new derasa clam & pyramid snails

[dmits41]

I finally got my first clam tonight, a 4" derasa that I placed on the sand bed. What I didn't know is that the hundreds of tiny snails that come out at night could potentially eat it. At first I thought they were baby ceriths, but now I know that they are actually pyramids.

My question is this: if my tank has never seen a clam before, is it possible that I have the type of pyramids that eat them anyway? The snails are obviously thriving, and all they usually do is graze the LR at night and eat algae or detritus. They don't even go after my astreas. I just found 1 or 2 on the clam, but they weren't going for the mantle. This is actually far fewer than on the rocks or glass surrounding the clam.

If they are the bad kind I don't know what to do. I've seen suggestions that manual removal is best, but with this quantity of them it would not be possible. I was looking at a couple fish to possibly hunt them, like the 6 line wrasse or yellow stripe clingfish, but I need to know if the problem exists first.

 

[a71skunk]

Yes it is possible to have them w/o a clam. I found them in my tank. I will also feed off snails.

I had something similar happen. I found that the pyramid snails like larger turbo snails. Every day or two at night I pull the turbos out and pluck off the pyramids. I get anywhere for a few to 20-30 pyramids on each turbo. I've found it much easier to pull them off the turbos than finding them in the tank. Hope that helps. i'm getting a 6-line to help control the population also.

 

[kfisc]

ditto, ime- I've read that pyramid species that eat other snails don't attack clams and vice-versa, but I can't tell them apart...I inspect very closely at the ports and mantle and grab them whenever possible with a turkey baster or blow them off with a pump and then nab them- good luck-