clam killer?

geckoejon · Jul 6, 2014

hello,

i had a couple of small 2-3" blue clams. i was told one was a maxima, i believe. not sure what the other was or which was which. lol

they have been in my well esptablished 75g for about 6 months now and looking great.

i woke up yesterday morning to find one of the shells empty. not sure what would have caused it to die and eaten it over night.... thoughts??? i saw them both doing well the day before. i'm kind of anal about checking my tanks. lol :bigsmile:

the tank is hermit free. have a couple emeralds and a variety of snails. i did have a large snail in that area, but not aware of the snails killing clams. the snails were all purchased from reefcleaners.

thoughts????

Kworker · Jul 6, 2014

What fish do you have in there? I am sure if people know what your fish stock list is they may be able to indicate if there is a culprit there. I don't know much about clams and just know some fish will pick at them. There are pyramid snails that will kill clams but that is over an extended period of time and not over night.

tjsig522 · Jul 6, 2014

Were the clams in direct contact with sand or a rock infested with brisstel worms?
I lost a giant 6lb max clam to those things

geckoejon · Jul 7, 2014

i think i found the culprits... whelks.... easily confused with nassarius snails. i found a link to tell the difference, and i definitely have numerous whelks in my tanks. i bought them as "nassarius". ugh.....

Whelk versus Nassarius | Melev's Reef

fish list is all pretty peaceful, imo. pair ocellaris, tail spot blenny, sunburst anthias, blue manderin, orange spot blenny, 3 different firefish, red scooter blenny. to my knowledge, none of them would be suspect. i do have a skunk and fire shrimp as well.

Mike J. · Jul 7, 2014

Wow. I'd be Whelk hunting every night for awhile. You must have quite a few of them to eat an entire clam overnight. And, they are very prolific breeders.

geckoejon · Jul 7, 2014

Mike J. said:
Wow. I'd be Whelk hunting every night for awhile. You must have quite a few of them to eat an entire clam overnight. And, they are very prolific breeders.

yah, worst part is that i think they have been in there for a good 6 months.... ugh....

Tyrone · Jan 9, 2019

Please explain what is whelks? I just mysteriously lost a 2 inch blue maxima that I had for about a month.

justmee · Jan 9, 2019

geckoejon said:
hello,

the tank is hermit free. have a couple emeralds and a variety of snails. i did have a large snail in that area, but not aware of the snails killing clams. the snails were all purchased from reefcleaners.

thoughts????

I didn't know hermit crabs can harm clams?! ;Jawdrop

Tyrone · Jan 10, 2019

Nah my hermit crabs never touched my clams. I have a couple conchs that occasionally knock over my deresa. Whelks are a species like nassarius snails. I woke up one morning and found about 4 of them going to town on one of maxima that I tried to keep previously. I pulled them all out and thru them down into my sump.

Tyrone · Jan 10, 2019

This last blue 2 inch maxima that died has me stumped. I noticed it mantle the past couple days slowly receding.

Scotty Buttons · Jan 10, 2019

Do you have any pictures of the clam while alive and receding? And pics of the empty shell? It's possible that the claim was already on its way out.

Tyrone · Jan 10, 2019

No not of this blue 2 inch maxima. I have 2 gold 2 inch maxima left. I will take some pictures of them and watch them like a hawk.

DSC reef · Jan 10, 2019

Tyrone said:
This last blue 2 inch maxima that died has me stumped. I noticed it mantle the past couple days slowly receding.

Did you notice any new shell growth? As the mantle recedes the clam begins to gape and it goes down hill from there. Some causes can range from protozoa to starvation.

Tyrone · Jan 10, 2019

Yes and my other two gold maxima as well have new growth.

Tyrone · Jan 10, 2019

I don’t think my clam died from starvation. I have two Sea Apples that I feed 2-3 times per week. I’m suspecting Protozoa may killed my clam. Can this bacteria be prevented from spreading with the use of a UV sterilizer?

DSC reef · Jan 10, 2019

Tyrone said:
I don’t think my clam died from starvation. I have two Sea Apples that I feed 2-3 times per week. I’m suspecting Protozoa may killed my clam. Can this bacteria be prevented from spreading with the use of a UV sterilizer?

I'm honestly not sure, never ran UV in any of our systems. I believe a freshwater dip would be more effective in a last resort. Even though your feeding, good lighting is what that clam will use more. Hope it pulls through