I recently added two crocea clams to my tank. I have a mix of fine Oolite sand and a few pounds of broken shells/coral pieces mixed in for critters to use in cave building, and (in tank) pod colonies.
I noticed one clam rolling to the side and realized it was getting poked by some semi sharp pieces of shell. So I used a vacume and gravity to seperate out an area of fine sand for the calms to rest on. Today they are both more open then before. Hoot!!
However in the process I'm quite sure a few grains of sand entered both clams. Is this OK? Seems to me it is nearly unavoidable both in my tank or the wild. However as these two are my first fancy clams I worry the sand could be an irritant or health risk.
Also I found info on the commensal shrimp found in clams while reading up on this forum. I would bet this shrimp would serve multiple purposes benefiting the clam. A). Keeping predetory worms and such from entering the clam. B). removing sand from the entrance (thus removing irritants) C). Left open for more options such as possible flat worm/piramid snail removal. I would love to get a couple/few of these shrimp to investigate my theories. However I haven't been able to find any sellers of these.
Any advice on the sand issue would be great. Info on where to find these shrimp would be fabulous as well.
Thanks
I noticed one clam rolling to the side and realized it was getting poked by some semi sharp pieces of shell. So I used a vacume and gravity to seperate out an area of fine sand for the calms to rest on. Today they are both more open then before. Hoot!!
However in the process I'm quite sure a few grains of sand entered both clams. Is this OK? Seems to me it is nearly unavoidable both in my tank or the wild. However as these two are my first fancy clams I worry the sand could be an irritant or health risk.
Also I found info on the commensal shrimp found in clams while reading up on this forum. I would bet this shrimp would serve multiple purposes benefiting the clam. A). Keeping predetory worms and such from entering the clam. B). removing sand from the entrance (thus removing irritants) C). Left open for more options such as possible flat worm/piramid snail removal. I would love to get a couple/few of these shrimp to investigate my theories. However I haven't been able to find any sellers of these.
Any advice on the sand issue would be great. Info on where to find these shrimp would be fabulous as well.
Thanks
