My clam disappeared overnight...

[M0oN]

So I've had an ultra blue maxima in the tank for about 2 months now doing fine - in fact it's put on two extra ridges since adding him.

150 watt 14k metal halide with 2 96 watt PC actinics supplementing.

Only critters in the tank are cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, sexy shrimp, lyretail anthias, green chromis, and a gold striped maroon clown.

Last night I was loooking at the clam with full extension - everything was fine.

This morning all I see is an empty shell with no clam to be found - ***?

All water parameters are fine, no new changes to the tank outside of adding a SpectraPure Auto Top Off system.

All other corals, including SPS and zoa's are doing great.

 

[patsfan1130]

The clam had to be on it's way out and was taken care of by the other critters during the night.

 

[mscarpena]

Something might have eaten it in the night time. I have had 2 very healthy clams just suddenly die over night. I have some weird large worm in my tank that is eating things. I have to try to catch it and kill it.

 

[LiveRound69]

Re: My clam disappeared overnight...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14899211#post14899211 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by M0oN


Only critters in the tank are cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, sexy shrimp, lyretail anthias, green chromis, and a gold striped maroon clown.

IMO ...with my experience in the peppermint shrimp...watch them cause when they dont have enough to eat...they eat your corals.

 

[BlastoEric1589]

i doubt that a shrimp ate his clam overnight....

is the shell and everything gone or just the tissue?

he could have fallen... unless his chromis ate the shell... :/

 

[M0oN]

Just a bare empty shell with small remnants of the foot still in tact where it was mounted.

 

[Thunderstruck34]

oh man, how big was your clam?

 

[nauticac4]

Have any snails? Nassarius snails can clean a clam shell out in a hear beat.

 

[sanababit]

polyclad worm ate it....why i had one and killed my clam in a matter of minutes...photo

sana

 

[BlastoEric1589]

i would believe it if it really was a polyclad worm. but come on... snails eating clams overnight? and pep shrimp? i know they eat polyps when they get hungry... but a clam ()which is a tridacnid, not a cnidarian)? overnight, none the less...

 

[M0oN]

Only thing I've found are some small crabs (dime sized) on my SPS since then eating polyps off my milli's...

 

[gstuman]

In my last 150 reef I had the exact same experience. SEVERAL TIMES! I finally had to quit buying clams as I didn't want to see them perish. This tank had so much SPS growth that my maintenance guy would do the job for free ($250/mo. value) because I told him he could frag out and sell the corals as long as he didn't make the showpieces look crappy.

Only Tangs. No Shrimp. What gives? I got the same responses about water quality and bad clams but I don't believe it either. There was some sort of clam predator in my tank that would kill the clam and then of course the Nassarius snails can make quick work or anything left over. I've seen an Anthia get kicked out of the school and die from pecking. It died during the day while I was home and I watched those snails eat it down to the bone within one hour and then the bones just blew away in the current. I guess that's how the ocean works too.

Find the fiend! Or, start a nano tank just for clams.