tiny snails

[the marine apprentice]

well i was looking at my rock work tonight when i got home from calgary, my lights were all off and i see that there is like a million tiny snails all over my rock. is this a bad thing or a good thing??? and if it is bad does anyone know of a way to get rid of them??
thanks in advance
terry

[tlo]

most likely colinista snails - good little hitch hikers

[fkshiu]

They're pods and other nocturnal invertebrates and they're good, very good.

You might as well flush your tank down the toilet if you get rid of them. They are a vital part of the reef food chain.

[the marine apprentice]

ok sweet. cuz there are soooo many of them. and i havent seen them until just the other day and i have had this tank up and running for 7ish months now

[Eb0la11]

Ive got a lot of these guys too. Are they shell-less snails? Mine are kind of like slugs.

I also have been contemplating getting a mandarin and I know its best not to introduce one until at least 6 months, but I have a ton of these snails and pods too and Im only 3 months in.

Anyone have more input on that? Do mandarins eat these snails along with pods?

[gobytron]

Nerites and stomatella by the sounds of things...
Stomatella are the half shell slug looking kind and nerites are the small traditional snails.
There are some predatory tiny snails, like sundial snails, so watch what they are crawling on and look for damage.

If you have the detrimental variety, it will become apparent very soon.

[bvlester]

i have alot of the stomatella some brown, a jet black one and some mother of pearl they are quite nice looking to bad they don't come out much when the lights are on. My carpet Nem gets one now and then. The largest one is about 1 inch long that is the shell. They are great grazers.

Bill

[the marine apprentice]

i have the ones with the pearly looking backs and they are awesome help to keep algea down. but the ones i have are like maybe a mm to 2mm long and there are thousands of them dont seem to be causeing any damage but i want to make sure

[gobytron]

If you had that many and they were detrimental to anything, you would notice pretty quick.
Probably nerites (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2003/invert.htm)
Click on their name for a great article about them by Julian Sprung.

[Snappy]

Terry, Over the course of the next year you will likely encounter all kinds of things in your reef that you haven't seen yet that only come out at night. Keep your flashlight handy and have fun discovering a whole new world. This takes me back to when I started and spent many a late night fascinated with the live rock coming to life. Welcome to the wonderful world of Salt Water. :biggrin:


Eb0la11 -Anyone have more input on that? Do mandarins eat these snails along with pods? I think it unlikely they will eat the snails and as hard as it is to be patient I would wait. Mandarins can sometimes be trained to eat frozen but it is not an easy task, I've never had luck with it. You may have what seems like a lot of pods however mandarins are prone to eat the pod larvae more than the actual pods so this is one of the reasons you need a well established reef. You need enough pods to keep up the population despite loosing a high rate of their offspring.

[the marine apprentice]

[QUOTE=Snappy;470092]Terry, Over the course of the next year you will likely encounter all kinds of things in your reef that you haven't seen yet that only come out at night. Keep your flashlight handy and have fun discovering a whole new world. This takes me back to when I started and spent many a late night fascinated with the live rock coming to life. Welcome to the wonderful world of Salt Water. :biggrin:

snappy.. oh i know what ya mean by watching at night. i am usually up till 4am every night cuz im a night person and i am always watching my tank. put a set of awesome moonlights on my tank that opened up a whole new world in my tanks nightlife. i love this hobby never know what you are gonna see

[bvlester]

Ho ya get your self a red lens for your flashlight as there are alot of noternal critters that can not detect the red light. hwich brings to mind night crawler hunter in Winnipeg down by scotia street. These worms are so big you don't put the hook through them you just tie them to the hook and they will grab the fish and hold on till you get it back to shore.

Old Peg joke. I have gone and hinted for these night crawlers they can get longer than 16 inches, these worms are so slimy you have to wash your hands after you handle them. They are light sensitive if you use and red lens you can get them they will also take off quickly if you are heavy footed. I lived on Banareman Ave before it realy went down hill.

Try a red lens you should see some more stuff.
Bill

[the marine apprentice]

thanks bill. i actually have the red lense for my high power led light.