keyhole limpets or similar creatures...

[dethjam316]

what it up with these critters? i've read that they can be bad for corraline growth, so i've been trying to eliminate them. do they breed in tanks like pond snails, or what? in my tank, which has been set up since august with live and dead rock, i only noticed 2 of them initially. i removed them both. i've since removed 1 or 2 more, and tonight i noticed a total of 4 of them in various sizes roaming around my live rock. i haven't added anything, where are they coming from, and how do i get rid of them? or should i not be doing that?

[mogurnda]

The spawn into the water column and have planktonic larvae, so they're probably not breeding. There were probably just a bunch of small ones in the live rock. I had a small group that hitchhied in. Never seemed to bother the coralline, but I got tired of them eating the sponges. Plus, they nibbled on the softies. Otherwise, a lot of people think they're great algae eaters.

They move slowly so I just picked them off the rocks.

[dethjam316]

yeah, but i can't just get them off the rocks...it's either violent squishing through use of tweezers or nothing. there's tough little buggers. i mean, i guess i'm killing them anyway, so there's no difference. oh well. i guess i'll leave them for now.