My Derasa Has a Dangly-Bit

[rhitee93]

Hi There,

I have an 8" Derasa that's been with me for a few months now. I rotated the clam 180 degrees the other day because an aiptasia had started to grow on the shell, and I wanted to face that side out so I could monitor where it had been to make sure I got rid of it effectively. The result is the inhalant siphon end of the clam is not pointing to the front of the tank whereas before I couldn't see it.

I noticed this little dangly bit sticking out from the mantle near the hinge. I'm assuming it is normal anatomy, but I haven't seen it on any of the diagrams I have found. (They all go into great detail about internal organs but not much external detail) I assume this is OK?

I guess my clam is a boy?

I couldn't get my camera to focus on the part in question, but I circled it.

 

[DaJMasta]

Probably a bit of byssal threads sticking out from the bottom. Those are how it holds itself in place, the byssal organ excretes these fine threads until there enough to be strong enough to pull itself against.

 

[minus9]

Was the clam attached to the bottom or did you feel any resistance when turning it? From what I can see in you pic, it looks okay to me. The clam was in that position because it liked the flow, lighting, etc...so if you're going to address the aiptasia, then deal with the aiptasia and put the clam back. If the aiptasia is on the shell, simply remove the clam from the tank (if it's not attached to the bottom) and scrape off the aiptasia and put the clam back. It's really that simple. Don't wait for aiptasia to multiply, take care of them as soon as you see them. If you only have a few aiptasia, I would suggest you buy some F aiptasia and deal with them asap.

 

[rhitee93]

Was the clam attached to the bottom or did you feel any resistance when turning it? From what I can see in you pic, it looks okay to me. The clam was in that position because it liked the flow, lighting, etc...so if you're going to address the aiptasia, then deal with the aiptasia and put the clam back. If the aiptasia is on the shell, simply remove the clam from the tank (if it's not attached to the bottom) and scrape off the aiptasia and put the clam back. It's really that simple. Don't wait for aiptasia to multiply, take care of them as soon as you see them. If you only have a few aiptasia, I would suggest you buy some F aiptasia and deal with them asap.

No, it is a fairly large derasa, so it just sits on the sandbed and doesn't attach. The aiptasia has been nuked from the shell, but I turned it around so I could watch that spot to make sure it was completely gone.

Unfortunately I am hunting down aiptasia all the time. I had a filefish in there for a while that did a great job keeping them contained, but it also started eating my euphyllia so it went into a fowlr tank. I might have to bring it back tot he reef from time to time to cleans out the pests...

 

[minus9]

No, it is a fairly large derasa, so it just sits on the sandbed and doesn't attach. The aiptasia has been nuked from the shell, but I turned it around so I could watch that spot to make sure it was completely gone.

Unfortunately I am hunting down aiptasia all the time. I had a filefish in there for a while that did a great job keeping them contained, but it also started eating my euphyllia so it went into a fowlr tank. I might have to bring it back tot he reef from time to time to cleans out the pests...

Gotcha, I would just use super glue and cover the area where the aiptasia was and put the clam back where it was. You can try peppermint shrimp, but my experience with them has been pretty bad, as they’ve never did a good job controlling aiptasia, although, I would like to try L. kuekenthali, but sourcing them isn’t easy. I’ve had mixed results with filefish, I’m currently trying a third one. I conditioned it in an observation tank and only offered it aiptasia and it definitely ate them, but in a tank full of food and lots of options, who knows? I really like berghia, but dealing with just a few aiptasia, it doesn’t make sense.
I think your clam will be just fine.

 

[rhitee93]

Unfortunately, the snowflake eel makes short work of peppermint shrimp. I've tried a few, but never see them again after I put them in the tank.

The filefish I have was really effective. Then it killed a 7-head frogspawn, and was doing a number on a hammer colony and it had to go visit grandma. (The FOWLR is one I built for my mother) I can always move it back for a while if the aiptasia get bad again.

I've got a couple of molly millers on the way. We'll see what they do.

 

[minus9]

I have a few MM blennies in my tanks, I don't think I've ever seen them eat the aiptasia, but definitely noticed the small ones don't show up anymore. They're always fat and chunky, so they're eating something. They're fun to watch, as they dart around kinda like barnacle blennies sometimes. I would love to try a CBB, but I would have to build a cage around my clams.