Anyone have a reef that is 100% vermetid free?

[chaples55]

I'm going from a 45g to a 200g in ~4-6 months. I have a few pests I don't want to transfer to the new system. To achieve this I will:

- Use all new dry rock and sand.
- Dip and quarantine all corals for 30 days.
- Bleach and/or acid wash all equipment.

I'm confident in my ability to eliminate all flatworms, spaghetti worms, and digitate hydroids with this process, but I'm not sure about the vermetids. I'm curious if anyone has managed to 100% keep them out of their tank, or if it's guaranteed to be a losing battle...

 

[Rainblood]

Not me. Bumblebee snails have worked for me in keeping them down. I think vermetid snails are inevitable.

 

[project1004]

I had just one Vermetid introduced into my tank from under the one of hammer coral frags. I was able to locate it when I sow it with flashlight at night when tentacles were retracted. Took out the frag and it piped right out. So that was only one I had to deal with. And that was like 9 month ago. My tank is vermetid free. It is also free of aptasia (which was also introduced in a frag). It’s best to use fleshlight at night and check for all the pest that comes out at night. I do have those red warm that got reintroduced (I killed the first one by removing the rock he was living in). I do have pineapple sponges in sump. That’s also something I didn’t introduce it into tank.


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[civics14]

When I rebooted, I used all fresh dry rocks, sand, etc. Only carried over fish. All frags were removed off plugs, scrubbed LPS skeleton with a toothbrush dipped in h2o2, AND I still got it. I agree with @Rainblood that its inevitable. I really hate them, especially the amount of work I put into trying to prevent them.

 

[enderg60]

I tried to keep them out of the QT system, and even with 10 bumblebee snails in each side they took over. No idea where they even came from because I stripped and dipped all the frags.

I just transferred all my corals into the new system. All frag plugs were cut off and corals glued to new plugs. Euphillias were cut so after gluing no exposed skeleton was present. Lobo's and brains had all exposed skeleton wire brushed down to base rock.

EVERYTHING was dipped in peroxide then iodine, rinsing between dips and again before putting them in the tank.

If I see a vermatid in my new system I will throw my whole QT setup in the trash.

 

[saltlife]

 

[chaples55]

I've watched that video like 3 times since Than posted it lol. I do think the DIY coral snow helps manage the population. I'm hoping for some kind of surefire preventative strategy though.

...AND I still got it. I agree with @Rainblood that its inevitable.

This is what I'm worried about

And that was like 9 month ago. My tank is vermetid free.

That sounds amazing! Do you quarantine your corals or just remove any pests that you can see?

 

[chaples55]

All frag plugs were cut off and corals glued to new plugs. Euphillias were cut so after gluing no exposed skeleton was present. Lobo's and brains had all exposed skeleton wire brushed down to base rock.

EVERYTHING was dipped in peroxide then iodine, rinsing between dips and again before putting them in the tank.

This is kind of what I was thinking of doing. I'll be using Bayer and peroxide. I'll use thin super glue and rock dust to encapsulate any bare skeleton and rock that can't be removed entirely.

For snails, I found a thread on reef2reef where someone said they carefully brushed their shells with HCl before quarantining them.

 

[saltlife]

I hate them, but I just crush the ones out of my sight , I am using coral snow , started target feeding in a small quantity so the fish can eat it quickly, have bumble bees , may add more…will see

 

[billyocean]

Stir up the tank and get those bad boys eating....then coral snow them. After a few months you will be hard pressed to find any. I find one every now and then..but at one point they were everywhere.

 

[york1]

Not a damn one in there

 

[saltlife]

Billy knows all the good tricks , Thanks Ryan!!!

 

[hiimsean]

I stared with fresh rock a year and a half ago but haven’t noticed any in my new tank. I used a big one in my old tank. I pumped the tube full of superglue. That seemed to help lol