crocea eaten....by what

[meisel1]

On tuesday I picked up a small T.crocea clam about 2 1/2" long,acclamated it and put it in its new home.This morning when I checked my tank at 6am it was as happy as a clam.When I came home this evening it was completly eaten. I check for welks and pyramid snails but have never seen any. This is most distressing for me as I would really like to keep one of these amazing creatures but until I find out what did this unspeakable act of evil I cant subject another to this same fate. My tank currantly houses 1 coral beauty,1 lawnmower blenny, one bicolor blenny,1 mandarin gobie ,8 blue green chromis and two coral banded shrimps. The tank also contains cerith, nassaris,and astrea snails....any help???? anyone....anyone

[Canarygirl]

some blennies have been known to nip at clams...I don't know this is pretty mysterious.

[meisel1]

I watched my blennies for awhile after I put the clam in and they didn't appear to be very interested in it so I think the chance of that is pretty slim, but if it was them then grrrrrr

[mwwhite]

Could be a couple different culprits:

Here's what I found online regarding the coral beauty:

Reef Tank Suitability: Although a good choice for larger reef tank environments, this fish may occassionally nip at clam mantles and large-polyped stony corals, particularly if kept in small reef systems.

Here's what I found online regarding the lawnmower:

Reef Suitability: Lawnmower Blennies are usually very good reef tank inhabitants in larger tanks. While somewhat plain, they are personable fish. They spend most of their day perched on rocks surveying their surroundings followed by short bursts of algae munching, then back to their perch. There have been some reports of them picking on clam mantles or stony corals, but I have never seen that behavior, so it is probably a minimal risk

[Canarygirl]

I have seen a LM blenny swim up and bite a clam mantle. The owner of the clam said it had happened before, too, and that he was going to have to do something about it.

[meisel1]

That would really suck if my blennie was the culprit but as far as the coral beauty goes I've never seen it nip at any of my corals.Also my clam was completly eaten in a matter of 12 hours and niether of those fish are carnivores

[1F2FRFBF]

I'm going to point the accusing finger at the nassarius snails. I've read a lot about how they go after dead and dying animals, but with some of the accounts I've read, I'm beginning to think that some go after anything that has some flesh exposed. I would think they could find enough to eat with leftover food on the sandbed, but maybe they have larger appetites. (Come to think of it, that's one thing you never really see regarding snails - how much food is enough?)

I'm very sorry you lost your clam, and I hope you can figure out what was responsible for its demise.

[meisel1]

I think you may be right 1f2f....I just finished reading about clam predators and the nassarius was mentioned as going after dead or dying but not healthy tissue.Now I have to find a way to keep a clam and also keep my snails....p.s. thanks for the condolences1f2f

[1F2FRFBF]

Hey, you're welcome. If you want to keep those nassarius away from any clams you might get in the future, try to keep them well-fed. Good luck!

[Canarygirl]

Did you have your crocea on the sandbed by any chance? My nasarius snails live under the sandbed and only come out at feeding time. Crocea clams are rock boring so I keep mine well up on a shelf on my reef.

[Slakker]

According to an article I read by Dr. Ron Shimek, nassarius snails are perfect scavengers, meaning that they don't eat living matter...I'm no expert, but he is...so to me it seems like a bit of a reach to blame the nassarius.

[Canarygirl]

I agree...I think nasarius snails is a long shot. Unless your clam died for some reason and it was a feeding frenzy among all your tank inhabitants.

[kclauser]

I am by no means an expert on clams or snails. But I do wanna throw in that I work at a LFS (again not claiming to use that as expertise) but we have a wide, shallow, "mangrove tank" its maybe 10 inches tall and about the same area as an average dining room table, pretty stout and wide. In this tank we have a school of chromis and anthias, a bunch of wrasse of a few different species and a few different gobies, this tank is also home to probably about 30 clams and at least 30+ nassarius snails and I have never seen a problem. I have never even seen one on a clam. One thing that I should say though is, one day we did have a clam die during the night and by the morning it was picked totally clean. This clam was in our sps tank that is bare bottom with 4 tangs and a 6 line and a few astreas and hermits, nothing else. Maybe your clam was just close to death when you left and it passed and was scavenged by the time you got back.

[sunfish11]

Nothing you have just ate the clam while it was sitting there healthy. This clam never acclimated to your tank, end of story. When they go, they go fast and often without warning. Croceas are the most light hungry and a difficult clam to keep. I don't know what your lighting is but let's say they can't have too much. They often die quickly and without warning. The smaller they are the more difficult they are to keep as well and yours was very small.

Lisa

[lazaro torres]

I had 9 croceas, one by one every week one died, so after nine pulling my hair weeks,I cought the clam killer, It was a gorilla crab,almost 3inches,it blew my mind.I was lucky cause it was still in the shell eating my last clam.I was able to close the shell and trap it. So it eat 9 clams (ADD THAT UP)So I threw it in bleach water. Now its a fossil sitting over the tank.

[HBtank]

It seems many in this thread do not know, but It is pretty common knowledge that dwarf angels will go after clams, and do so fairly often. It can be 50/50 with them when it comes to just coral, much less clams which they seem to have a taste for...

Some have success with them in reef tanks, but it just happens that number one on their list for munching on is clams.

I would bet money on the CB. Once the clam was dead, any number of your livestock might have joined in though...

I would never add a clam to any tank with an angel, just to much of a risk.. JMO

[sdietz2469]

how r your water parameters? i no that after i added my first clam my dKh and Ca dropped very low in two days.... this made my clam die almost right b4 my eyes...... i checked on him and he looked fine...... later i looked at him and he was ****ed off and in two more hours he looked almost dead(separating frm the shell)... i qick bagged a water sample and rushed to the lfs.... they tested my water and sure enough Ca and dKh dropped to 220ppm from 430ppm CA and 11dKh to 6dKh in three day..... by the time i got home all there was was a shell with a couple snails(nassarius) and a bristle worm...... i thought it was a fire worm, but after research, it was just a bristle worm............ this is y alot of people have these animals in there tank, to eat decayng food before it causes foul water...... oh and by the way i have a lawnmower and he sleeps in one clam and a pair of maroons have made a home of another..... they have been like that for two years and everything is just fine.............. first i would keep very good track of alk and cal for the first month of a new clam or stoney coral in your tank..... usually they are slightly deprived if coming from a fish store, so they eat it up until they are used to it and then they slow down..... and yes try to get clams 3-4 in minimum... i have kept smaller, but they require feeding more often and with phyto.... just spend the little more money, it is worth it in the long run.................

just speaking from experience
shane

[sunfish11]

I would bet money on the CB. Once the clam was dead, any number of your livestock might have joined in though...

I don't think so, he would have seen something. The clam was already dead (dying), then the crew ate it. He only had it for a couple of days.

Lisa

[Canarygirl]

Shane, that's amazing that 1 clam made your ca drop so much in 3 days. How big was this clam?

[HBtank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10190378#post10190378 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sunfish11
I don't think so, he would have seen something. The clam was already dead (dying), then the crew ate it. He only had it for a couple of days.

Lisa

And dwarfs are notorious clam eaters. Maybe you should read up on them some? Not to mention adding a clam to an established angel is the worst scenerio.

BTW, He never said it was dying. In fact he said it was looking very happy.

The sudden dissapearance after looking healthy 12 hours earlier points right to the CB, from all the other similar occurances I have read with Dwarfs. They just get a nibble and then go to town.

[1F2FRFBF]

It could be that one of the fish picked at the clam and caused it to weaken, and then the snails etc. simply finished the job.

But I'm speaking from my own personal experience with nassarius snails. I had nassarius that went after stomatellas as soon as I dropped them in the tank. I watched it happen; I didn't have to guess. The stomatellas I salvaged, including one who dropped his rear half while being pursued up the front glass of my tank by a nassarius, are now doing quite well since I removed all the nassarius to their own smaller tank. I suppose I could pick a sacrificial stomatella and do an experiment.

But I've also read accounts of sea hares and other soft-bodied creatures being preyed upon by nassarius snails. Were they all unhealthy in some way, or might there be certain renegades within the nassarius species who do prey on soft-bodied creatures?

[sunfish11]

And dwarfs are notorious clam eaters. Maybe you should read up on them some?

I have an established CB and I added a large crocea. NO issues. I am aware but this doesn't sound like that kind of scenario. These are very sensitive clams that LFS like to sell to people with insufficient lighting and non-mature tanks, this is the usual cause of death for these expecially the little guys. Maybe you should read up on croceas.

Lisa

[sunfish11]

Check in the tridacnid forum and you will find that croceas die overnight without any dwarf angels or other "pickers" in the tank. Could have been pinched mantle but it probably was a simple failure to adapt.

[sdietz2469]

it was a 6 in gigas

[meisel1]

wow!!!!Thanks for all the response. I think I will do some heavy research on clam husbandry and try not to fail at keeping one of these creatures...fyi my lighting is 230w pc plus 2 150w mh pendulums and as of 6am this morning{friday}my cal is 420ppm...cheers and thanks again to all who responded.

[sdietz2469]

make sure to check your dkh.... i think that is most crucial

[carlos_fb]

I think your nasarius snails did it since I saw mine eat one of my cleaner clams right in front my eyes. My coral banded shrimp helped them too.