Pramidal Snail/Drillers

[ZooZ]

Ive heard of these snails so much but I dont know what they look like exactly. Seen some pics of them but they all look different. Anybody refer to me some pictures of them?

[reefer madness]

They are very small cone shaped white snails. They are likely less than 1/4" long. Try looking up 'Pyramid Snails'.

[ajx22]

Proper search of "pyramidellid snails" will help in your quest.

Here are some pics:

http://www.reefland.com/rho/2006/05/images/1.jpg

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i3/Clam_care/image005.jpg

http://www.cvreefers.org/gallery2/d/803-3/clam_snails.jpg

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php
(scroll ½ down - you'll see info and photos)

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/jf/index.php
(Lots of info & pics)


HTH & Good Luck - not a fun pest to deal with due to the extreme sensitively of their host - and anything other then manual removal (toothpick/tweezers) can and often does stress out the clam to the point of death. On the positive - they are obligate feeders - so removal of all clams to a quarantine tank for removal; and QT'ing of all future clams should mean permanent eradication.

[ZooZ]

If you were to give a clam a freshwater dip how would you make the pH the same as the tank?

[ajx22]

If you were to give a clam a freshwater dip how would you make the pH the same as the tank?
That shouldn't even be a consideration yet - and only used as a last resort.

Toothbrush + tweezers + toothpick + patience and time = successful eradication

If you do a little searching - you'll discover the methods of adjusting pH . This is one of those things that you need to know what you're doing - so just giving you the answer would not be of benefit to you or your animals. This can also stress out the animal more then the parasite; so should be a last resort and only done by experienced aquarists.

[a4twenty]

If you were to give a clam a freshwater dip how would you make the pH the same as the tank?

i'll take this one step further that AJ's answer.....

this shouldn't even be considered. ( period )

a FWD isn't an effective method of treatment for pyram. snail as they spend there days buried down under the foot of the clam. you will be missing some of them and have to do multiple dips to try and get them all, that would probably be to much stress for the already stressed clam.

the only way to get rid of these pests is as AJ say's, manual removal. ( it's best to prevent infestation by utilizing a QT ) to have any success with this method you need to wait till an hour or two after lights out. this will give the snails time to come out of hiding ( under the clam ) and move up to feast under the mantle. then you need to remove each clam and pick off all the snails and any egg masses you can find. try to limit the amount of time the clam is out of the water or you may trigger a spawning event that can snowball into another problem. you will need to repeat this cleaning every day or two at first, slowly reducing the frequency as you see less and less snails.

this can take months to clear up and could have been avoided by quarantining and scrubbing the clams when you bought them.


good luck

[reefer madness]

There are various snails besides these that attack Tridacnids, some are parasites and some are predators. Than can range in size from 1-10mm so most are pretty small. Many of these are nocturnal and will hide in the sand or inside the clam where you can't see them. You need to look for these at night.

A good method is to put a piece of soft rubber or styrofoam between the shells to kep the clam from closing so you can manually remove them. You can use a soft tooth brush to clean any away from the byssal opening and hinge. You can reach in carefully through the siphon holes to remove any inside with forceps. Be gentle though as you can do some major damage in there. Make sure you look for egg masses!!! Look closely for these as they are hard to see. Often they are laid on the shell of the clam. You can scrub the shell with a stiffer brush but be cautious to not hit any soft tissue or you will do damage.

Six Line Wrasses are natural predators on these. There are others that predate them as well but I am not sure you'd want them in a reef tank.

FW dips will not kill these snails as they will just retract into their shell and close the door.

A good idea after cleaning the snails off is to place the clam in a qt in case it decides to spawn which can make a BIG mes in your DT especially if you have more clams that decide to join in.

HTH

[a4twenty]

Six Line Wrasses are natural predators on these.

while this is true, unfortunately the Six Line ( and all Pseudocheilinus sp. ) are diurnal and spend their nights secure in a mucus cocoon. this makes them ineffective against a nocturnal snail, they may help get a few stragglers but pose no real threat to the snail population.

there is only one way to rid yourself of these predators.