Clam under attack? (1 Viewer)

[majikmike9999]

Hi I recently bought a very large Derasa clam from Hong, and as soon as i put him in my tank I had two very large snails attack him.

My rocks are set up in a horse shoe fashion in my tank with a sand bed in the center,when i first got the clam I placed him here and went to bed, the next morning i found that the clam was partially closed and very retracted, of course i freaked out thinking it wasn't acclimating to the tank or something, but upon further inspection found he had two very large snails in his shell with him. i picked him up and managed to shake them loose depositing the snails on the rocks in my tank and returning the clam to his spot. throughout the day i watched and these snails kept returning to the clam no matter where i put them and this is quite an effort as i have a 330 gal tank with about 600 lbs of LR. I mean these things were making a straight and determined effort to get to this clam. Eventually i removed the to the sump for fear that they might harm him in some way, but recently returned one of them to the display to see what would happen, and sure enough he has been back at the clam, i have let him "clean" the clam thinking maybe he just needed a shine but am still a little concerned if the snail could harm the clam and also what is it with the clam that is causing the snails to act this way. This clam is out in the open all alone so it is not like they are just wandering into it. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this and also is my clam in danger of the KILLER snails? LOL

 

[flexrac]

i lost my cal to snails, my mexican turbo tried to squeeze by it and damaged it's based, so i placed it in my 55, was doing good, then i came home from work one day and found a snails stuck inside him and it slowly withering away. my advice, seperate them and keep it that way.

 

[RR-MAN]

Most likely the snails are smelling death and are getting ready to feast. How's the clam doing/pic?

I have clams and large snails...no issues at all.

Good Luck.

 

[majikmike9999]

LOL, I thought it was doing fine until i read your post

Thanks for the encouraging words

 

[RR-MAN]

How come there is no tissue on the right side of the mantle??? Do you see any damage/missing tissue (hard to see from the pic)?

That's a very nice clam, BTW.

 

[djreef]

This doesn't sound right. These snails are predatory if they make a b-line straight for him every time.

How far in his shell were they?

DJ

 

[majikmike9999]

it is there and doesn't appear to be damaged in any way but for some reason the left side extends far more than the right? the right will come out a bit, but the right front corner is always in the shell a little.

I only picked this guy up on the 21st so i am still not really sure what the "norm" is for it since it is my first clam. It does open up though and has been looking happier since i recently increased the flow around him. He is responsive and will close if he senses something? how can you tell if these guys are sick? any obvious signs to look for?

 

[djreef]

Please re-read my edit Mike. You need to ID these guys before you put them back in the system.

DJ

 

[majikmike9999]

They were IN the shell with him partially closed obviously due to the intrusion it wasn't the outside of the shell that concerned me it was them using him like a sleeping bag.

 

[djreef]

Can you post a pic of the intruders?


DJ

 

[majikmike9999]

I am pretty sure they are just really large astrea, plain grey shell mostly rounded

 

[AquaNerd]

I am pretty sure they are just really large astrea, plain grey shell mostly rounded

a picture is worth a thousand words. so, we need a pic to properly id the snails.

but rr-man is probably right. the snails may be smelling death and are wanting to take advantage of the situation. otherwise, the snails are predatory. but either way it is something to be concerned with.

 

[majikmike9999]

Here is the best i can do as i am out of town at the moment

on the rock on the right

 

[mario8402]

10 bucks says its a whelk.

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/whats_a_whelk.html

 

[flexrac]

10 bucks says its a whelk.

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/whats_a_whelk.html

good read, sounds like it.

 

[jamesw]

Yeah, those are definitely NOT astraea snails.

Some snails will go nuts when you put dead tissue into the tank - a good example is Nassarius. They will come out of the sand and make a bee-line for their next meal.

Turbos and astraeas will NOT do that.

If there is a snail inside your clam like in this situation it is either:

1) In there eating tissue that was already dead

2) A clam predator and making a bee-line for the "clam smell."

HTH

PS: I was wondering who would buy that clam from Hong. I saw it a couple of months ago and was really tempted

James

 

[majikmike9999]

ok the snail is out of the tank but unfortunately my wife says that there are white spots where the snail was sucking on the clam, Hickeys i guess?

keep you fingers crossed for me that the clam pulls through this. any ideas on dosing or anything else to help the clam pull through this terrible terrible attack!!!

I asked her to send me a pic of the problem and will post them when i get it

 

[majikmike9999]

man this sucks .... here is a pic of the clam she says it has looked like this since tues. any suggestions?

 

[jamesw]

If it was a whelk "sucking the juice" out of the clam, it can probably survive it if it was healthy before. Fingers crossed! It doesn't look like you have much light though - what is over the clam, and can you increase it?

Cheers
James

 

[djreef]

....and getting some sort of phytoplankton source in there will definitely help it's chances. Man, this is a classic example of why proper ID of all inhabitants is so important.

DJ