Clam... Attacked by nassarius snail.

[Tenny]

So I've had two maxima clams now for a bit 4-7 months. One was small 2" while the other was roughly 5". Both had good amounts of growth rings and seemed happy.

About two months ago in the morning before the lights came on I found my nas snail inside my small clam. The snail ate most of it and it didn't make it.

I researched online and came to the conclusion that it wasn't healthy and I just didn't realize that. The other clam still looked great. I tried my best to ID the snail and I am pretty sure it is a nas.

So this morning about the same time as the last time I once again found the snail trying to get into the big clam. The clam was mostly closed and was able to fend off the attack with the help of me pulling it off.

The claims alive but clearly stressed. Part of the mantle where it was attacked isn't extending much, its not reaching past the shell. The rest of the mantle is extending but not to their full extent.

The snail is gone... Only had one so that made it easy. My bristle worms and cleaner shrimps have shown no interest in if at all. I put it in a bucket in the tank to protect it slightly...


Just seeing if anyone else had this issue or any suggestions on what to do at this point.

Attached is a poor picture of it in the bucket within the tank. There is a power head pointing towards it to give it flow. There is no top on the bucket though so it is vulnerable to the snails if it starts to go downhill.

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[Geneva]

Hi Tenny - this happened to me also so interested in what others have to say. My clam only lasted 2 months before I found my nas snails having it as sushi for breakfast. Do you have fish and sand in your tank? Joe from Aquatic Collections told me clams can get stressed from fish or too much sand kicking around so he gave me a rock for my new clam to attach to and I now have it in the middle of my tank instead of at the bottom. He also said the snails typically don't go after anything alive and healthy.....such a bummer to wake up to.

 

[Tenny]

The sand could certainlly be bothering it. I have never been able to get him to stick to a rock, I tried to get him wedged at one point but he was having none of that! Kept squirting water and falling down. He hasn't attached to anything the whole time I've had him, where as the smaller one that died would attach to rocks.

As far as the fish, I don't see any picking at him, but there is a lot of stuff going on in the sand bed... two fighting conchs, two sand sifters (were sent to us on accident), and lots of hermits, although I have never seen anything bothering it.

The snail in the pas has always been very aggressive, he's constantly stealing food etc.


Currently the mantle is fully extended on most of it, except where the snail was attacking, that one portion is only slightly extending. This is with very low light (my lights ramp up from 11:30-1:30 so they are still only about 15%.

 

[Geneva]

How is your clam doing? Do you still have the bucket around it? Did you get rid of the nassarius snail? I've seen so many clams very happy in the sand - hard to know which ones don't like it until it is too late! I like having nassarius snails as they keep my sand clean and aerated....

 

[Tenny]

Hey Geneva,

Clam is doing very good, still opening the mantle fully and everything. I still have the bucket but he's now on top of the bucket. I don't know if the sand was bothering him or not, but whatever it is it he seems to be doing fine.

The only nassarius snail I had (the attacker) has been removed... I really like them too, just I have to blame him for (prematurely?) attacking the clam. Thankfully I have plenty of other creatures to aerate the sand and keep it clean (two fighting conch, and two sand sifter stars, and plenty of other hermits)