snail outbreak

[pumbaafoot]

Iam experiencing am outbreak of little slug like creatures at night. About an hour after the lights go out about 50 or so start slithering out. Besides manually removing them, what is the best remedy?

 

[das]

G,day all,
Manually may be the only way! It took us about 12months until they were all caught,then if you get more rock you can introduce them all over again.

 

[BoomerD]

Do they look like these:

If so, stomatella snails...very good part of your tank's cleaner crew...

 

[pumbaafoot]

They do look like the ones in the pic. There is one big grey one and a bunch of little ones with orange-red like markings. They are doing a very good job of keeping the tank clean. My concern is that I only have a 24 gal tank and I have Alot of the creatures and they seem to be consuming my starfish`s food. Of the two I would like to keep the latter.

 

[Woodstock]

I'll take all the stomatella snails (pictured above) that you want to get rid of!

 

[pumbaafoot]

Woodstock- what is the best way to ship them? Maybe I can catch some and send you a present.

 

[Woodstock]

Wet papertowel or bagged with a very small amount of water and lots of air .. USPS Priority would work now with the cooler fall weather.

Don't freak out when you go to pick one off the rock/glass and its shell pops off the body. It will regrow it.

 

[Witfull]

with an outbreak its due to food supply, wonce tank balances population iwll control itsself.

 

[BoomerD]

What kind of stars do you have in a 24 gallon tank? Seems awful small for seastars...unless it's the microbrittles...

 

[pumbaafoot]

I have a red sea star and a sand sifting star.

 

[BoomerD]

Anthony Calfo says one sand-sifting star per 200 gallons, and only then, if there is LOTS of open space between the rocks. These stars live by eating the "bugs" that make live sand "live", and in a small tank, all too often, they decimate the life in the sandbed, then starve. Not sure what your "red seastar" might actually be, since there are many stars that are red...but most will quickly outgrow a 24 gallon tank...

 

[pumbaafoot]

under side

 

[pumbaafoot]

top side
about 2in in diameter. I have had it about 3 months

 

[lcstorc]

Not sure about it, but boy does it look nice.

 

[BoomerD]

Looks to be Fromia milleporella, overall, a good star for reef tanks, but IMO, still not suitable for a nano-tank. These animals need a lot of foods, and will most likely deplete what is available in a nano pretty quickly. Do a google search on the name for more information. (but unfortunately, not a LOT more)

 

[pumbaafoot]

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

[Frankie]

with an outbreak its due to food supply, wonce tank balances population iwll control itsself.

Dave, you need a new key board dude!