Neon goby picking on clam!

[npaden]

I have a neon goby that is picking on my new derasa clam I just added yesterday. It is biting the mantle and the clam is reacting like it hurts. After 3 times in a row the clam just completely closes up. After a few minutes the clam will open back up a little and the process repeats itself.

I luckily managed to catch the goby on the first attempt and it is on it's way to the LFS. Anyone ever had anything similar happen?

Thanks, Nathan

 

[npaden]

Now my Kole tang is picking at it. This is getting frustrating!

 

[MiNdErAsR]

It's prolly stressed from the move, and releasing that oh so sweet scent which draws everything to come take a nibble. Try and protect it with something (without blocking the light) until it settles in.

 

[Project Reef]

It's prolly stressed from the move, and releasing that oh so sweet scent which draws everything to come take a nibble. Try and protect it with something (without blocking the light) until it settles in.

Solid advice, I agree. It's just going to hard to find something to cover a huge clam like that though.

 

[npaden]

If it is still getting picked on today when I get home from work I will make some type of egg crate cage to put around it. It shouldn't block to much light. (Unless it is still just the kole tang doing the picking - then I might just try to catch it)

Thanks, Nathan

 

[npaden]

Well, I've built a cage out of eggcrate to cover the clam. It was amazing that in less than 15 minutes after covering it the clam was fully open and the mantle was fully extended.

It doesn't appear to be a sick clam that the fish were attracted to but rather the fish actually were picking at the clam and causing it to retract. I'm going to leave the cage on for a few days and then remove it and see what happens. If the Kole tang starts picking at the clam again I will remove the tang.

FWIW, Nathan