Where did my clams go?

[NCC-1701]

I just added a few new items to my 215 gallon than that has been set up for approximately 4 years. I have not lost any live stock until I added two cleaner clams a few days ago. The first one disappeared (gone with no remains) the first night after they were added and the second one was gone on the second night. I have all reef safe livestock. Shrimp (peppermint and coral banded), 2 brittle stars, approximately 10 crabs (emerald, sally lightfoot and scarlet leg hermits), about 60 snails and various fish. Oh and one 12 inch lone bristlr worm. Nothing seems strong enough to relocate a clam. Any ideas?

 

[Rysam]

by cleaner clam do you mean flame scallop? if so they move themselves around quite a bit. if you dont see the shell they are just hiding.

 

[duane9]

what kind of bristlr worm do you have, I found one 6 inches long and it devored a brain coral, bubble tip anenome a candy anem plus some other soft polyps. I was told mine was a fire worm belonging to the same family

 

[billsreef]

The clams I've seen sold as "cleaner" clams have all been Mercenaria sp. clams, aka hard clams. They dig into the sand with only the siphon showing, hard to find if you don't know what to look for. BTW the idea of Mercenaria clams doing anything other than being another mouth to feed is quite misleading.

 

[bsbarton]

I put cherrystone clams in my lagoon. They disappear into the sand. I am finding if they come back to the top of the sand, they are about to die. Or so my experience is slowly showing.

 

[madisonrose05]

i had some cheap cleaner clams and the dig into the sandbed

 

[DIONE@AQUATICA]

I do not know anything about cleaner clams, but I do know about sallylightfoots. I love inverts and used to have a sallylightfoot that was as big as a giant spider. When I bought him I was told he was "reef safe" and they "actually are meaner when they are juveniles" This was completely wrong and the kid no longer works at the LFS, don't think I was the only one he lied to. In every marine book I have read states the sallylightfoots are not reef safe and actually become more aggressive/more bold when they reach maturity. I witnessed him ripping zoanthids at night time. This may not be the problem in your tank, but I would keep an eye on him if possible. Good luck. I would tell you how I got him out, but I barely believe it myself.