Snails upside down

Manimore

Member
I added snails a week ago. I find some upside down with a "mucus" web around them. Then after 1-2 days they right themselves and move on. My question what is causing this "web". Could it be some hitchhiker praying on them?


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Marty.h

Well-Known Member
Only thing I found in mine that was decimating my snail population was a Polyclad flatworm which also eats clams you will have to check with a red light at night they look like this can be big or small

what%20is%20this%20flatworm.jpg



They can blend in very well and can be darker then the one pictured and soon moves from light they are nocturnal if you do see one don't try and grab it as will turn to snot simply syphon it out.
I would suspect if you have one in there you will soon find empty shells they can easily hitchike in.
 

Manimore

Member
Wow they are amazing looking creatures. If I see one it will be siphoned. I like my snails.


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Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Well, there are several possibilities that I can think of for the mucus web. They are listed below. Maybe others have additional thoughts and will post as well.

1) Some snails when upside down can't right themselves and die. Dead snails can have a mucus type web around them from decaying flesh.

2) If you have nassarius snails, they will attack an upside down snail that is dying. Nassarius snail leave behind a mucus trail on the dying/dead snail shell.

3) Oenone worms hunt snails. A tell tail sign that you have one is a mucus web on snail shells. This worm looks like a bristle worm at a casual glance. A more careful examination will reveal that the worm does not have setae (bristles), but instead fleshy lobules. Oenone worms are also much quicker/alert than bristle worms and secrete a clear, viscous jelly. Article here, 16th paragraph.

If you find a snail upside down, turn it over. Some snails aren't able to right themselves and then become susceptible to predators or end up dying upside down.
 

Manimore

Member
I am suspecting the Oenone worm. I had seen one one night thought it was a Bristol worm but it was very fast.
c245b30aed19d74d4b96c6f632d7250f.jpg
you can see the mucus web in the picture it seems they get stunned but the worm has a hard time actually eating them so when the mucus clears they are back on their way.


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Manimore

Member
I caught the offender. After several failed attempts it was attacking yet another margarita snail on the rock it resided in so I layed in wait. Just when he wrapped himself around the snail I pounces with my tweezers and took him down. Oeneida 7 snails 1 but it's that all important one that counts.
ab6d03dca3f580e3fad4d3ab50fec29e.jpg



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Dracko

Well-Known Member
Oenone fulgida are not too hard to remove from a system, but it takes diligence. They most often live in burrows in rock, and enter aquaria in uncured rocks, and being nocturnal, the hobbyist has to search for them in the middle of the night. Using a red flashlight is best, as they will rapidly withdraw in the beam of a normal flashlight. They will appear as long worms stretched out and over the rocks. Once an Oenone individual is presumed to be living in a tank, the hobbyist must watch it withdraw in order to see where its burrow is found. After the rock with the burrow is located, the rock must be removed and the animal flushed from its burrow using a flood of carbonated water (soda pop works well). The worm is then discarded, and the rock replaced in the aquarium.
 

Manimore

Member
I read about the soda thing. So far I still have my snails but as soon as I start seeing slime again I might take that drastic measure. The rock I suspect most of them in also has tons of little feather dusters, brittle stars and snails I don't want to hurt them.


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Manimore

Member
Just a quick update: saw more slime, found the offender and saw which rock it lives in. Had a moment of weakness and dipped the rock in soda water 5 min. rinsed with fresh saltwater thoroughly and put the rock back in. Not 2 minutes later it comes crawling out of the rock i grab my tweezers but no luck. Now i am officially p.... off especially since i didn't want to ruin my bacteria on the rock. So i say, let's go take the rock out soda dip again, fresh new fizzy soda at that. 10 minutes nothing 20 minutes nothing, finally i see part of it, grab my tweezers and it just falls apart. I lift the rock and set it over the bucket for another 20 minutes hoping it comes out to get back in the water, nothing. I ended up rinsing the rock and putting it back in. Later last night he kept coming out just a couple inches, i pinched off 3 more small bits but he is still alive.
Then this morning, my wife and i look in the tank and there is a dead snail in the back and another oenone strechted literally accross the entire length of the RSM 130.
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Drako provided sound advice. It will take diligence to get these out of the tank. I had one four years ago. Sacrificing one (or two) rocks is worth it. The bacteria will repopulate in time back in the tank. When I was able to target the rock that my oenone was it, I left the rock sitting near the surface of salt water, in a bucket, overnight. The next morning the worm was in the salt water and out of the rock.
 

spiraling

Well-Known Member
I have the same problem. They are terrible. I can't remove my rock so I made a trap and it does work, but you often have to catch them in the middle of the night. They also will breed in your tank quite readily. I've been battling them for a year, but haven't seen one in a few months (I know they are still in there)

trap instructions (I didn't invent it - just used the instructions)
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1913372
 

Manimore

Member
This may be a stupid question but after the cycle nitrate 20, ammonia 0, trite 0 we added two clowns and they both died quickly. Do you think the worms could be at fault? One thing I noticed that after day one they barely came out from behind the rocks. The little one never ate the female at fine but still died 5 days in. We checked levels every day morning and evening and are quite confident it is not the water. The hiding in the rock thing really has me confused because clowns don't usually do that. There was no other fish in there. The only other thing I can think of was hydroids which I have all over the glass stinging them but I saw some threads that said little white ones on the glass are no issue. Confused and suspecting the worms.
 

spiraling

Well-Known Member
I have clowns and a gobi (and pistol shrimp buddy) with the worms (and at one time a heavy population of bristle worms too). They never had a problem, even with the gobi and shrimp living in the same rock as many worms, even when they were all quite small. The worms "stun" snails by putting the clear goop all over them then they eat them. I don't think that's really possible with moving healthy fish.
 
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