Mantle Nipping

[StephenA]

Something seems to be nipping at my Derasa and Maxima's mantle. There are small bites missing from the outer edge. I've check both clams for snails and other critters. As far as tank inhabitants I have:

• Ocellaris Clown
  Purple Firefish
  2 Blue Green Chromis
  A blenny from the Gulf of Mexico (looks similar to a salarias fasciatus) RedLip, or Lawnmower. He has Red Hair on his head and I've seen him eat turbo snails. But never mess with the clams.

Am I blamming the wrong guy(fish)?

 

[Teraphage]

Any shrimp or hermit crabs in the tank? They can occasionally cause problems. Your fish certainly aren't the usual suspects.

 

[StephenA]

Sorry, I do have a Cleaner shrimp and a Pepperment. Several very small red leg hermits and 1 emerald crab.

 

[mattseattle]

you sure it's pieces missing and not pinching? pinching sometimes looks like bits of the mantle are missing. parasites, small pyramid snails,etc. can cause the mantle to pinch.

about 2 months after i got my first clam. a teardrop maxima the mantle started looking like hermit crabs or something was eating the edges. i took it out and looked closely and noticed a couple pyramid snails as well as some sand grains around the mantle. i cleansed the shell around the mantle with a new toothbrush. that solved the problem for a while. a month or so later another area was pinching and this time i couldn't find anything wrong. a week later i gave it a freshwater dip and that solved the problem. it's been fine ever since.

hope this info helps

 

[StephenA]

I freshwater dipped both of them. Didn't see any thing on them. The derasa acts normal.

Here are some pics of the Derasa's mantle:

Another:

 

[mattseattle]

not sure then if you've tried the freshwater dip. you left it in for 25 - 30 minutes? i had to do mine twice to rid the problem.

i have a couple hermits, emerald crab, and the same shrimp as you and no problems with mine nipping at the mantle.

do bristle worms chew on the mantle, i wonder?

 

[StephenA]

I only dipped them in Freshwater for 90Sec

 

[mattseattle]

90 sec? everything i read on freshwater dips and clams to rid them of parasites says to leave them in FW for 25 - 30 minutes. Make sure the temp is the same as your tanks (of course).

 

[Rothie]

Those look like bite marks.If you have a blenny that likes shellfish,I think he would be suspect.Try to get an identity on the blenny,and remove him from the tank if you can.

 

[StephenA]

Those look like bite marks.If you have a blenny that likes shellfish,I think he would be suspect.Try to get an identity on the blenny,and remove him from the tank if you can.

I moved the blenny to my Son's Nano-tank. Hopefully he was the one that did it.