Peppermint Shrimp devours a clam?!?!

[Armand9601]

Has this ever happened to anyone? In less than 24 hours my clam is picked clean - by the time I saw it yesterday morning he was halfway thru.

For all purposes the clam was healthy before my shrimp started snacking.

Just wondering if this is normal...

 

[greendougan]

From what I have heard about that is that the shrimps will only do that if the clam is dying.
just my 2

 

[Armand9601]

Ok, he was a new addition from MACNA - thought he was looking good... Guess not

 

[betamed]

I can't keep clams and I do have a few large peps. Never seen what is eating them but I guess I have one more suspect

 

[Uncle Luke]

Saw some peppermints devouring my Acans so I put those suckers in the refugium. I wouldn't be surprised if they ate your clam.

 

[heritage]

Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence with these shrimp. They are great at clearing a tank of aptisia, but once gone they can turn there attention to other things including clams and coral.

Skunk cleaner shrimp or fire shrimp are a much better choice.

 

[Armand9601]

@ Heritage - funny thing is there's some aiptasia just inches away that they won't touch... Think it might be time to move them to the refugium.

 

[Gillguy]

Armand I too purchased a clam at Macna probably from same location as you and it too died. I have had another clam in my tank for 6 years with a peppermint and no issues. I believe the peppermint only ate yours while it was dying or already dead.

 

[heritage]

Yeah, it's a 50/50 chance that they will eat them as well.
Try and trade them for something different.

 

[blackthunda77]

have you ever had a clam before? Many times a clam will die with no warning, within a couple hours. Im betting the clam was on its way out and the shrimp was just scavenging.

 

[Lacy]

There was a tank of clams at MACNA that had a lot of them partially opened and did not look so good.

 

[Armand9601]

There was a tank of clams at MACNA that had a lot of them partially opened and did not look so good.

Hmmm, wonder if that's the place I picked this one up from... Along the back, against the wall?

 

[Gillguy]

Yes, that's the one I bought from. I believe it was called Pacific East Aquaculture. My clam looked good and was open but others were not. I bought it when they lowered the price to $50 on Sunday. It was a blue Maxima really nice but I've learned not to buy a clam that has been packaged and traveled like those were. Especially when they were not in the best kept conditions for four days. Clams are sensitive and also need time to acclimate. Only buy them from the tank of a hobbyist or from an LFS that you trust and has kept it in his tank for several weeks. I wonder if anyone on this site bought one that managed to survive.

 

[Lacy]

That is the company.

 

[Clam guy]

It's hard to say for sure if the shrimp actually killed the clam or was just eating the already dead clam. Clams can go from looking good to completely dead in a matter of hours.

 

[doreo]

My clam from macna is doing good but I got mine from rare reef