Maxima/safety question

[RockTheCasbah!]

Has anyone successfully kept a Maxima in a tank with hermits/shrimp? I would love to get a Maxima but after reading some of the posts here on not putting them in a tank with hermits/shrimp-I don't know if I will. I have a 75 gal reef tank which has about 15 very small hermits - mixed red leg, blue leg, zebras & scarlets) I also have a mithrax crab, coral banded shrimp and 2 cleaner shrimp. None of them seem to bother anything, in fact I had a dead snail (had been dead for a few hours by the smell of it) and no one touched it. I also have a lettuce nudibranch which was 1/2 devoured by one of my powerheads-most of the "lettuce" was pulled off, yet the nudi lived and seems to be regenerating the "lettuce" if that's possible. No one (hermits, shrimp, etc.) have bothered him and he's on a rock, easily accesible to them all. I think a clam would be safe in this tank-am I wrong?

 

[jim norris]

I have never tried. I do not want to take the chance.
Jim

 

[GH Sniper]

As you would guess, the lack of responces here has basically told you your answer. I will not keep any of the crabs or shrimp in my tank with the clams I have.

 

[ClamLover]

i have always hoped that my cleaner shrimps (~ambon) would never touch my croceas (10 of them). about 3 months later, they did, the mantle looked very disturbed and shrivelled.

now the 2 cleaners are banished to the sump.

i have been very wary of crabs, but they never did anything harmful.... 4 months later, one of them grew too large and i suspect he created a crater into one of my beautiful organ pipes. that crab is now in a separate compartment in the sump...

the Knop book says no to crabs.

problem now is that i lack predatory animals on the top food chain to get rid of worms, i have been noticing some worms lately (not the dreaded fireworm), just some white thin short ones, 1mm thick, 1 cm long, a few on the DSB and one or two on the glass.

 

[GH Sniper]

If you need to get rid of them a 6 line wrasse is good and it is "clam safe".

 

[noah k]

FWIW I have had 4 clams in my tank with 1 cleaner, 4 peppermints, and about 15 hermits of mixed variety and have never had a problem with them bothering my clams. The closest I 've seen to anything bothering them is when the snails come and clean the clams shell. Not to say that you would be as lucky but it is possible. I never even Knew that shrimp and crabs were a danger to clams until recently. I guess I am lucky. By the way I have had most of the clams for about 6-8 months in this setup.