Baby Trochus snails in skimmer
 

Over the past 2 years I have pulled at least a dozen baby trochus snails out of my skimmer tube.

Now the amazing part of this is I have no trochus snails in my sump. They have to some how get from my tank, past my skimmer sock past the tunze skimmer pump and grow in the skimmer.

In my tank I have 5 types of snails, I have trochus, turbo, astrea, strombus sp. and nassarius. My strombus breed like crazy, I have hundreds, I have found them in my filter sock but never in my sump.

My only guess is the trochus gametes get past my filter sock either the gametes or the free swimming larvae really like the conditions in the skimmer and develop and grow in there. Anyone else experience this?

Oh god. Because of the trochu off spring I have to regularly clean my sump and all the equipment too. They get into the pumps and jam up the mag drives all the time.

The 2 only good things about these guys. One they keep the lunar wrasse occupied. Two if they survive and make it past 1 cm in size, they live in the rock work and come out at night and completely scrub the algae off of my rock work.

Ive lost count of how many snails of all types I’ve pulled not only out of the skimmer, but the skimmer pump and collection cup throughout the years. Last month I pulled 5 bumblebee snails out of the collection cup they were happily living in the green sludge

I have not found any in the cup yet, they just seem to like the sludge growing on the tube and seem to thrive in the bubbles. I clean my tube and cup every day so not sure they wouldn't be in the cup if I left it for a few days.

I have had skimmers on my tank since the early 90's when I had my first Sanders limewood airstone skimmer but never experienced snails in the actual skimmer column.

My strombus snails clog up my gyres and I have to put those plastic slide on filters over the turbines to keep the little buggers out. The strombus snails also clog up my overflow tube so I have to flush them out monthly by turning the valve wide open but they don't get past the filter socks.

I have never found a trochus snail in my filter sock.