another instance where a cleaner shrimp is going after a crocea

nickyblase · #1 01/09/2006, 12:10 PM

Hi all, I'm in need of some advice...

My crocea, which previously was very bright, had good shell growth, and a mantle that hung waaay out there, is now being picked on my one of my skunk cleaner shrimps.

It's been going on about a week, and before the shrimp started picking on it, there were no visible signs of stress (at least not until the shrimp started picking). Now it's not opening.

I am going to moev the shrimp when I get home from work tonight, in hopes that the clam will open back up, but in light of the debate that the shrimp was picking because the clam was not well - what else should I do?

If the clam wasn't well before the shrimp started picking, I have no idea - like I said, it was very bright and way open. I will prob try to give it a good dose of DT's tonight as one (hopefully helpful) measure.

Am I stuck with waiting it out, or is there something I can do to help this poor guy out? I've got another, smaller crocea that looks fine & is not being picked at.

mbbuna · #2 01/09/2006, 12:25 PM

what lighting do you have?

being "way open" isnt a good thing . its called hyper-extention and is a sign that the clam isnt getting enough light

nickyblase · #3 01/09/2006, 12:27 PM

didn't mean way open, I meant that the mantle was way over the end of the shell. sorry about that.

He's under 175W MH (20k) in a 20H.

mbbuna · #4 01/09/2006, 12:51 PM

you said the clam was brightly colored.

is it now turning brown, or darker?

nickyblase · #5 01/09/2006, 01:58 PM

can't tell what color it is now, it isn't open. Hopefully it will be at least partly open when I get home from work so I can see what the color looks like. Last I saw it, it was def. not brown.

Reefin' Dude · #6 01/09/2006, 10:34 PM

how big is the clam? when it was open, was the inlet siphon very visible? they are normally just a slit.

G~

nickyblase · #7 01/10/2006, 09:40 AM

the clam is about 3.5"-4", and the inlet was visible. I decided to poke a bunch of holes in a thin clear tupperware bowl and put it over the clam, and since then, the clam has opened (now that the shrimp is not bothering it), and the color of the mantle still looks pretty bright.

The mantle however, was not going over the edge of the shell. Hopefully it will start to do so again in a couple days as it has some time to recover from all the pestering from that damn shrimp.

eastcoastzigzag · #8 01/11/2006, 11:17 PM

what would the reasoing be that a cleaner would bother a clam? i have a 3inch cleaner, 5 in crocea, 3in & 1inch maxima in a 65g tank...he never goes near them. he eats every time i feed the tank. Maybe hes not eating enough?

nickyblase · #9 01/12/2006, 08:15 AM

apparently the cleaner shrimp start picking at the clams because they know something was wrong with the clam. Over the last few days, I've discovered that there was something wrong with the foot (didn't look like anything was wrong when I first started the thread, but now it doesn't look good). I think a critter got up in there and caused its demise, and the cleaner shrimp was just being an opportunist.

smy168 · #10 01/14/2006, 02:27 PM

do a freshwater dip with the clam ASAP, whatever is on or in it should either die or fall off. sounds like rice snails got in through the byssal.

mbbuna · #11 01/15/2006, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by smy168
do a freshwater dip with the clam ASAP, whatever is on or in it should either die or fall off. sounds like rice snails got in through the byssal.

a FWD will do nothing for pyram snails, and if the clam is stressed the dip will most likly kill the clam

smy168 · #12 01/15/2006, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mbbuna
a FWD will do nothing for pyram snails, and if the clam is stressed the dip will most likly kill the clam

So I need to explain my rationale on FWDs, I've kept clams for about 7 years now, of the 25 that I have in 2 seperate tanks over the years only 3 have died. To some FWDs are not a good thing but they have always worked for me. The last infestation of Pyr. snails that I had was about 2 years ago and I treated with a FWD and the snails dropped off the clams and I picked off the ones that didn't.

I'm not assuming that FWDs work for everything or everyone, but it works for me with various issues that arise with my clams. Maybe I shouldn't recommend this to everyone because it comes down to what works for specific people and their systems. I just wanted to help by providing info on what I've done in the past.

Reefin' Dude · #13 01/18/2006, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by smy168
So I need to explain my rationale on FWDs, I've kept clams for about 7 years now, of the 25 that I have in 2 seperate tanks over the years only 3 have died. To some FWDs are not a good thing but they have always worked for me. The last infestation of Pyr. snails that I had was about 2 years ago and I treated with a FWD and the snails dropped off the clams and I picked off the ones that didn't.

I'm not assuming that FWDs work for everything or everyone, but it works for me with various issues that arise with my clams. Maybe I shouldn't recommend this to everyone because it comes down to what works for specific people and their systems. I just wanted to help by providing info on what I've done in the past.

when FWDing your clams, are you making sure that the clam is completely closed up before dipping? have you tried this with those clams with large byssal openings? if completely closed, i can see how this would not bother the clam at all, yet really make the snails cranky.

G~