What fish not clam safe?

akabryanhall · Aug 25, 2009

I am thinking about getting a zebra maxima, and was wondering what fish I need to stay away from?

SaraB · Aug 25, 2009

Copperband Butterfly is one fish that may pick at a clams!

Stray32 · Aug 25, 2009

I heard that Angels will nip at the mantles as well.

akabryanhall · Aug 25, 2009

Was thinking about getting a pyramid butterfly fish, and maybe a dwarf angel. Any ideas if these may?

Sikryd · Aug 25, 2009

akabryanhall said:
Was thinking about getting a pyramid butterfly fish, and maybe a dwarf angel. Any ideas if these may?

Angels may nip at them or SPS, LPS, polyps ect. I think it is more of a gamble.
I'm not sure though.

I think MarkP would be the guy to post on the subject since he has a Joc is his mixed reef.

I know my buddies coral banded wreaked havoc on his SPS and Clams before he finally let a nuclear bomb go off in his tank to get the thing out.

gilmour01 · Aug 25, 2009

its hit or miss with any livestock in this hobby. alot of people have angels etc that never bother anything, but there's always that one person who has all kinds of problems with them.

stunreefer · Aug 25, 2009

gilmour01 said:
its hit or miss with any livestock in this hobby. alot of people have angels etc that never bother anything, but there's always that one person who has all kinds of problems with them.

True, however I've personally kept many, many angels over the years and only three tangs... two of the three picked and ate coral, along with a chromis that devastated some Acropora colonies, and an Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis) that picked at coral as well.

QT your animals insuring they're eating prepared foods readily, feed heavily, and keep them occupied with other tank mates and you'll greatly reduce the risk of anything picking at coral ni a detrimental manner.

akabryanhall · Aug 25, 2009

Cool thanks guys I might also think about a rabbit fish of some kind. Making sure the fish is well fed seems like a good start. The reason I ask is I want to get more fish but tangs are out as I already have a purple tang. Safe medium fish seem to be few and far between. Wrasses are my only other option or anthias which are too hard to take care of ie have to be fed too much.

akabryanhall · Aug 25, 2009

Btw what's a joc?

aerius007 · Aug 25, 2009

gilmour01 said:
there's always that one person who has all kinds of problems with them.

For whatever reason I usually seem to be that one person.

gflat65 · Aug 25, 2009

I've heard a number of report sof Angels picking on a number of things. I had a cleaner wrasse pick on two of my clams for about two years until it finally killed them. It would disappear into their outlet and nibble on innards... I figured the clam would have closed him in once or twice, but they never did.

akabryanhall · Aug 25, 2009

aerius007 said:
For whatever reason I usually seem to be that one person.

That sucks man, hopefully your luck will change!

akabryanhall · Aug 25, 2009

gflat65 said:
I've heard a number of report sof Angels picking on a number of things. I had a cleaner wrasse pick on two of my clams for about two years until it finally killed them. It would disappear into their outlet and nibble on innards... I figured the clam would have closed him in once or twice, but they never did.

Sometimes it comes from where you least expect it huh? Strange how the clams let him do it, but god forbid you move a hand between it and it's light source.:bigsmile:

ahayes13 · Aug 25, 2009

i know you mentioned it but how bout wrasses ? i have mainly wrasses in my tank and they are all very hardy and give the tank a lot of activity. and they dont pick at anything !

akabryanhall · Aug 25, 2009

ahayes13 said:
i know you mentioned it but how bout wrasses ? i have mainly wrasses in my tank and they are all very hardy and give the tank a lot of activity. and they dont pick at anything !

I am putting a lot of thought into just using wrasses from here on out. I've got a mckoskers and filament coming to me towards the end of the week. The problem is finding wrasses that are affordable, but still beautiful. I'm thinking these..
Velvet wrasse
Exquisite wrasse
pink margin wrasse
Most others are too expensive or I'm forgetting one

gflat65 · Aug 26, 2009

None of my other wrasses have messed with clams (Mysteri, lineatus before he jumped while I was feeding (broke my MH glass shield and died two days later after a lot of twitching...), leopard (male M. bipartitus and female M. meleagris), and a male Exquisite). I'm a huge wrasse fan.

mixedreef1978 · Sep 3, 2009

moorish idols love clams

skinz78 · Sep 4, 2009

Triggers, all angels, all butterflys, blennies, eels, fairy wrasses and the like are mostly OK but a lot of wrasses aren't, some tangs will irritate clams, definatly peppermint shrimp, heck even clownfish can irritate clams.

People say all the time that dwarf angels are reef safe, I have years of diagnosing clam problems that say other wise.

akabryanhall · Sep 4, 2009

Thanks guys! Any idea about rabbitfish? I'm thinking about adding one, but am not sure. I know most say use with caution, but I know quite a few foxfish owners that say their fish is very well behaved.