Found new clam being eaten by shrimp!!

**wakbrdfr** · 08-30-2007, 10:44 AM

Need some help here!

Came home and was playing some Metriod Prime 3 and saw my Cleaner Shrimp nipping at my clam

. Never thought that would happen... Anyone heard of this? The clam is brand new and I was able to save it and move it to the other end of the tank. My Cleaner Shrimp is territorial and won't come to the other end of the tank.

Any help here would be great! Thanks

**tim** · 08-30-2007, 09:36 PM

a few questions. how is the clam doing now that you moved him? I seen and heard of shrimp nipping at clams when they were dying, but not a healthily clam. was he nipping at the mantle or the shell?

**Phurst** · 08-30-2007, 09:38 PM

That IS a bit odd, especialy for a cleaner. How was the clam reacting?

**Larry Copperband** · 08-30-2007, 10:04 PM

Are we talkin about a Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp(Lysmata amboinensis)?

**KyleO** · 08-31-2007, 05:09 AM

I had the same thing happen with my cleaner shrimp and a clam and a few days later it became obvious that the clam was dying...........and the shrimp obviously knew it.

**wakbrdfr** · 08-31-2007, 09:39 AM

The clam looks to be doing good now. It was doing a bit of both as far as nipping, the mantle and the shell. The shrimp nipped off the spout of the clam, now their is just a hole there. Thanks for all your responses, I am going to monitor the clam and let you know how it is doing and let everyone know.

Let me know if there is something I am missing?

**Larry Copperband** · 08-31-2007, 12:43 PM

Hmmmm.......

**wwest** · 08-31-2007, 04:02 PM

What type of clam and what color is it right now? also how big is the clam and what type of lighting?

***lReef lKeeper*** · 08-31-2007, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by wwest

What type of clam and what color is it right now? also how big is the clam and what type of lighting?

i see where this is going !! great questions Wes.

**saxman** · 09-04-2007, 12:27 PM

are you sure it nipped off the excurrent siphon? the incurrent siphon just looks like a flat hole...kinda like a slit.

i've had no trouble with even a large CBS and my clams...in fact, the CBS could walk on the clams and clean the shell margins without so much as a flinch from my clams.

as mentioned, when a clam is in mortal distress, cleaner shrimp, Nassarius snails, and a host of other critters will indeed make short work of it. if a shrimp was picking at a healthy clam it would be at the margin of its mantle as NO healthy specimen would stay open long enuf for the shrimp to attack its center.

**Larry Copperband** · 09-04-2007, 05:40 PM

Let me just say that a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp is,without a doubt,the most reef safe Invert I have ever come across.
To do harm to Marine life is frankly out of the question.
I suspect a cleaning was mistaken for something else.

**saxman** · 09-04-2007, 05:46 PM

Originally Posted by Larry Copperband

Let me just say that a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp is,without a doubt,the most reef safe Invert I have ever come across.
To do harm to Marine life is frankly out of the question.
I suspect a cleaning was mistaken for something else.

actually, while not being malicious, skunks have been known to pester SH by constantly trying to clean them, thus, stressing them out. we actually recommend adding them to a SH setup "with caution".

however, in general, i tend to agree.

**Larry Copperband** · 09-04-2007, 05:55 PM

Point taken Greg.

**saxman** · 09-04-2007, 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by Larry Copperband

Point taken Greg.

blame the SH for letting algae grow on their bodies...

**wakbrdfr** · 09-07-2007, 01:17 PM

Well it happened and it died and to answer past posts the clam was a crocea and it was about 3 to 3-1/2 inches. I believe that the clam was not healthy and the shrimp took care of its dying off process. Thanks for everyones help here. My wife and I have decided to stop getting clams as this is our second loss, but on a high note I have a forest of Xenia that will never quit!

**KyleO** · 09-07-2007, 01:55 PM

Sorry to hear about your loss.........I know exactly how you feel. It took me a while to buy another Clam after 2 losses.

On the brighter side, I was able to get a number of Clams that were and are healthy and surviving. Everybody knows that adequate lighting is required for Clams but a lot of people don't know that Phytoplankton is a must to keep healthy Clams thriving.

**wakbrdfr** · 09-07-2007, 02:05 PM

What kind of clams did you get and what kind of lighting do you have?

**KyleO** · 09-07-2007, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by wakbrdfr

What kind of clams did you get and what kind of lighting do you have?

I have Croceas: 5 total

4 healthy, thriving clams in the 210ga under the 400W Solaris LED Array unit (which is too expensive to recommend although I like this unit very much)

and 1 in the 24ga Nano under a 150W 20K MH which is doing very well.

My daughter has a 65ga with CF lighting that I am not going to subject the clams to unless I can figure out a way to vent the heat for a MH supplemental light.

Like I mentioned before, a lot of reefers do not realize the importance of phytoplankton in the reef. It is literally the base of the food chain for a reef and a lot of filter feeders (clams, feathers, coral, naupali, etc) feed on phytoplankton exclusively.

The down side is that (live) phytoplankton is expensive unless you culture and grow it yourself which is easy and comparably inexpensive. Check out Melevsreef.com - Phytoplankton for the straight scoop if you are interested.

Happy reefing!!!

**CarmieJo** · 09-07-2007, 09:12 PM

Here is a link to a podcast on culturing phyto. http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/po...sode-39-a.html

**KyleO** · 09-08-2007, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by CarmieJo

Here is a link to a podcast on culturing phyto. http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/po...sode-39-a.html

Ah yes..........sorry about that (I have even watched this podcast before). Very informative.

Carmie, do you culture Phyto? If so, do you add more nutrients (Micro algae grow or miracle grow) when you split cultures? Can't seem to find out whether others do or not.

Logic dictates that I should but...........

**wwest** · 09-08-2007, 12:30 PM

The formula medium contains the Formula or MG, When i had cultures you mix up as much medium as you want and then just save it for when you split cultures again. I split my cultures in half and then added the medium to fill it back up and there you go. Let it go until next split and repeat the process until the medium went empty and then i just made more.

**KyleO** · 09-08-2007, 01:13 PM

Thanks WWest..........it did not even occur to me to add the MG to the culture medium even though I do keep a supply of 1.019 RO/DI for splitting my Phyto cultures. I was re-adding MG to my splits but knew there was an easier way to do it.

"The trees got in my way"!

**clownfish4me** · 10-03-2007, 06:16 AM

very informative tread! i never would have thought a "cleaner shrimp"
would nip at clams like that.....

**saxman** · 10-03-2007, 03:44 PM

just to chime in here, i agree that phyo is important in order for clams to thrive. yes, their mantles contain zooxanthellae, and they do benefit from this, however, it can be likened to eating fast food every day. you may be able to live on it, but you certainly won't be as healthy as if you eat a good diet.

clams have a completely formed and functional digestive tract, and this is no accident...clams need to eat. the real key to offering clams phyto and other suspended planktonic foods is size. the food items must be within the 2-80 micron range in order for the clams to actually eat it, thus benefitting from it.

just my .02...

**3mm3** · 10-03-2007, 09:31 PM

I have seen my cleaner shrimp eat all sorts of things in the tank. The craziest of which is that it absolutely loved bristle worms. No kidding! I also have seen on many occasions the cleaner attacking stomatellas. Those could normally escape though.