Hitchhiker clam!

[Idaho Mojo]

I received some radioactive dragon zoas a couple weeks ago, and my sponge crab has removed a few polyps for his outfit.
To my surprise, there is a live clam under the zoa colony on the frag!

Can anyone tell me what type of clam this might be, and if this little guy will be beneficial at all? If so, how do I care for it?

Thanks is advance!

 

[ihavecrabs]

I was talking with a fellow hobbyist turned LFS owner and he orders in a lot of wild Zoanthids. These are common to Indo region and the Zoanthids grow over these bi-valves and get harvested since they would be unable to remove them from the shell.

He mentioned they eventually die out in systems so he is not a fan of them (especially in a small system, this could cause issues).

 

[Utah tank]

Looks like a mussel good filter feeder

 

[reef lover]

I have several that have been around for years....

 

[Idaho Mojo]

Thanks for the response everyone! I'm running a 90 gal DT and 30 gal sump, so if it does die off, it shouldn't have too big of an impact.
I hope this little guy hangs around!

 

[Jay1661]

I was talking with a fellow hobbyist turned LFS owner and he orders in a lot of wild Zoanthids. These are common to Indo region and the Zoanthids grow over these bi-valves and get harvested since they would be unable to remove them from the shell.

He mentioned they eventually die out in systems so he is not a fan of them (especially in a small system, this could cause issues).

What kind of issues? I have one of these on my zoas that I placed in my 10g

 

[Idaho Mojo]

What kind of issues? I have one of these on my zoas that I placed in my 10g

I believe he was referring to the stability of a system. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, etc.
I've had a single turbo snail die off behind some rock in a 10 gallon and caused an ammonia spike which stressed the fish and killed off a small gorgonian.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I believe he was referring to the stability of a system. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, etc.
I've had a single turbo snail die off behind some rock in a 10 gallon and caused an ammonia spike which stressed the fish and killed off a small gorgonian.

Exactly. The die off of one or a few of these would rain havoc on a small system.

Sounds like some people have had luck keeping them though.