Muscles

[snooter1]

Have first shipment in, awaiting the magic call from Richard for round 2, and I have been noticing some things, I wonder if you can tell me if they are normal.

1) The muscles, have alot (maybe as many as 10) every once in a while spit some whit crap into the tank. Filter takes care of it pretty quickly but then another spits out. I seem to always have white particals in the tank. Are they stressed? Is this normal?

2) My sand serpents seem to favor the rock. They seem all tucked into the holes and crevices. OK?

 

[landlord]

My mussells have been doing the same. Although it is hard to pinpoint where the "chunks" are actually coming from. I have seem them ejected from many area of the live rock where no bivalves are found. In any case mine seem to be thriving after 4 months. Sand stars aren't the brightest stars in the sky if you know what I mean. They will tend to stay out of the lime light until they pick up the chemical traces of food in the tank. Then they will move on it like wildfire.

Enjoy your tank!

Kurt

 

[hdtran]

And I thought you meant that you needed to take up weightlifting...

The mussels are, umm, performing, errrr, vital bodily functions, ok? They are filter feeders. They feed on particulates suspended in the water, then, they perform vital bodily functions. Do I need to say more?

 

[snooter1]

Thanks for the help. Me and my wife freaked the other day when we moved one of the Mussels to front and center (has great stuff growing on it). Woke up the next moring and he moved halfway across the tank behind a rock. If he likes it there so do I. I didn't even know they could move. This hobby is really fun and you learn something new everyday. Can't wait for my second shipment.

 

[hdtran]

Come to think of it, your mobile mussels are actually probably turkey wing clams

 

[snooter1]

Anything special I need to do for these creatures? They seem happy. Special food, etc.

 

[Dazz]

without enough stuff in the water to filter out, they will starve. Feeding Phyto will help alot.

I am a member of the "no mechanical filtration" school, so I dont use anything that will take particles out of the water. I also will at least once a week, turn my tank into a storm by blowing all the stuff off the rocks and into the water. All the filter feeders love this. The barnicles come out, the feather dusters seem to pop out more, my sponges and turnicates are growing... etc.

 

[hdtran]

Yes, phyto will make your mussels as happy as clams |

 

[mx250]

As for them spitting "white stuff" - that is non-consumable pariticles they filter from the water. Whenever I do "house cleaning" and stir up the sand they do that.

If I did it all over again, I'd feed DT's phyto sooner (started after about a year). I'm sure the clams, oysters, tunicates, corals, and sponges would have been happier. Since starting using DT's I have noticed a return of some tunicates and a change from decline to grown in some of the corals (star radians).