Eradicating pyramidelline snails

[wombat1]

I just read this thread http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t ... +parasites
I'm guessing the tiny pure white snails with the long slender shell at the base of my T. derasa are these. Are these indicative of an unhealthy clam or bad water conditions?? I need to find another way to get rid of these guys besides buying a six line wrasse if possible. My 30 gallon is close to stocking limit, and I doubt my maroon clowns or pygmy angel would like one in the tank. Also, the snails are practically buried in the sand underneath the clam, how would the wrasse get to them?? Can I just remove these guys once a week if I see them again??

 

[wombat1]

Almost forgot. I found a bristleworm underneath the clam too, but I find them under all the rocks as well. Harmless, right??

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
Remove them as often as time allows. They killed 3 of my clams, and now when I get clam from someone, I always Q it for a few weeks before putting it in my display.

I started to manuelly removing them after I lost my first clam. I keep a small vial with the snails that I removed, and there were about 50 of them before I misplaced the vial.

 

[wombat1]

O P, do you think once a week is often enough??? And do they keep coming back indefinitely??? I've had this guy for about two months w/o ever noticing one on him until now

 

[newkie]

A 6-line wrasse can be employeed to eat the snails. Do some research, there are many fish that will prey on the snails. Its not a waterquality issue, they are parasites pure and simple.

Regarding the bristle worm, I prefer they do not live on or near the sensitive bysal gland. Derasas are found on/in rocks in nature, not on the sand. While they thrive in our tanks on the sandbed just find you may want to place a flat rock underneath him, he'll attach it and then you won't have to worry about that sensitive area being exposed. HTH

 

[reefland]

Take the clams out every other night and scrub the shell with a toothbrush (wife's perhaps? :wink: ) Rinse the shell with some tank water. This will remove the snails and destroy the egg masses they lay. After the first week they should get pretty rare. I've used this method a few times.

 

[jamesw]

Biological control using wrasses is successful, but oftentimes, the wrasse ends up eating all the snails, then terrorizing your tank.

When I had these snails as a newbie, I added a baby Coris gaimardi - it ate them all , then started flipping over all my corals and generally making a nuisance of itself.

HTH
James

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Manual romove is best. Keep your clam on the sand for the first month or two. Tank them out every few night to remove all the snails. Stop after you don't find any snails for two to three weeks.
I used all the wrasses, never help very much because these snails are night creatures (that is why their shell is completly white without and algae on it). They hide durring the day and only come out at night. Wrasse on the other hand are day fishes.
Minh Nguyen

 

[wombat1]

Thanks very much for the help guys. I would like to have a six line some day, but my maroon clown would kill one if I dropped it in my tank. I'll take the advice and lift him out of the water every day to scrub them off. Rich, I'll be using my roommate's toothbrush b/c I don' have a wife I'm glad to see so many experienced folks helped me...thanks again!

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
I would go again using your roomate's toothbrush if you are planing to kiss her before going to bed. :wink:

Seriously, I only use the manuel method because of the problem that other mentioned with wrasses. The problem with manuel method is that it is time consuming, and it always make you feel bad for bothering the clam. The reason that the snails seem to come back evey week because they grow well in aquarium setup, and reproduce readily. You need to be persistent, and remove all adults (egg and juven. are very small) so that the life cycle is stopped. If you found you have this problem after the clam is attached, then you will have to drill the clam out to get to the area that the snails stay... a real PITA. Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a six line that may have eaten one snail off of my clams. Other than that he has been pretty useless at eliminating these pests. He does get along well with my maroon clown pair. He is a fun fish to watch, just not too good at snail eating. Eats the heck out of flake food though.

 

[Adam1]

Hi all,

First of all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.... Quarantine clams, and scrub them frequntly before introducing them into a display.

As far as cures go, I agree that all around, manual removal is best.

I had a four line wrasse that was a cool fish and kept the pyramidellids in check, but also almost drove pods to extinction in my tank and brutalized my mandarin and ocellaris.

HTH

Adam