sudden clam death... murder?

I have had my derasa clam for about 4 months now... had him under t5's and he lost some of his color when first introduced him to the tank but i assumed this was from the transition MH to T5. anyways he was looking pretty happy, i supplemented him with reef roids, live phyto, and a couple other filter feeder foods for him and the corals. but this morning i woke up to him completely hollowed out, and one of the snails i picked up last week crawling around inside of him. anyone know if this snail is responsible for the loss? My LFS said this guy was reef safe and only interested in algae, but I'm about to boycott this store if they misinformed me again! any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

The snail is most likely cleaning up after the clam died. The clam may have been in trouble when you got it. It takes a long time for them to die usually. The best way to tell a clam is doing OK is seeing new shell growth.

 

Agreed.

The cuc was doing what they do.

 

Well he had about an 1/8th of an inh new growth, would clam up if I was cleaning the glass and had all the signs of a healthy clam... Just thought maybe this "tiger striped" snail was known for doing this

 

Post a pick of the snail, someone might be able to confirm whether it is good or bad.

 

from my experiences, clams are either hit or miss in a tank... especially when they are young.

I had a derasa that was doing great and growing very fast in my tank for about 6-7 months. When i sprung the leak I took it to my dads tank and it didnt like his tank. it died 1 month later. Oddly though, in that same tank his two croceas are doing great.

Its just kinda luck of the draw on if they make it. clams under 4" seem to usually have a lesser chance also.

 

Looks like a tiger conch to me. And I was not aware that they ate clams, I do not think they do.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/inverts/tiger-conch-52620.html

 

video on youtube

I found this video on youtube which has the same snail im talking about. they called it a spirata snail, and it does say they are known to eat clams. anyone else have an info, as far as im concerned i think they are gonna find out if they like new jersey ocean water later tonight! or maybe just the porcelain express!!!

YouTube - Blue Spiny Reef Lobster vs Snail

 

Yeap I think your on to something, he looks soo similar. Big bummer.

 

Yeh caught one and put him in a floating breeder, one down, one to go... Think I'm gonna have a nice talk with my store in the morning