Vermetid snail mitigation strategies?

[Delphinus]

Ok I hate to admit it but I think I'm at the end of my rope with these things, they're everywhere. They have literally infested every rock, every piece of equipment in my system, and my sump is full of them too.

If you have them, do you do anything to keep them under control?

Things I've tried, with varying degrees of success:

- manual removal. (Drawback: doesn't always work. Sometimes all I manage is shortening the shell, especially in an awkward spot)

- covering with epoxy. (Drawback: expensive. I have like about a trillion vermetids that need to be covered. Ugly too, but I suppose the epoxy could be removed at a later time.)

- injecting with kalk. (Drawback: only 50% effective so far, alignment is key and I just don't like the loose kalk floating around the tank).

Other ideas I haven't tried yet:
- boiling water
- lemon juice

Is there anything that eats them?

[skylord]

Copper Banded Butterflies and some types of hermits will. Not sure which hermits worked because I ussually give them away or toss em into my sump when they get their job done. Im not one of their biggest fans. CBB are hit and miss. One of mine seems to eat them and the other I know doesnt.

Scott

[Drock169]

i've also heard of CBB doing the job as well.

[Whatigot]

try making you Kalk solution more concentrated/thicker.
It stays where you put it and doesn't flake out all over your water and tank; it is then real easy to just siphon out the little white golbs on your rock and substrate....

[Delphinus]

I guess CBB's are hit and miss because I do have one and he won't go after them. He does a bang up job on any aiptasia that dares raise its head though, so at least there's that.

I actually make the kalk solution as thick as I can make it already. It's not so bad really, I mean ultimately I'm sort of resigned to thinking it's still probably the best bet here for me, but I was just seeing what other ideas other people have. Surely I'm not the only one to have had these things proliferate out of control in their tanks.

[Canuckgod420]

I just bought a One Spot Foxface, and for the first few days he wasnt eating....anything.
Then 1 morning I noticed him picking at the rocks....but it wasnt algae he was eating, he was mouthing a vermitid snail, he didnt bite it off, he just sucked out the worm...it was awesome. So now he just cruises around the tank sucking out these damn worms....hope he gets them all.

[Matt]

My sixline seems to have a taste for them.

[Delphinus]

Aw man, another fish that I already have (The sixline)! That's awesome though that yours will help you on this one.

A one spot foxface huh? Care to rent him out? Haha, too bad that couldn't work.

[Brent F]

I've heard sometimes zebra hermit crabs eat them

[Aquattro]

Tony, I used to use hydorchloric acid to kill aptaisia, I'd inject them with a syringe and needle. Would probably work well on these things as well. No, a small bit of HCL will not affect water quality.