Something ate my clam.

No this isn't a crude joke.

I got home form work yesterday and noticed my clam shell fully open but no tissue/living clam. I assume something ate it. I've noticed my pistol shrimp exploring my tank a lot more lately and I have observed it close to my clam. Is it possible that a bristle worm or my shrimp killed it and then my cleanup crew cleaned up the waste? I also noticed my cleaner shrimp harassing my clam a couple days ago.

 

Usually none of the above mentioned inverts will not kill a healthy clam. My pistol never touched my clams and I have a huge bristle worm as well.

Cleaner shrimp, and bristle worms IMO only go after a still alive clam if it's already on the way out, but anything is possible.

Sorry for the loss.

 

Could be any of those man.. All shrimp/livestock are different. Some people may house your shrimp with a clam successfully, but some others may not. It'll be tough to find the exact culprit. Sorry about the clam, thats a bummer..

 

What other livestock do you have? I bet the answer lies there....

I just have this Dwarf Angel feeling...

 

I have a six line wrasse, coral beauty, 2 clown fish, a firefish, pistol shrimp with ywg, cleaner shrimp, hermits, turbo and narsis snails.

I did notice that my clam moved right next to one of my big colonies of zoe's. It moved away yesterday and today it is dead.

Also, I never seen my coral beauty nipping any of my corals and it hasn't harassed my clam, at least it hasn't during the daytime.

 

And there's your answer.

 

LOL
thats too funny

 

Funny that the clam has survived almost 8 months with the coral beauty and then all of a sudden bam dead. Guess i will have to keep a closer watch on him.

 

of everything you mentioned I would also think the most probable suspect was the CB. Was your clam doing well leading up to its dissapearance?

I had a Squamosa clam that was constantly picked on by my Potters Angel (also a dwarf) and it eventually stopped opening up and died. Just couldn't imagine my potters devouring the whole thing that quickly though. How big was the clam?

Also in the beginning, lots of the dwarf angels I kept were model citizens, but as they grew, they got more and more interested in my corals and clams. That's why they're so 50/50 reef safe.

 

Oh you're good evolved!!!


Yep, Angels can turn into clam nippers over night, this I know from first hand experience. Even if they do not nip the clam the constant picking off the shell for algae and small inverts causes the clam enough stress to kill it even if it's not being nipped on.

It's hit and miss with Angels IME.