Originally Posted by
candycane
http:///forum/post/2706195
Oh they don't do it all the time. They will just start doing it little by little if they do it at all. If you want to, next time your lights go out grab a chair and sit there for about 5 hours - like I have done on countless occasions.
It might just take one molt.
Any of the above shrimp (at 2-3 inches) will just DEMOLISH a 1 inch clam showing that they DO have the appetite for clam mantle. If someone buys a 1 inch clam and puts it in a tank with those shrimp, IT WILL get eaten (I should say 99.99% that it will). NOW, if a 2-3 inch clam gets added the chances are narrowed down to pretty much zero for a period of time. On average, shrimp grow at about 6-10+ times the rate that a clam does. To a 2-3 inch shrimp a 1 inch clam is a meal but they lack the strength at that size to mess with a shell that is roughly the same size they are. To a 5-6 inch shrimp a 2-3 inch clam looks like a meal. Small bird eats small worms big bird grabs entire snakes.
While the smaller shrimp are too small to attack a clam that is relatively the same in size, they MIGHT just try to stress it out to the point where its reaction time is slower (EX: The whole walking on the mantle thing). Hermits will do it whenever they feel like it though. Inside of their claw they have a tendon that works like an oil pump. The things have a HUGE amount of power (ever been pinched by one?) PLUS they eat dying or dead organic matter. Like I was saying in another post. A clams byssal threads are constantly being shed in favor of new ones because there is no blood that flows to that area; but it still becomes dead matter. So a hermit will literally go over, lift up a clam and start tearing into the byssal opening to try'en pull the plug and threads out. I don't CARE what kind of hermit it is; I have seen them all do it. They may not even be trying to kill the clam, but none-the-less it stresses it out.
While it seems to be the popular opinion that shrimp won't mess with clams, how many of the above shrimp ARE NOT relatively the same size as the clam(s)? I would guess they are ALL relatively the same size or smaller then the clams that they reside with. If I am wrong, I have seen several of cases where 6 inch shrimp are kept with 2-3 inch clams. It is just NEVER, EVER the majority for survival of the clam.
my clams are 4+ inches...i have a derasa that is 4-5 inches and a corcea that is 4 inches...my CBS is about 3 inches...i am not trying to argue with you that a shrimp will or will not eat a clam...i know you have very good knowledge on this subject, and it would be stupid for me to fight with you...all i am saying is that it CAN be done...you just need to keep your shrimp well fed...nothing is definate in this hobby...
