Vermetid snail predator or control?

[JoelA7]

Hello,

I swear 20 years ago I never had some of the issues that I've experienced getting my new tank going. But one issue at a time I'm learning and solving. The latest is many many tiny red tubed vermetid snails. They don't seem to be harming things, yet. But I've read they can when their numbers get too high. And nothing I've read points to a natural predator. Which I would really prefer. So the question:

What eats these things in the wild?

I'd truly prefer natural control to manual.

Thank you.

 

[Chief Reef]

the only harm harm they do is potentially irritate corals into closing up when they let their "feeding lines" out. especially during feeding time. Personally i found manually removing them works great. i read most people use clippers but i just reached in the and snapped them as close to the base and as quickly as possible, they basically disintegrate in your fingers.

Cleared alot of rock like this and none of them ever came back, though ive heard they can be really stubborn and you have to make sure to get the base because they draw in when disturbed. if you do this mind your hands and of course wear gloves. some of them can be really pointy. Or you could just use clipper.

dont know of any predator that feeds on them with any certainty though i can imagine something in the wrasse family would gladly eat them, ive heard of certain wrasse's taking the spines off urchins to get at them.

 

[rgulrich]

From what I've read and experienced (and here's a sample link as well - they do interfere with coral growth: (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/vermetid-snails-harm-coral-reefs-with-multiprong-attack
). You'll need to run a Google search for vermetid snails and trapezia sp. crabs to get a more complete picture of combating this problem.
These articles also provide a venue for some semblance of control...and the Trapezia sp. are kinda neat, too. I've a collection that roam from coral head to coral head that I've only recently stocked.
Now, in between these coral heads and before purchasing the Trapezia sp. crabs, I've used both long needle nose pliers to crunch the snail shells on the rock and very thing jeweler's screw drivers to "punch out" or punch a hole in the operculum (the "door" the snail closes as it retracts into its shell) to kill the snail. This is especially useful for those snails that infest a coral that you can't get to with a needle nose or diagonal cutter. The fish and surrounding corals appreciate the addition to their normal feeding, too.
From everything I've read they tend to enjoy broadcast feeding times (hence the mucous "fishing lines" they send out) and can populate pretty rapidly. I've taken the basic maintenance approach that I use for the rest of the aquarium - I work on eradicating nuisance anemone (all the aiptasia are gone, now working on the remaining majano and then the most difficult, the mini-rock anemone), any nuisance algae, even pruning back/fragging coral that begins to overgrow it's location.
Sorry for the lengthy response, but hope this helps in some way.
Cheers,
Ray

 

[JoelA7]

Thanks guys. One anecdote I saw has a yellow coris eating them but only 1 instance. I'll look into the trapezia crabs.

 

[SPS_Addiction]

the web they have can irritate and kill more sensitive corals. Some of my SPS lost color and some lokanis die from getting too irritated by their web.

 

[JoelA7]

Trapezia crabs don't look promising they seem to be obligate symbionts to SPS. I might look at a coris but it seems that manual is the way forward. Well. I was considering an aqua scape change anyway...

 

[MondoBongo]

i've taken to manual removal of these guys whenever i see them.

usually i either try to crush the tube with the rigid airline tube on the end of my siphon, or if that won't work using bone cutters, pliers, or something else suitably tough to demolish their tube, then sucking them out in the siphon.

for any ones i can't destroy and remove, i have been putting small wads of reef stick epoxy over the end of their tubes, entombing them, just like The Cask of Amontillado.

 

[snorvich]

entombing them, just like The Cask of Amontillado.

What a great description. Needle nose pliers work.

 

[MondoBongo]

What a great description. Needle nose pliers work.

:lol:

thanks.

some of the larger ones can have surprisingly tough tubes, so if i can't bust them open, i seal them in. i feel a little sadistic about it, but their webs are annoying.

 

[cubsFAN]

I had success with Halichores Melanuras. Those guys eat just about everything.

 

[JoelA7]

I have a melanarus which I got small and is not about 2" so perhaps in a while it might start on them. Have a yellow coris on order. I think there are a thousand in the tank. To get rid of them I'd have to take each rock out and painstakingly go over things.

 

[cubsFAN]

I have a melanarus which I got small and is not about 2" so perhaps in a while it might start on them. Have a yellow coris on order. I think there are a thousand in the tank. To get rid of them I'd have to take each rock out and painstakingly go over things.

yup. I was at that point. I downsized tanks and had to get rid of the wrasse and they came back. Heart breaker. I'll be setting up a new tank in a few months. Hope I can avoid another encounter with those guys.