limpet infestation- clogging return and plumbing!

[amored]

i've had a 4 gallon softies pico up and running for a little over a year. had it's fair share of problems but overall the livestock has remained healthy and no serious losses. however, last week, i noticed the output from the return pump (the only circulation for the tank) was barely flowing. puzzled, i figured a lump of filter floss had gotten stuck or some such so i unplugged the pump and went to clean it out. lo and behold....

 

 

it was absolutely FILLED with tiny (1/4" or smaller) limpets! limpets everywhere! blocking the intake, all in the plumbing, behind the grate, everywhere. i had to scrape them out with a bobby pin. probably removed over a hundred of them. they must've just been hitchhikers on the LR but... in my eight years in this hobby, never seen anything like this! i thought they were good algae eaters and never thought anything of them creeping across the back wall.

 

anybody ever experienced this? should i just keep manually removing them?

[holy carp]

I've never had limpets, but let's see some photos. Over 100 in a 4 gallon tank sounds crazy.

[natalia_la_loca]

I had to clean a lot of vermetids out of the plumbing, but I've never seen limpets do that.

[uwharrie]

I never thought about vermetids clogging plumbing up!

[natalia_la_loca]

I had to think about it a lot

 

Hey, this is my 1,111th post (sorry to hijack your thread lol)

[holy carp]

I had to think about it a lot

 

Hey, this is my 1,111th post (sorry to hijack your thread lol)

 

Natalia, that's just crazy!

[Nano sapiens]

I have had them since day one in my 12g (cream colored, oblong and up to 1/4"). They do get into the return pump and I Iypically find a few each month when I take apart the unit for cleaning. I've never had more than 30-40 or so in the tank at any one time, though.

 

Sounds like something in your tank is very much to their liking!