Jagged line in zoas

Bleigh · Feb 20, 2019

I got a zoa today from lfs. I had a hard time determining where the bottom was to place it. It just looked like a ball. I made a guess and went with it. Later I was looking at it and I noticed this jaded line. It is opening and closing. Did I manage to get zoas that were growing on another critter? If so, is this a good or a bad thing, and do I need to place it differently?

Bryce M. · Feb 20, 2019

The zoas will be fine, but that line? It looks like a...clam? but just the shell? no way theres a clam in there....?

Bleigh · Feb 20, 2019

Bryce M. said:
The zoas will be fine, but that line? It looks like a...clam? but just the shell? no way theres a clam in there....?

Hahaha. I’m telling you it’s moving. Like, it was a sudden clamp down that got my attention. I was TOTALLY shocked. I suspect the left side was the bottom now that I’m able to see this thing moving.

SDK · Feb 20, 2019

It looks almost like there is an oyster shell hiding under there. Is it opening and closing like swaying in the current, or does it close when you poke it?

Bleigh · Feb 20, 2019

SDK said:
It looks almost like there is an oyster shell hiding under there. Is it opening and closing like swaying in the current, or does it close when you poke it?

It’s opening and closing slowly. Definitely closed tighter the moment I opened the lid and tighter still when I poked it. I’m so excited about this find.

Bleigh · Feb 20, 2019

So, if it is an oyster, should I have used putty to put it in place?

Bryce M. · Feb 20, 2019

Wow, that's great, I'm shocked. Hopefully it will be okay under all those zoas

SDK · Feb 20, 2019

Super interesting!

Hopefully someone from #ReefSquad can comment. Bivalves were a very tough group to keep alive when I was last involved enough in reefing to have done research. Hopefully you can get some more updated advice.

Part of the issue (if I remember correctly) is that with the exception of Tridacna clams, they are solely filter feeders that need a lot of suspended food in the water column to survive...

Bryce M. · Feb 20, 2019

SDK said:
Super interesting!

Hopefully someone from @reefsquad can comment. Bivalves were a very tough group to keep alive when I was last involved enough in reefing to have done research. Hopefully you can get some more updated advice.

Part of the issue (if I remember correctly) is that with the exception of Tridacna clams, they are solely filter feeders that need a lot of suspended food in the water column to survive...

+1 on the nutrition. If you can keep up with it's needs that will make a cool looking display

Hemmdog · Feb 20, 2019

Bleigh said:
It’s opening and closing slowly. Definitely closed tighter the moment I opened the lid and tighter still when I poked it. I’m so excited about this find.

Very nice! That’s wild!
@DSC reef what are your thoughts? Your a bivalve guru.

crusso1993 · Feb 20, 2019

Bleigh said:
So, if it is an oyster, should I have used putty to put it in place?

If it is an oyster, and it does look like one, make sure to put a grain of sand in it and wait for the magic!

Lovemyreef2015 · Feb 20, 2019

Bleigh said:
So, if it is an oyster, should I have used putty to put it in place?

It's a bivalve. I would leave it be. We would have them come in on our clams, live rock, etc.

saltyhog · Feb 20, 2019

Wow! You have a hitch hiker clam! @DSC reef Let's see if he can identify the species.

I have a bivalve in my colony of Eagle Eyes....correct that Watermelons but it's not a tridacnid clam which is what yours looks like! I've gotten this species a couple of times on zoas and they have always done well. I did remove one once and regretted it.

You can see the little guy up top with some algae growing on his shell.

saltyhog · Feb 20, 2019

Bleigh said:
So, if it is an oyster, should I have used putty to put it in place?

I assure you it looks firmly attached and should be fine among the zoas.

shred5 · Feb 20, 2019

It is some sort of bivalve but I doubt it is a Tridacna clam, I could be wrong.. First Tridacna are illegal to collect and it is obviously a wild colony of zoas.

I have a ton of bivalves on some of my live rock. I do not know if they are mussels, scallop, clams, oysters etc. Cool no matter what is is..

Lovemyreef2015 · Feb 20, 2019

Its not a tridacna. It's a bivalve. You can look up the genus Hyotissa or Lopha.

Bleigh · Feb 21, 2019

saltyhog said:
I assure you it looks firmly attached and should be fine among the zoas.

I did use putty. So i suspect it is firmly placed. Just didn't know if it was a critter that likes to move. I also placed it with the mouth vertically... not sure if that makes a difference.

Bleigh · Feb 21, 2019

SDK said:
Super interesting!

Hopefully someone from #ReefSquad can comment. Bivalves were a very tough group to keep alive when I was last involved enough in reefing to have done research. Hopefully you can get some more updated advice.

Part of the issue (if I remember correctly) is that with the exception of Tridacna clams, they are solely filter feeders that need a lot of suspended food in the water column to survive...

I have benepets reef food. Any idea if this is something they'll be happy on? I'd assume I'd want to squirt it in its "mouth". Not sure about the frequency either.

Bleigh · Feb 21, 2019

crusso1993 said:
If it is an oyster, and it does look like one, make sure to put a grain of sand in it and wait for the magic!

Wouldn't that be an amazing surprise?

saltyhog said:
Wow! You have a hitch hiker clam! @DSC reef Let's see if he can identify the species.

I have a bivalve in my colony of Eagle Eyes....correct that Watermelons but it's not a tridacnid clam which is what yours looks like! I've gotten this species a couple of times on zoas and they have always done well. I did remove one once and regretted it.

You can see the little guy up top with some algae growing on his shell.

Mine is about an inch long. No clue what it is. I honestly didn't even notice it until I got home and had it in place. I had a really hard time trying to determine which way to glue it down - it just looked like a ball of zoas. I think I glued it 90 degrees to how it was originally sitting, not that I have some perspective of that all was going on.

shred5 said:
It is some sort of bivalve but I doubt it is a Tridacna clam, I could be wrong.. First Tridacna are illegal to collect and it is obviously a wild colony of zoas.

I have a ton of bivalves on some of my live rock. I do not know if they are mussels, scallop, clams, oysters etc. Cool no matter what is is..

How do you take care of them?

Shufflepig · Feb 21, 2019

Bleigh said:
I have benepets reef food. Any idea if this is something they'll be happy on? I'd assume I'd want to squirt it in its "mouth". Not sure about the frequency either.

I got this zoa 4 months ago. Was shocked to see the whole thing opening and closing. Some sort of bi-valve. It’s done fine for four months off just what I feed the tank. They are filter feeders. Really cool bonus hitchhiker