Kind of gross clam question

[Peabody]

Hi all,

Once in a while I notice my squamosa taking a little "poop" and it sometimes falls back down and rests on the mantle. Also an occasional bit of detritus will fall on him.

Should I leave him alone, or should I gently make a little "turkey baster current" and blow the poopies off him? This doesn't happen often, but I guess I'm just really trying to give him the best care.

Thanks!
Jeff

 

[Flame*Angel]

Hehehe, I used to be always squirting my clams with the turkey baster just so nothing would bother them. In retrospect I think I probably bothered them more Clams "cough" to dislodge foreign objects if they bother them. I'd say if it's not too often they won't mind a little squirt now and then but it's probably more for our benefit than theirs.

 

[Nuuance]

My experience, which is fairly limited, is to agree with Susan. There have been a few times when my banded goby got carried away with sand sifting and almost buried a couple of my clams (even though they are attached to live rock in the top 1/3rd of the tank), and I helped clean them off. I think Susan's right, for the most part, clams obviously have to deal with a certain amount of things like this in the wild. And, they are capable of serious "burp" evidently when they need to.