tomgl
03-23-2011, 10:53 AM
I wanted to share the battle I went though to get rid of Pyramid Snails. About a year ago my son bought a frag at one of our meetings. The frag was dipped but not quarantined. It had Pyramid Snails or their eggs on it. In about a two week period I noticed that the Maxima Clam was receded. I checked everything and could not find a thing wrong with the tank. My son was smart enough to grab a flash light and look over the clam after lights out. He reported to me that the clam had rice on it. I soon learned the Pyramid snail at full adult are about half the size of a grain of rice. They can survive being dipped in fresh water, and over the counter dip solutions. From there I went into a scrub the clam ritual that would take a year to win. I pulled the clam from the tank it was in and put it in it's own tank. That seemed like a good idea at the time but the snails just started multiplying in a new tank. With advice from Mike I eventually moved it into a bare bottom tank and the battle shifted in my favor. So here is what I know about this parasite. The eggs look like a clear jelly, the young are to small for our eyes to see, and the adults are half the size of a grain of rice. The snails hide in the sand, rock, at the base of the clam and run up the clam at night to impale the clam with a needle like device and consume the juice from the mantle. The clam is able to handle a few snails but the snails multiply fast and start to do damage. The snail will also attach to other snails once the clam is gone. This how ever does not keep the Pyramid snail alive long. To remove the snails you will need a hard tooth brush and a soft one. Use the hard brush on the shell and the soft in the under side of the clam. You will be able to see the adults and the egg jelly and brush them away. The young snails are not visible. I started using the brush three time a week and tapered down from there. I missed days here and there and it caused me to have to start again. The display tank needs to be left fallow for a few months or when you move the snail back the ritual will start again. The Mystery Wrasse will eat Pyramid snails and I now keep one with my three clams as an insurance policy. Nice thing about these Wrasses is they stay up awhile after the lights go out and they hunt. I hope this helps some one avoid these little monsters and remember to quarantine. If I had this could have all been avoided.