added a dozen so I think I'll get about 30 more of them and just give them some time. It seems they only go for the small ones but it's possible I just haven't noticed the larger ones being consumed. Regardless, the large vermetids are easy enough to manually remove.

So like I wrote earlier, had a friend with the same experience. I am confirming the same behavior from the bumblebee snails. They do work! Biological control, no need for chemicals, remove them if they become a problem for any other organisms (easy enough). Worth giving them a try and sharing your experience. Note: I added them about two months ago or more. So you have to be patient!



I noticed a few small ones but it was not an issue, until I moved a mushroom rock near some other corals and noticed the sizable nets they were casting. I added 10 Bumblebee snails to my 125 and am curious, is this enough? I put the plyers and screw driver to a few but realize that if a few are visible, there are bound to be more. I've subsequently seen the reports of plagues and I do not want to get to that point. Any advice in regards to the bumble bee snail and the amount I should have in my tank is appreciated.
 
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