400+ tiny snails over taking my tank. Ahh!

[EricSIny]

so my tank has been running for almost 7 months now, everything has been going well...until about 2 months ago I noticed some "cute" tiny white snails in my sump about the size of a pencil tip, not really thinking too much of it I decided to do a little research (I like to know EVERY species in my tank regardless of size) and narrowed it down to what looks like a pyram snail. Ok so I kind of ignored it being there was just a couple in the sump and I have no clams for them to feed off of.

Well a couple weeks went by and I started seeing a couple more in my DT, even showing my gf how "cute" they looked...ok again not thinking too much of it I started seeing about 5-10 more or so crawling on the glass and what not. It's then I noticed they're not just white ones but brown and black as well, ok no biggie.

May 1st me and the gf take a vaca to Vegas for a week. I got home about 12am and flicked on my lights and couldn't believe what I saw, literally close to 400-500 of these guys and thats just what I can see! They're on LR, glass, and almost covering the sand bed completely. Instantly I was concerned not knowing what to do so tried scooping out what I could (only about 30-50). Now it seems everyday I come home there is more and more in my tank and I don't know what the hell to do.

Is there a cure for this?
Is there any livestock I can use to eat these things?
Should I leave it be?
Will they die on their own?
Since my system is only 60g total should I be concerned w/ amm spikes from deaths?
should I be concerned at all?
Do pyram snails come w/ black and brown shells or just white?
If so, will they survive w/ no clams to feed off of?
WWJD??

Sorry for all the questions!

Params are all ok ATM as well as livestock doesn't seem to be affected ATM.

Thanks guys!

....and gals

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

Eric, it sound's very interesting what your going through with this outbreak. my advice to you Eric would be not to worry if there are no clams in your display tank and hopefully they'll just die off in time. trust me ive seen these sorta outbreaks before and dont last very long they just all dissapear sooner or later. hope this helps...

[MattyO]

With flatworms I took airline tubing, created a siphon from the DT, and put the end into my filter sock. I then suck out all I could see and didn't loose any water cause it was just going into the sump. Hope that helps a little

[SushiGirl]

If they are pyramellid snails, they'll also prey on the other snails in your tank. We got a yellow coris wrasse specifically for this problem (not as big as yours LOL), and in a month they were all gone. They may also be rissoid snails, which are good. Very hard to tell. If you see them on your other snails, then it's a lot easier to tell that they're pyrams.

[aleonn]

I've never had an outbreak of pyramidal snails before, but I did have one of stomatella snails. Stomatellas are beneficial and not parasitic like the pyramidal snails, so I didn't mind. However, when I got a yellow coris wrasse, all my stomatella snails were gone within a month. The yellow coris and melanarus wrasses are pretty effective at pest control.

[MakomekTVN]

I'm trying to find a cure myself as I have alot of those small snail and it's driving me crazy
when it got stuck in my MP10 and making a loud cracking noise in the middle of the night where I have to turn off the pump and wash it to get it off ,My tank is in my bedroom.

[SushiGirl]

Interestingly, our coris doesn't touch the stomatellas (that are finally coming back now that the cleaner shrimp that ate them died LOL) nor the baby or adult strombus snails that you'd think it would love. I have no idea why it hasn't.

[EricSIny]

Chaotic- thanks for the words of wisdom it does help put me at ease a bit.

Matty- thanks for the idea, I'll give it a shot..However I may have to take a day off of work as I might be there for a while sucking these guys out, but every little bit helps right? LoL

I'll also give the yellow coris a shot as I've been looking for an excuse to tell the gf to buy another fish anyway plus I do like the yellow color.

Thanks for the responses, any other suggestions are appreciated!

I'll be sure to do the above and post back w/ results.

[napsterMS]

I have the same thing in my tank!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of them have grown to a little over 3/8 of an inch. Do you think that these could be juvenile snails?

[SushiGirl]

napster, no way to tell without a pic or unless you google pyramellid snail.
Eric, make sure your tank is covered. Mine hits the lights in the canopy almost at least once a day LOL.

[EricSIny]

Update..

Problem still exists, snail population has nearly doubled since but I see no ill effects from it, fish and corals are all ok.

I had purchased a yellow coris from an online distributor but he arrived DOA I got a refund but haven't gotten around to getting another one because I had purchased other livestock along with him so I didn't get my shipping refunded and don't feel like spending $39 just to ship 1 fish.

Anyways I was hoping this outbreak would soon die down but it doesn't appear that way just yet..

[SushiGirl]

No good local store to get one from?

[disc1]

BE careful that you are really seeing pramellids and not collonistas. The latter are much less of a problem.

[EricSIny]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

No good local store to get one from?

I took the hour drive last weekend to the only "local" store I trust and they sold the last one the day before
Not a total loss though, walked away with a beautiful plate coral

Originally Posted by disc1

BE careful that you are really seeing pramellids and not collonistas. The latter are much less of a problem.

Yea they can very well be collonistas (can't tell without microscope). I'm just not too happy about anything i can't really ID and that multiply this fast, ya know.

Although I have to say its atleast entertaining to see about 30-40 of them get sucked off the glass and rocks and blown all around the tank when the mp10 picks up

[SushiGirl]

Collonista
Collonista_snail2.jpg
collonista_snail3.jpg

Pyramellid (next to starfish)
starfish&snail.jpg

[EricSIny]

Yea they have the shell type of a pyram, long and skinny. Bout the size of a pen point

[Misled]

While not my favorite fish, a six-line will take them out. I rented one for a couple months and haven't seen any in over a year.

[devildog999]

Originally Posted by EricSIny

WWJD??

That by far got me good, don't know why. Sorry, lol

[EricSIny]

Originally Posted by Misled

While not my favorite fish, a six-line will take them out. I rented one for a couple months and haven't seen any in over a year.

Yea would definitely have to rent one as he would quickly outgrow my 36g

Originally Posted by devildog999

That by far got me good, don't know why. Sorry, lol

[SushiGirl]

I never paid attention to your tank size, might have to rent the coris. Mine is always moving, but only in half of the tank (no idea why), which is a 55, so it could probably work in a 36 as it's not aggressive like a 6-line. 6-lines are easier to get, but mean in smaller tanks and harder to remove LOL.

[Misled]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

harder to remove LOL.

You just don't know!!!

[Michigan Mike]

I believe your tank size is acceptable but bio load and other conditions may apply also, besides you may just not want one permanently.

[EricSIny]

The coris while dead was pretty small about 2 inches. Id be more concerned about the six line as it being aggressive in a small tank like you said because I have peaceful fish. I think the coris if purchased as a juvi should work for a bit,probably spend a lot of time under the sand though since it won't have a ton of room to swim and I have 5 other small fish in there.

Ugh I need to move already so I can upgrade.

[SushiGirl]

Originally Posted by Misled

You just don't know!!!

I've read enough!

Our coris grew pretty quick, a couple months & it was full size, started at 3" when we got it. I think you'd be fine, though unless you have a full load already like Mike said.

Edit for reading comprehension (pain pill kicked in )! 5 fish...hmmm. We have 3 in a 55 LOL. Are there enough swim throughs? Holes & such? That's mostly what ours does, winding around the rocks with some jumping out of the water for no reason. Ours hid for the 1st 9 days if we were home, so obviously he was eating them for those 9 days cuz he certainly wasn't being fed! What are your other fish?

[EricSIny]

There's a good amount of rock work for grazing and I believe enough room for swimming.
2 Clowns, fire goby,bar goby (hides most of the day), and a spotted cardinal (which I forget I have most the time)