Clams Won't Open Up Anymore

[FSOL]

Hey guys,

I've had 4 clams in my tank for about 8 months and they've been all doing great, very healthy.
Lately they stay shut all day and maybe once in a while open up for a little, then close again.
Nothing in the water chemistry has changed and everything in the tank is being done the same way as always. No changes. The only thing that I've added lately is a longnose butterfly, and since the day I added that fish, I noticed the clams not opening up.
Could the fish be the cause? And if so, HOW?

Thanks in advance

 

[Peabody]

Yep.....your fish must be a nipper. Not really a surprise with a butterfly. You'll have to choose between the fish or the clams.

 

[FSOL]

But how come during the time when the fish is not nipping on the clams, they won't open back up. I had a copperband who nipped at the clams sometimes, and they only closed up when the fish nipped at them. Other than that they opened back up. These guys stay shut. Here are two pics of them.
You can also see in the second pic that there's this grey colored film coating on the left side of the clam. What is that?

 

[FSOL]

by the way, the first clam pic you see, I found two small bristleworms under it, so I used a turkey baster to remove them, but the clam still won't open up all the time. It opens up fully at times, then just shuts down.
I sat all morning and looked and didn't see the longnose butterfly poke at it, so i'm inclined to say that the longnose shouldn't be blamed.
I also went ahead and purchased an arrow crab to help eat the few bristleworms I saw.

 

[2crazyreefers]

A friend of mine just added a cbb to his 55 and his clam was dead in 2 days ?

 

[FSOL]

Well I got rid of the longnose last night and since then the clams are opening up fully and staying that way. It was definitely the longnose and not a few small bristleworms I originally thought it was.

 

[Sk8r]

Someone in RC has a pretty telling picture of a longnose [I think] that has gotten it stuck when a clam shut faster than it backed up. They're beautiful, but they're PITAs with corals and such.

 

[mbbuna]

the gray stuff on the Crocea is some type of sponge. i dont think its a "boring sponge" but keep an eye on the clam