something violated my clam. need help ASAP

[ThrowinRoost89]

im pretty shure its dead, but i still have it in the tank incase you guys think it may be able to make it.


im not shure what could have done this, it looked great before i left for work, not its like this when i got home. and my cleaner shrimp was on it when i found it.





tank inhabitants:
LT urchin
niger trigger
pbt
yellow tang
copperband butterfly
sixline
flame anel
cleaner shrimp
peppermint shrimp
blue leg hermits
clown
astrea snails
cerith snails
nauserith snails
emerald crab
sally lightfoot



its wide open, i dont see any sign of its foot.
and there are a couple holes on the inside flat area(where the mouth would be, im not shure of the name of the area)

what should i do?
what could have done this?

all parms are in check.

 

[DaveJ]

Usually when they gape and recede like that, they are gone.

 

[ThrowinRoost89]

it is my effing cleaner shrimp....

i came back to my tank and 1/2 of the clam was a giant hole, and the shimp was picking at it....

***!!!!!
im ****ed, ive had it for about a month for my shrimp to have a $70 meal....


is this a common thing(for cleaner shrimp to eat clams) that i missed with i was researching


mother @%_^$*

 

[B.C.theReefer]

The cleaner shrimp would not kill your clam. If I were to guess what killed it, I'd say it's the niger trigger But not the cleaner shrimp. Nigers eat urchins, shrimp, crabs and just about any other invert they can find. My buddy had one that would bite anything that went into the tank. Food or not! So I'm sure thats your culprit.

 

[ThrowinRoost89]

i was wathcing my cleaner shrimp pick away at the clam.
my niger goes in the rocks at night, he was nowhere to be seen.

 

[ezcompany]

out of your list, these are your primary suspects:

niger trigger
copperband butterfly
flame angel
cleaner shrimp

These are your secondary suspects:

emerald crab
sally lightfoot
sixline

I'm guessing one of the primaries did a good amount of damage, then the rest just joined in. a sixline will attack a clam in poor health, while a cleaner shrimp may harrass a clam to death, but probably not in the course of one day.

 

[skinz78]

ez hit the nail on the head, I second this.

 

[sh0tyme83]

Throwin'- It's definitely not your cleaner. Your cleaner is picking at it right now cuz it's already dead. There's a reason they call it a "clean-up" crew. I will third or fourth, whatever I am that it is the Niger trigger or the flame angel. I have seen these pick at the mantles of healthy clams.

 

[ThrowinRoost89]

allright, thanks guys


i guess no clams for me......

 

[ezcompany]

sh0tyme83, you'll be surprised at how many clams have been pestered to death by skunk cleaner shrimps.

 

[JustReef]

Do cleaner shrimp intentionally go after clams, or do they just bother them while going after food like they do to corals?

Are pistol shrimp a threat to clams?

 

[ezcompany]

some intentionally go after clams.
pistol shrimps as far as i know are not a threat to clams.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Ez, do you think a cleaner shrimp would have caused this much damage in a day?

 

[ezcompany]

no i don't, i think one of the fish took a good nip at it then the reset went to work on it.

but the question that needs to be answered first is, how long have you had the clam?

 

[ThrowinRoost89]

3mon

ive never seen anyone nip at him or anything. this all happend in one night while i was at work.


ive seen snails and hermits on him, and my urchin was on him a while back.

 

[lilchris]

I read that CBB nip at clams. If I am not mistaking you use clams on the half shell to entice CBB to feed. I was looking into getting a CBB and people have told me if I wanted a clam not to get a CBB.