A clam lover's worst enemy

[jdavid]

Last night I added another clam to the tank- a large Derasa that belongs to a friend. We assumed that his cleaner wrasse was picking on the clam, and out of fear that the wrasse would kill it, I offered to take the clam until he could either catch the fish or find a new home for the clam.

When I got home I pulled the clam out and went over it, looking for anything on the shell and around the foot. I removed a small cluster of bubble algae, and placed it in the tank.

What I saw about 5 minutes later sent a shiver up my spine: A pair of tiny pyramid snails hiding in a scute on the clam's shell. I pulled the clam out, removed the two snails, and a third. At this point it was 3 AM, so I went to bed. Today I removed all my clams and looked them over, no snails, but I did find a jelly-like egg cluster on the large derasa. I scrubbed the shell with a toothbrush thoroughly to remove any eggs.

As of right now I have my two small derasa, a small maxima, a large maxima, and the big derasa.

I think I can keep them in check by cleaning the clams on the sandbed daily, but the large maxima is firmly attached to a large rock. Because the snails retreat to the sand during the lights off period, I'm hoping that they will not reach the large maxima. Only time will tell! I think that the cleaner wrasse may have been picking off the pyram snails rather than nipping at the clam's mantle, but either way, it has it's mantle fully extended for the first time in the months that I have seen it.

I'm pretty confident that I can beat this. before lights out tonight I will be placing the derasa in tupperwares with sand. This way the snails will not be able to get to the clam, and any that may be under the mantle or still on the clam that do retreat will be discarded daily when I go to clean the clam's shells and empty the tupperware.

I'm hoping that I can finish them off once and for all when I change tanks, leaving behind any pyram snails that may be in the sandbed.

This is (to me) a lesson in why you should always quarantine anything that you add to the aquarium. I'll update this thread with my progress. If anyone else would like to share their experiences with pyram snails, I'm anxious to hear what the outcome was.

 

[raz0945]

Josh thats great info on how to rid clams from pyramid snails, let us know how it goes. What wrasses are the best to have with clams? Holley

 

[jdavid]

Thanks Holley.

I have a mystery wrasse, and I am hoping that he helps out. I am not sure which of these fish are compatible with my mystery wrasse, but here is an excerpt from http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/jf/index.php">an article by James W. Fatheree</a>:

[QUOTE=]If you scrub a clam but somehow miss some snails or eggs and they do get into your tank, you can also try adding a Tail-spot wrasse (Halichoeres melanurus), a Green wrasse (H. chloropterus), a Sixline wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia), a Fourline wrasse (P. tetrataenia) and/or a Red Coris wrasse (Coris gaimard) (Knop 1996, Neigut 2005, personal observation), all of which are the snails' natural predators. Still, this may not be entirely effective since these fishes tend to feed during the day and may not reach all the snails in a tank if they are too well hidden and protected. Thus, it's also a very bad idea to impatiently skip the scrubbing and quarantine protocols, thinking that you'll just add a new fish if problems arise later. There's also the question of incompatibilities with other invertebrates you might have as these fishes eat more than pyram snails. Size is an issue, too. Some of these fishes may be acceptable in size when they're young, but it may not be too wise to have an adult 40cm wrasse in your tank as the fish matures. Thus, you'll need to do a little homework on a species that you might be thinking about adding before actually doing so (researching them at Reefkeeping Magazine, wetwebmedia.com and/or fishbase.org is a good place to start).[/QUOTE]

 

[tbub1221]

Good eye spotting those little guys I hope I never deal with them on my clams

 

[raz0945]

Thanks Josh

 

[nickh06]

What's the deal with clams and snails? I have been wanting to get a maxima but haven't done enough research yet.

 

[jdavid]

Nick, Pyramid snails are tiny parasitic snails that feed on a clam. They also reproduce quickly, so a pair of snails can turn into 500 feasting on your clams in a short time. They will kill a clam if you let them.

 

[nickh06]

JDavid;929626 wrote: Nick, Pyramid snails are tiny parasitic snails that feed on a clam. They also reproduce quickly, so a pair of snails can turn into 500 feasting on your clams in a short time. They will kill a clam if you let them.

Gotcha, I have been seeing a ton of tiny snails in my tank recently but they have more of a round shell, have you seen these and are they harmful to anything?

 

[jdavid]

Your description fits a thousand different species of snails and I have no idea which

 

[nickh06]

JDavid;929637 wrote: Your description fits a thousand different species of snails and I have no idea which

Haha I'll try to get a good pic when the tank lights come back on.

 

[jennm]

Ugh on the Pyramids. Your plan sounds good - keep us posted on your results.

Nickh06, do post a pic. Many (most) snails are fine but round, flat ones could be Sundials, that eat Zoanthids. A picture will tell the story.

Jenn

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Nice catch Josh!

As far as wrasses....I have a male/female pair of melanarrus wrasses with my clams and no issues at all.

 

[jennm]

The only snag with getting a snail-eating fish (ie wrasse) is that they can and will also eat your desirable snails.

I'd pay that price to save the clams...

Jenn

 

[saltyvixen]

Are those snails an issue if you don't have clams?

 

[nickh06]

Here ya go

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jdavid]

Because the snails are only active during lights out, I checked today before the lights came on. This time I only found 1 snail, on the big derasa. The rest of the clams seem clean, but I worry about the big maxima which has right scutes and I can't pick it up. I hope being up on the top of the rockscape will help its chances. I'd have to break the scutes off if it did have them, and cut the byssal threads and pull it off the rocks.

So far, none of my clams or showing any signs of stress, other than the small maxima that I acquired recently. But I haven't seen the snails on it..

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Edit: Here I a picture that I found on the internet of a worse infection. This is what I would probably be dealing with in a week if I had not spotted them.

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[ringo®]

Nickh06;929707 wrote: Here ya go

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Look like colonistas to me.