Help...Ive got snails!!!!!!

[michael_cb_125]

I have been watching my two crocea clams for the past few weeks. I have been checking them for pyram snails. Well tonite I found some. I found seven on my big clam. I quickly removed them. I checked my small clam and found none. What do I do now? I know that I did not get them all out of my tank. Will my clam be ok. He still looks great and there were not any around his bissal fillaments. They were all hinding under his mantle. Now I am really freaking out. What should I do?

[sasquatch]

Michael go here http://clamsdirect.com/phpbb2/ great site and Sue T is very knowledgeable. Steve

[burning2nd]

i had a out brake of Pyimid snails.......

from what i red the real only way to remove them is thur manual removal......

which means your gonna have to keep an eye on the snails and clams for thos little white dots..... as you see them pull em scrape the p-snails off and keep at it...

on a larger system it could take as much as a year ive hurd to brake there cycle...

On my 30 it took me about 5 months..... as i would remove them could of days later i would find more.... and so on and so on and so on.... but as i keep on it. I started noticeing that there where now serveral to a snail.... they would all start to be clusterd on a single snail or clam...... (which made it ez'r and ez'r to remove)

stay on it, and you will get em....

[Reefcraze_1]

Buy a six line wrasse These are great at keeping snails off your clams (They eat them).

[sihaya]

Wow, someone JUST wrote into WWM about this. Here's what I told him:
PestSnailFAQs

(fyi, I'm "Sara M." )

[chris&barb]

a big problem with trying to use wrasses to eradicate pyram snails is that wrasses sleep at night and pyram snails feed at night. at best wrasses will only keep populations low, they will never get rid of them

[chum]

I have had these little snails all over the glass at night, but they do not seem to do any harm, since I don't have any clams, do I need to worry?

[sihaya]

Originally Posted by chris&barb

a big problem with trying to use wrasses to eradicate pyram snails is that wrasses sleep at night and pyram snails feed at night. at best wrasses will only keep populations low, they will never get rid of them

I agree. I think they can sometimes help if you're just trying to keep them at bay... but they're not going to solve the problem if you have a lot of them.

[sihaya]

Originally Posted by chum

I have had these little snails all over the glass at night, but they do not seem to do any harm, since I don't have any clams, do I need to worry?

Are you sure they aren't cernith snails?

[Frankie]

Not only sixline wrasses but the best wrasse for pyram snails are Yellow Coris wrasse's.

[Reef Goddess]

I second the yellow coris wrasse. They are just a great all around pest remover and won't become as potentially aggressive as a six line. I just had a six line go on a 4 fish killing spree so I'm a little burned on that fish at the moment.

Pyram snails are a pain but very controlable if you keep on top of it. Best thing is to pull your clams out a few hours after the lights are off as this is when pyam come out of hiding. You can hold the clam over your sink and take an old toothbrush, etc to get under the scutes/mantle area and remove the snails. Just take care not to bang up the mantle itself. Pyam also like to lay their eggs at the at the bottom of a clam where the foot would be on croceas. Once you're done scrubbing the snails off, you can give the shell a quick freshwater rinse. As long as you're not letting a lot of water gush into the clam it will be fine. Clams can be kept out of water safely for at least 5-10 minutes. I wouldn't push it beyond that.

When you place your clam back in your tank, be sure to shake it a little after it expells the air because sometimes air can get trapped under the mantle.

There are worse things than pyram snails and if you're deligent you should be able to get rid of them.

Also, pyam that don't have clams to feed on will attack trochus snails, etc. Its happened to mine in the past when I've moved clams to a different system and there hasn't been a "host" for them to feed on. Their shells are bright white whereas baby ceriths have a little brown to them.

[Woodstock]

FYI.. some snails will harbor pyramid snails so you must inspect all newly aquired snails and clean them if possible.

Nov 2003 - pyramids on an astrea snail



At that time I had several dozen snails that I had to remove and wipe with a soft cloth every few days to remove the pyramids. I eventually just went snail-free to starve them out. I did NOT have any clams back then.

[michael_cb_125]

Thanks Woodstock. I has seen where those evil snails, can hitch hike in on other snails. Well, I think that I have them under control. I have not seen any in a few weeks. Luckily even when they were on my clams, the clams did not show any signs of distress. I hope they stay gone.