I've been having a real problem with pyramid snails an my clams and manual removal has proven both tedious and very annoying as well has not that effective.......never had a problem before and all of a sudden there they were


any tricks that i'm missing here??

any info would be super appreciated guys!!!


thanks

Do you have a six line in your tank? I'm pretty sure they're known to eat pyramid snails--and they cruise around picking off prey and eating all day long.

Rockfish...... That's a bummer! Did these come in on your new clams from LA? Fortunately, I don't have these pests. But here is a link for you that deals with pyramid snails:

http://www.reefaquariumforum.com/my-pyrami...tank-t5012.html

I noticed one suggestion was to do a 1 minute FWD and scrub with a toothbrush.

Good Luck!

six line wont eat the snails really. best is a yellow c wrasse or leapord warsse. but the best way to remove these snails is remove all regulare snails from the tank sence they feed on them, remove the clams to a place the p snails cant get to them (like a floating rack). and then just wait. with no food scource 2 things will happen. they starve and die off, or if your really unlucky then they start eating algee... like mine did... then your screwed... like me.

best of luck.

+1 to a canary wrasse (aka yellow "coris")

i've heard mixed things about yellow wrasees being reef safe???



opinions??? anyone have one?

They don't harm corals. Picking on tube worms and eating pods would be the extent of their damage. Note I'm talking about Halichoeres chrysus. There are multiple yellow wrasses.

same +1

Halichoeres chrysus....yellow coris or yellow canary wrasse.....yea i gotcha

The yellow wrasse will help...freshwater dips will most or all of the snails currently on the clam, and I highly recommend them!

if you have a lot of pyramid snails here's what i would do...

-remove the clam(s) from the tank
-inspect each clam visually, focusing near the foot of the clams and any scutes on the clam's shell
-manually remove the snails with a toothbrush and or toothpicks (make sure to do this over a spare bucket and not the aquarium)
-siphon the sand in the area around the clam since some snails have surely fallen off
-repeat as much as possible, making sure the clam doesn't get stressed out too much

this, in my opinion is one of the better methods for pyramid snail removal.

i also want second what Jungle_John said:

removing and quarantining the clam will help tremendously. you can manually remove the snails you see and let the others in the tank starve. but the only problem with this is the fact that the snails may survive longer than you choose to quarantine.

a coris wrasse will help, but the problem with using wrasses for pest control is that they don't get all of the pests, but merely help keep the population in check to some extent. a freshwater dip will knock off most/all of the snails, but i do not recommend a freshwater dip simply because the process is so stressful. the already stressed out clam may not do well during/after a freshwater dip.

I use to have a ton of them till i got my yellow wrasse and my christmas wrasse.Man did i hate them things.