What could be eating my acrylic

[melissa]

There must be a snail crawling on the sides of my tank that is biting into the acrylic. I can't figure out what it is. As far as I can tell, this just started happening a couple months ago. There are trails of tiny gouges in the acrylic.

These are the snails I have: astraea, cerith, bumblebee, money cowrie, nassarius, and those teeny tiny hitchhiking snails that come out at night. I also have a lot of asterina stars.

I have not added any livestock or live rock lately where a new hitchhiker could have been carried in. I don't have an urchin.

Some reefers have been over recently to pick up corals. They have seen the marks as well. So far we've had no idea what it could be. Has anyone else experienced this?

If I could take some macro shots and post them that might help. I'll have to work on that later.

 

[FutureInterest]

Snails just don't have the mouth parts to impact acrylic. Soft mouth parts aren't going to be able to hurt the acrylic. I've got most of the inverts you just listed and no suspicious marks on the acrylic... wierd.

 

[harleyguy]

I remember reading somewhere that there a certain type of snail the is not good for Acrylic. It's not that the snail is eating the acrylic, it's simply that, the snails shell is scratching it. I can't for the life of me remember which on it is. Might be a good thread for RC?

 

[calireefer]

I saw the marks too. They look just like the marks a snail makes when it eats the algae on the side of a tank.

The only thing I can think of would be an urchin. Maybe a small nocturnal urchin. I would start checking it out a little after the lights go off.

Good luck catching whatever it is.

Merlin

 

[lorenk]

Or limpet. There's an article in reefkeeping.org (I think) that mentioned that.

 

[tnyga]

LorenK;151825 wrote: Or limpet. There's an article in reefkeeping.org (I think) that mentioned that.

Don knotts? The Incredible Mr. Limpets.....I so would love to rent that movie...AHAHAH


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[melissa]

LorenK;151825 wrote: Or limpet. There's an article in reefkeeping.org (I think) that mentioned that.

Ok, I bet that's it. I saw a couple of them today - for the first time in a LONG time. Great! Thanks!


Steamed limpets for dinner. A nice garlic butter sauce on the side with a little pinot grigio chaser.

 

[fishfiend]

Chitons (those little guys with the half shell lookin thingies... scientific i know..) have the ability to actually bite through sandstone because they have such powerful jaws. However they are amazing algae cleaners. Just take a red light to the tank at night and pick them out if you're worried about them.

 

[lorenk]

That actually sounds good. Now I'm craving escargot.

Melissa;152055 wrote: Ok, I bet that's it. I saw a couple of them today - for the first time in a LONG time. Great! Thanks!


Steamed limpets for dinner. A nice garlic butter sauce on the side with a little pinot grigio chaser.

 

[melissa]

Fishfiend;152064 wrote: Chitons (those little guys with the half shell lookin thingies... scientific i know..) have the ability to actually bite through sandstone because they have such powerful jaws. However they are amazing algae cleaners. Just take a red light to the tank at night and pick them out if you're worried about them.

But I just had my limpets for dinner.

 

[fishfiend]

Haha yummy. I do prefer mine steamed with a bit o' lemon and garlic haha. If that stops the problem I'm glad it's settled down.

And by all means... do pass on the recipes...

 

[melissa]

I saw some huge chitons in Bonaire - maybe 5 inches across. Really neat. I have had chitons in my tank forever with no problems - or so I thought. I guess it could be anything.