Aiptasia and vermetid snails

[Myst3ry_sea]

Hey Wamas, 

Hope everyone is doing well. I have a question that have been stuck in my head lol. The question is if aiptasia and vermetid snails are pest in our tank system, then how are they essentially to reef and what make them exist in the first place. Can any expert on pest give me some light to get this question out of my head? And if you have a link to any scholar articles about this topic please share. Thank you

[flooddc]

I am no expert, but aiptasia and vermetidae snails are natural species in the wild. We only called them pest because they can multiply quickly in our tank and we simply don’t want it in our tank. In the wild, they are naturally kept in check by other fish/animals that eat them. In the reef tank, there is nothing to keep then in check and therefore they are free to reproduce quickly. 

[mogurnda]

I would rephrase your question to "How do these animals make a living, and what parts do they play in the reef," rather than asking about their "purpose."  Species exist because they can find food, reproduce, and can avoid being eaten often enough to satisfy the first two conditions.  Vermetids and Aiptasia are successful in the wild in exactly the same way that they are successful in our tanks: they find resources and reproduce.  As far as playing their part in the ecosystem, both serve as food for different species of nudibranch, and Aiptasia feeds some fish species, so they are part of the bigger picture.

To reiterate Chuck's point, one person's weed is another's wildflower.  If you are trying to grow Berghia nudibranchs, then Aiptasia is a desirable species, and I have never worried about vermetids in my systems.

[Myst3ry_sea]

Thank you for you guys respond. That makes a lot of sense and I have completely forgot about the fact that they are a source of food in the marine ecosystem. Would you guys considering them as clean up crew also in our reef tank, because from what I have observed these guys also captured a lot of free floating particle or small pieces of food that could potentially turn into ammonia and nitrite. If aiptasia or vermetid snails consumed these small particles and turn them into nitrate or phosphate would that be more beneficial to our corals than having ammonia or nitrite that could harm our fish?

 

[elbowdeep88]

I remember reading in a book about coral farms where raceways were built intentionally for aptasia to grow out in high flow areas to catch stray organic matter. Some folks would rather not have them at all, other folks are happy to have them growing in their overflow or sump. They can be beneficial, but the risks of having them escape their designated area isn’t worth the reward to many folks.