Crocea eaten by crabs

[quallabear]

can anyone give me a possible explanation for my crabs attacking and eating my crocea? crocea seemed healthy and blue leg crabs never bothered it before. clam had been in the tank for about 3 months, no problems. last night when light went out everything was normal, today when i got home from work clam was mostly gone and 8 crabs eating what was left.

 

[mbbuna]

the clam was already sick.your cleanup crew is the first to know these things,even if the clam looked good.

can you tell me a little about your tank
lighting
K rating of lighting
water parameters

 

[quallabear]

24gal nano, mod hood 2-36 watt 50/50 and 1-36 watt 10k
1.023 sg
ph 8.2
dkh 10
ammonia 0
nitrite 0.1 mg/l
nitrate 2 mg/l
calcium 400
temp 81
parameters taken 2 days before at about 7pm
light cycle 12pm till 9pm
clam was small 2 inches and sat about 4 inches below the water line

 

[llamart]

The smaller the clam, the more sensitive it is, and crocea's are very sensitive. They are light hogs too, so lack of light may have been the issue.

 

[jasper24]

Not much light for a Crocea.

 

[chadfarmer]

the clam was starving under those lights


please dont do that to another clam

 

[bllfish]

Give him a break. I don't think he needs to be told not to do it again.

 

[capt. insano]

I had a large red hairy hermit flip a crocea to feed on its byssal gland.....I caught him in the act, and even though the byssal threads had ben severed and eaten by the crab, and he was starting on the gland itself, I seperated them and hoped for the best.

The clam recovered.

And the clam was not unhealthy before the "attack" and the crab wasn't just doing its job of cleaning up. It had been a predator, attacking and taking advantage of the most vulnerable part of the clam

Needless to say, no more Red Hermits in the tank

 

[PsychoKnight]

Is lighting the only issue?

I thought crocea's under 3" needed plenty of frequent supplemental feedings w/ phyto or other filter feeding foods.

Clam cannot live on light alone (at least young 'uns). Right?

 

[capt. insano]

that is correct, 3" is a general rule of thumb. Clams under 3" need supplemental feedings to sustain them