Little bivalve hitchhiker

[BitFix]

A few days ago I bought a small red zoanthus frag, but instead of being on a plug of some kind it came on a shell. I thought initially it was dead, but upon closer inspection it's clearly alive. I really want to keep it alive, so what would be the best course of action? Remove the zoanthus and glue them directly to the rock (would it be too risky due to palytoxin?) or should I glue the clam to the rock and let the corals grow over it?

Here's a picture of the clam, behind it is the rock I intend to be my Zoa garden.

 

[BornHandy]

Non photosynthetic bivalves have a pretty low survival rate, so I don't ever buy them.

Having said that, it's worth trying. Most starve because they are filter feeders. I would pick up a filter feeder food of some type, and a pipette for target feeding. If you feed it twice a day, I'll bet you can keep it going for a long time, maybe even it's full life expectancy.

 

[BitFix]

Non photosynthetic bivalves have a pretty low survival rate, so I don't ever buy them.

Having said that, it's worth trying. Most starve because they are filter feeders. I would pick up a filter feeder food of some type, and a pipette for target feeding. If you feed it twice a day, I'll bet you can keep it going for a long time, maybe even it's full life expectancy.

I thought that was the case. I do have reef roids on hand, but unfortunately I'm not able to feed frequently. Since my tank doesn't have a skimmer I hope it survives without much additional feeding, like some feather duster. I guees it's a matter of time, if it dies, how do I know it, I don't want a clam rotting in my tank.

 

[DSC reef]

Look into live phytoplankton as well.

 

[BornHandy]

You usually don't know until it's too late... I wouldn't worry too much about not having a skimmer. Skimmers are just a small part of a larger nutrient export strategy. So long as you stay on top of water changes, and use ro/di water, I would think you could still feed adequately.

 

[DMG Reef]

When I tore down my 5 year old reef to upgrade to a new tank, there were 6 of the turkey wing bivalves in different areas of my tank. I had never noticed them so I never fed them but they thrived just fine by filtering what they needed from the water column. They now live in the new tank and are doing fine.

But I wouldn't suggest gluing the little guy to your rocks. They are able to attach to rock by themselves. They need to be able to open a little. I don't see any harm in just letting the zoas grow on the shell.

 

[Katrina71]

I discovered some in my tank too. I do add phyto to the tank.

 

[BitFix]

You usually don't know until it's too late... I wouldn't worry too much about not having a skimmer. Skimmers are just a small part of a larger nutrient export strategy. So long as you stay on top of water changes, and use ro/di water, I would think you could still feed adequately.

I'm not really worried about nutrient export, I just am not able to feed powered foods consistently, since I travel often and auto feeders can't hold reef roids. I mentioned the skimmer because in theory there would be more particles in the water it could filter off right?

 

[DMG Reef]

I discovered some in my tank too. I do add phyto to the tank.

I do have 5 large, poopy fish so I'm sure my filter feeders get an abundance of "food". I love when things grow in my reef uninvited. Except for pests. Lol.

 

[BornHandy]

I'm not really worried about nutrient export, I just am not able to feed powered foods consistently, since I travel often and auto feeders can't hold reef roids. I mentioned the skimmer because in theory there would be more particles in the water it could filter off right?

Oh. I misunderstood... in theory, yes.