(pics) PYRAMID SNAILS??????

Found these guy tagging along on my turbo this morning with only the actinicts on.




And if they're pyramids , whats next? i removed the ones in the pic.....

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/id/tiny-snail-id-calling-pagojoe-108493.html

Near the end of that thread, there are some macro pictures to help ID bad pyramids Vs harmless algae eaters. (With that said, the location of them on your snails Vs eating algae on your glass points to pyramids.

 

Yeap it's safe to say they are.

Do you have any clams?

There are reports that certain wrasses will eat them, problem is pyramids are nocturnal and wrasses are diurnal. While I have had six line wrasses and canary wrasses pick them off it was not sufficient to really make a significant difference.

Manual removal is really the only means unfortunately.

If you only have snails my recommendation is to remove all snails and go without snails for several months. If you have clams that is a whole different ball game.

There are different types of pyramids, and some say ones that are predators to clams do not bother snails and visa versa, well every time I had pyramids they did not differentiate between snails and clams.

This problem will be a whole lot easier to solve if you do not have clams

 

I don't have clams, and thats my only turbo snail. i have a couple of astres and 1-2 nass snails. My cuc has shrunk quite a bit since beginning. there was one on the glass away from the snail which I found weird.

Also I noticed these same snails on the opening of my feather duster.....

 

I managed to thoothbrush a few off the shell of the turbo.

 

That is pretty much all you can do. Just keep repeating, best done at night after the lights have been out a couple hours and early am before they come on. They always attacked my Turbo worst than the other snails.

In the wild they are picked off, a few will not kill anything, but in the home aquarium their numbers can sky rocket, with no predators to keep their numbers in check.

 

I think the others told ya right, the placement of those snails is typical for parasitic pyramidellids. Sometimes you'll see similar snails on the SHELLS of snails, in which case they may be eating the algae off, but if you see them on the mantle of the snail (or clam) it's pretty much a cinch they're bad guys.

Good luck picking and brushing! Cheers,




Don

 

right so here is what iv seen.

first off im sure its pyramids and right now from what iv seen i have a population of about 5 or 6.

last night as i was watching my tank at night i noticed one of them on my zoas, about 15 mins later there were 4 of them on my zoa frag, from my understanding these snails feed on zooxanthellae and micro algae so im guessing this is both good and bad. seeing as i dont have any clams i am not bothered by them just yet, so long as the leave my zoas in peace.

the frag they were on seems to be doing fine btw