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View Full Version : Neon goby could have killed my clam.


Aquabucket
03/05/2006, 09:37 AM
After almost a year togethor with my Derasa clam it was time for the little fella to go.

After transfering everything to a new tank my neon goby started to perch on top of my 6" clam (grown from a 1.5" baby). At first I did not think much of it as I only seen it do this a few times.

Soon a white area started appearing on the clam were the goby was blocking light. Then I saw the goby start to nip at the white area as if it was clearing a spot for itself. That was the last straw and out came the goby.

Its been a little over a week and the clam has regained about 80% of its color back in that spot and looks like its going to be back to full color in a week or less.

I was surprised how fast the clam had regenerated its symbiotic algae.

It just goes to show you never know how your livestock can behave with other organisms, especially those from opposite ends of the world.

After doing some thinking I wondered if this can be the same reason that some clam keepers have also had problems with cleaner shrimp picking at their clams.

At first the cleaners simply hang out along the clam seemingly doing no harm. Soon the symbiotic algae declines and white spots appear due to the shading of light from the shrimp. Once the algae is gone in a small area the clam tissue becomes palpable to the shrimp and they beging feeding on it.

Just a thought to ponder.

The steven liu
03/05/2006, 09:05 PM
Not quite sure at what point do these little creatures starts to turn themselves into clam-destroyers. But I've heard lots of stories similar to yours. Neverthless neon gobies and cleaner shrimps are so popular and are "generally" harmsless to clams. IMO these problems do occur with a smaller tank and a smaller selection of creatures for them to "pick on". For example, our store display tank is 180G and we have 1 neon goby who enjoys the company of 3 croceas, a squamosa and a derosa. Thus its attention is more diverted rather than spending all day on one clam.

manderx
03/05/2006, 09:21 PM
i can't see 'blocked light' as being an issue at all here. especially something as small as a neon goby. even if it glued itself to the exact same spot and that flesh *never* got light it would not affect the clam one bit. i've had clams with 1/2 the mantle shaded by shrooms or sps for months at a time. the color fades a little in those areas, but the clam does just fine.

Aquabucket
03/05/2006, 11:03 PM
Well I'll tell you what mandarx "blocked light" was an issue in my 40G. tank under HO T5s. The white area that appeared occured only in the spot it was perching and reflected the shape of the goby.

My thinking is that the symbiotic algae may also protect the clam from being nipped at.

Since the goby has gone the clam has recovered quite quickly. It would have been a goner if the goby was allowed to stay in the tank.