Nightmare Snail Killer! What is it? pictures

[r20crazy]

its is a polyclad (IIRC) flatworm. they eat clams and snails. you need to find out where it lives and place the trap shown near it with like a clam/ molusk from the grocery store in the trap and sit and watch with lights out. wait till fully inside trap, as they move fast.... you most likely have more than one, with one that size

[mobilehurricane]

fortunately i do not have a clam, and since the latest attack i have no more snails lol well other than lots of stomatellas and i have seen one of their shells near the opening as well.

 

i found out that they move fast tonight when i tried to catch it with some pliers, it was all i had to fit in such a small space. i know where it came out of several times and will try putting the bottle there tomorrow evening and see what i come up with. hopefully i don't have too many of them even though if all they do is eat snails and clams i'm alright now since i have none of either.

[Weetabix7]

You can't grab ahold of it with anything, they're too squishy.

[mobilehurricane]

lol yeah i found that out, seems like there is no structure at all...it slipped away several times and once i got about a 1/4" piece of it that just broke right off. will have to try the bottle method for sure

[Markushka]

If you do catch it and are looking to rehome it, I think i'd look pretty cool in my lion/urchin tank.

[mobilehurricane]

well then i will let you know when and if i can catch it. maybe tonight i will get lucky, but i see it taking more than one try since it has been there all this time and i just saw it. wish me luck lol

[TheMac86]

Better get him out before it reproduces.

[Trick]

go to the grocery store and buy some steamer clams.

Step 1: put several aside for use later. this step is important

Step 2: soak the clams in brine solution of 1/3 C salt to 1 gal water.

Step 3: scrub clams under cold running water using a stiff brush. this removes the gunk and dirt from their shells

step 4:Place 1/2 inch of water in a large pot or kettle that has a cover. place clams on rack over water (not in it). bring water to boil.

step 5: steam clams for 5 to 10 minutes until clams open. remove clams that have opened and serve immediately with bowls of melted garlic butter for dipping.

Step 6: enjoy your clams. but your not done yet

step 7: Now take your clams that you've set aside and put one in a bottle trap. This bottle trap is in an earlier post.

step 8: place the bottle trap next to the cave where the flatworms are.

step 9: wait patiently for worm to go into bottle

step 10: quickly pull bottle out of water AFTER the worm has gone into the bottle.

Step 11: repeat steps 7 to 11 as needed.

[Markushka]

lol I like step 6 . sure, good luck and let us know how it goes!

[mobilehurricane]

thanks again for all of the tips guys! the bottle procedure is starting tonight! for tonight i am going to throw in a few stomatellas crawling around the tank since i have so many and maybe a shrimp pellet to keep them entertained...we will see how stage one goes. if i don't have any luck i will move on to the clam method like Trick stated above or other methods.

 

thanks again for that recipe Trick!

 

lights out

[reefer4ever]

i love steps 5 and 6!!! LOL

[mobilehurricane]

Nothing was caught last night. Could have been for 2 reasons:

 

1st I only used shrimp pellets and some stomatellas as bait.

 

2nd the hole to the cave where I found the worm is right on the left side of the orange yuma in my FTS signature and its virtually impossible to get a bottle down there due to space. I pretty much had it vertical with a small gap so something could crawl in but then they would have to crawl up as well. I was already using a 20 oz coke bottle so I don't know what else I could get that is smaller. Considered even putting the bottle in the center of the tank and then running some tubing from the bottle to the cave opening. Any other thoughts?

[hazmat]

What about lying the bottle in front of the yuma with the opening facing towards the left side of the tank (looking at it)? Or you could also cut down the bottle. Last suggestion is there are a couple of brands of soda in the store that use smaller bottles. Like the little Coke bottles. I think they might be 12 oz. or less. Those would be smaller.

I would think that you don't have to have the opening right up against the cave either. The flatworm will come out of the cave to get to the snail. You want it as close as possible but I don't think it has to be right on top.

 

I hope that helps. I would really like to see that little monster!

[mobilehurricane]

Yeah I bought the smallest bottle they had at the gas station which was 20 oz and I did cut it down a bit from that...maybe I can find a smaller one, it just needs to be skinny because the distance between the front glass and that yuma is only about 2 inches even though it looks larger in the picture. I'll see if I can find a smaller bottle.

 

An I did consider just putting the bottle in the center of the tank, moving some small frags out of the way, and hoping that the creature would venture out that far.

 

No sign of him since Saturday when I removed the dead snail, but I know he is in there hiding somewhere!

[hazmat]

At the grocery store they have smaller bottles in the Coke section. Definitely smaller than 20 ounces. There are traps you can buy too. But I would see if you can make the bottle work first.

 

Hope you catch it tonight!!

[Spry]

What about those tiny lunch size water bottles? I think arrowhead sells some that are 8oz.

[Asureef]

Oh yeah, they're flatworms alright. I got rid of them by manually picking them out with a tongs. They're mostly nocturnal and will come out at night. You can try killing the lights and checking up on the tank every 15-30mins with a flashlight, most likely you'll spot them out in the open.

[mobilehurricane]

I will check the stores tonight as I did not get a chance last night...I forgot about those little water bottles, that might just work.

 

Asureef: I attempted grabbing it several times with a small pair of needle nose pliers, all I had, and it either pulled back in the rocks too fast or a piece of it broke off in my pliers and it got away. I sat there with the lights out in and a flashlight for almost 3 hours and it never fully came out. It just would extend itself out while half of its body was still in the rockwork so it could pull itself back in. I have never seen it out in the open, but hopefully it will get brave or I can catch it in the bottle.

[hazmat]

Were you able to catch it? I have a few flatworms myself that I'm trying to ID so I've been researching on the net. I've seen pictures of the one you have on a few sites.

 

Good luck catching it if you haven't gotten it yet.

[mobilehurricane]

Still no luck! This thing continues to be quite elusive, which doesn't surprise me considering it took 3 months just to realize that it was in there. No matter what time in the night I look at the tank it is no where to be seen and I haven't seen it since I removed the dead snail when I created this topic.

 

I have been super busy this week at work and have not gotten to try clams as bait as several people have recommended. I have tried multiple baits, but maybe clam is what will bring him out and I can try that over the holiday weekend.

[nano-reefer1]

just squirt boiling water into his cave lol or stick him with aptasia-x lol

a wrasse will tear him up

[hazmat]

I bet squid would work too. San Francisco fish food company has a 4 pack with squid in it.

 

Keep us updated!

[metalhed3]

what i would do is take a hook and straighten it out so its like a harpoon and kinda rig it up to a clothes hanger or wooden dowel and spear him. u would need the hooks with the snarled tip so he cant wiggle off tho.

[mobilehurricane]

This guy does not come out of the rock work...ever. No matter how many times I try to lure him out with bait I never see him...until last night. I was just feeding the clowns and some corals a small amount of cyclopeeze and I saw him crawling out of the rock...before I could even turn around to get something to catch him with he had crawled back into the abyss. At least he isn't hurting anything, but I will have to be patient and keep trying. Gonna try feeding the cyclopeeze with the lights out.

[hazmat]

Has it eaten all the snails in your tank? They can be elusive, can't they?