HELP - nassarius attack clams

[mr bill]

Am I the only one to be fortunate enough to experience this, or has it happened to any one else.
Last month(april 10) I purchased 100 nassarius snails from PA. A few days after I put them(55 of em) in my 45gallon reef, in the morning 2 of my clams were totaly engulfed by these nassarius snails. I thought I had a clam type predator that killed the clams and the nassaiurs were just cleaning up the dead clams. Then a couple of days later 1 more...couple of days later my last clam.
I didnt know what to do or what was going on, just thought I had a predator of some type and the snails were just cleaning the already dead clams. Had 2 of the clams for about 8-9 months, 2 others about 2-3 months.
Well I finally bought a cheaper($18-squamosa) clam today. I watched it for about 10 mintues and it expanded great. 1/2 hour after i put it in the tank i came back to look and all the nassarius were all over the clam. Next 2-3 hours picking out the snails.
Any HELP here.
thanx
bill k.

[bigben]

.

[This message has been edited by bigben (edited 05-03-2000).]

[bigben]

Hmmm, never heard of that happening. Are you sure the snails they gave you were nassarius? The clams were in good shape visually before the attacks? Just guessing,

Ben

------------------
"Bake 'em away, toys."

--Police Chief Wigham

[mr bill]

bigben,
The clams were in great shape prior to the mornings i saw the snails on them.
The nassarius snails match the pictures on PA exactly.
Don't know how I could be so lucky! :confused:
bill k.

[mr bill]

top - for help

[markrb]

True Nas snails are carrion eaters and don't seem to eat living flesh. Accroding to Dr. Shimek they seem to not to be able to eat living flesh.
If they are true Nas snails I would say that your clam is doomed. Look at www.animalnetwork.com (http://www.animalnetwork.com) under fish for the article on these guys.
There are a few snails that look very much like them, but are predators.

Mark

[MiNdErAsR]

I have 5 clams in my tank, along with (what started out as) 100 nassarius snails. Never had a problem like that. I'd compare your snails to pictures from sites other than PA to see if they match.

Sucks man, my sympathies.

------------------
<A HREF="http://www.geekopolis.com/reef/nos4a2/
" TARGET=_blank>http://www.geekopolis.com/reef/nos4a2/
</A>

[DSB]

Bill,

I recently put 100 of what I believed to be nassarius snails from PA into my 120G tank. A couple of hours later, I noticed several of these snails on my T. dersa clam. The clam would quickly close to blow the snails off. It blew a few of them a good two feet across the tank. It also crushed a few when it closed and killed them.

I was very concerned and was ready to start the impossible task of trying to pick them out of the tank. But since the clam was holding his own pretty well, I decided to wait one more day. After that first attack, I haven't seen the snails on my clam again.

Now after reading your post, I am again worried that I may have the wrong species. Maybe if I don't feed the tank well, the attacks will start again.

Dr. Shimek, I would like to send you one of these snails to for a positive ID.

[Anemone of the State]

sorry to be an idiot but what is PA?

[Evets]

PA is short for Premium Aquatics an online vendor of livestock and dry goods. The business has a very good reputation.
-Steve

[mr bill]

thanx to everyone for your replies and concerns.
I wish I could send Doc Ron a bunch of these snails, cause maybe I got the wrong species too.
Who knows???
I have all the snails i could find in a small container hoping Doc Ron might peek his head in here. I could send them US priority - it takes about 3 days and I think they would probably last.
I did hand pick every snail that I could find out of the tank, and my new squamosa clam(about 1-to-1 1/4 inches) may have survived, looks pretty good, like it might make it.
Thanx again,
bill k

[JohnL]

Email Dr. Ron. He doesn't mind.

------------------
Peace - John

[Dwayne]

This is very interesting.

I bought some nassarius snails also. I had a Derasa clam at the time. Two days later the clam was snail food. I thought something had happened to the clam overnight causing it to die and the snails were cleaning up.

This makes me want to reconsider the clams demise and the purchase of these snails.

Could it be that the clams are actually 'sick' and the snails sense this? Causing a feeding frenzy? :confused:

Dwayne

[DSB]

I have sent the Doc a link to this thread. Hopefully he will chime in when he gets the time.

[mr bill]

thanx DSB...

Dwayne,
Originally I thought I may have had a parasite, bad critter or something
- but 4 /weak/ailing/sick type clams
--- kind of stretching and grasping maybe.
Where did you get your nassarius from???
l8r
bill k.

[Dwayne]

Mr Bill,

I got some from both PA and Jen's.

I realize the 'sick' clam thought may be a stretch, I'm just offering it as an option.

Another option is Nassarius Snails are Clam KILLERS! Film at 10:00! ;)

FWIW

Dwayne

[bmw]

Funny, after a good year on the market this is the first I have heard of nassarius attributed to this behavior--in fact I believe it was Ron that started the interest in them with an article.
I know Jason got a large order of snails by mistake--that had a similar spelling--and advertised that it was a "who Knows" and was selling them cheap.
Are you not sure this is what you ordered?
b.

[mr bill]

bmw
yes i was aware of these other snails that PA got in and Melissa asured me I got the real deal ones ----- sure I got em alright!!! :eek:

However I think I might have gotten a mixed bag with some killers in there - or I just got the wrong ones - who knows --- maybe Doc Ron will ID if I mail them to him.

[hesaias]

Still curious, maybe the're not nassarius at all, just resemble them. when there are no clams present, what kind of behavior do they exibit?

------------------
hesaias
My Reefscape (http://www.angelfire.com/on3/hesaias/index.html)


My Homepage (http://www.angelfire.com/on2/hesaias/index.html)

[Dwayne]

I got some from PA and I believe them to be the real thing. They burrow in the sand with their little 'periscope' sticking out the sand. At the first scent of food they scramble like a pack of wolves looking for the lamb.

When they aren't burrowed in the sand or in scramble mode, they meander around the tank glass and rocks. Don't seem to bother anything other than things that have met their demise.

Waiting for word from an expert.

Dwayne

[rshimek]

Hi,

Bill K. - you may definitely send me some snails to examine. Contact me by email and I will give you the skinny on how to ship.

True Nassarius will not attack healthy animals. They will attack injured or dying animals, however.

From the descriptions here, I would guess either you don't have Nassarius or the clams were injured or dying.

Cheers, Ron

[berniechip]

I also got nassarius snails from PA about 6 months ago. So far they haven't bothered either of my two clams.

[Frisco]

I have had several of these snails also, alongside a dozen or so clams, for at least a year with no noticable predation.

Not to sound too pessimistic, but I wouldn't be surprised if four clams were sick either... especially if they were all bought at the same time. I've certainly seen plenty of LFS selling clams with obvious signs of poor health. Where'd they come from? Farm raised I hope?

[This message has been edited by Frisco (edited 05-10-2000).]

[Dwayne]

Just wondering if there is an update on the Nassarius Snail issue?

Dwayne

[rshimek]

Hi,

And as an addendum, anytime anyone wants to send me some, I will identify 'em for you.

Cheers, Ron