Pyramellid Snails?

[jacuzzi]

So looking at my tank right after lights out I noticed a few small white snails roaming about my LR which I may seen before but cannot remember. Anyway being I am infected with the reef bug I went researching and found they may be Pyramellid snails. I have never had a clam before but reading that they could host snails I looked around and found a couple of my snails for inspection and found none on them. I may have lost some Astrea snails lately, but haven't seen any of these snails feeding on the remains or on any of the living Astrea. I know they could be rissoids but how do I know and will it be a problem because I don't plan on getting any clams and I have many hermits for CUC and have never relied heavily on snails for that.

 

[Tamazula]

They have killed my turbos. Trochus seem to be particularly hardy as they are still alive, but I still see pyramid snails on the Trochus (Trochi?) every now and then. The Ceriths bury themselves which pyramids appear to hate... as do my Bumblebee and Nassarius.

I don't have clams but from what I understand, they are very picky eaters and the clam eating kind may or may not like to suck snail blood but that isn't a risk that I want to take. Hoping that my wrasse will eat them soon when he finishes destroying the pod population.

At one point I had a huge explosion in the population of these little white round micro snails that I never identified and the pyramid population boomed right with them- I saw pyramids taking down the round micro snails right and left. Once they lost their food supply only a few made it hitching a ride on my few Trochus snails.

They're a pain and very difficult to remove short of vigilant cleaning off your snails whenever you see them hitching a ride. Some people have success with wrasses... mine hasn't been any use so far.

 

[anathema]

There are a lot of different types of snails, and I think you are likely referring to collonista snails, see this article:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/index.php

If they are small rounded white snails with tan markings, they are harmless and will reproduce readily in your tank. If you don't like them buy a wrasse.

 

[Erick]

Collonista and Pyramellid are very easy to tell apart visually. I always thought they were baby cerith snails and didn't think to much of them. I am not sure how quickly they can kill a big snail though (for the ones that eat them) You can remove them as you see them and they are pretty easy to see on another snail.

 

[Tamazula]

They kill large snails very quickly depending on the type... they killed turbos within a week, but Trochus lived a long time.

Like anathema said you can identify them by the shape of their shells (sorry, I didn't notice your "how do i" question). Baby ceriths is the best description I can give, at most a couple millimeters long. You'll see them bunched together on the shell of a larger snail right outside the opening, hitching a ride. If you see them, remove the larger snail from the tank and brush the pyramellids off, then return the large snail to the tank... works ok for keeping the population in check.