cleaner clam
- Thread starter corally
- Start date
corally
Active Member
I have two more questions. What will the shrimp and crabs do to it? I have a fire shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, some peppermints and a porcelain crab. And what if the clam dies? If it is buried in the snow (oops, I mean sand, you can tell I live in Ohio and it's FREEZING right now!) how will I know it's dead? Will it foul up my water if don't realize it's dead and get it out?
azocean709
Member
ihave 2 cleaners that i picked up of a low tide reef here in florida. when the cleaner clam dies...you will know it. the smaller one that i found...it died and it came to the surface to do it. the shell will open all the way up...looks crazy.... the muscle was so small , i didn't mess with the shell, i let the crew tend to it. my cleaners only bury half way down in the sand bed...their little shells open up you can see them working...ive watched them move al the way across the tank with that little muscle they are armed with...LMAO...i have found though...that a choc chip starfish will peel one of them open in a minute if he gets ahold of one of them...gotta watch for that. other than that....not a problem...hope this helps.
:joy:
:joy:
jerthunter
Active Member
I have heard that you can test if they are alive by putting them in a small clean bowl with tank water and watching to see if they spit. (you would find sand particles in your clean bowl). I don't know if that helps, it was just something I have read before.
jerthunter
Active Member
Hey corally, quick question.. Where is ohio are you from and where did you get the cleaner clams?
celacanthr
Active Member
AzOcean, I am not sure if all of them will stay at the surface though, so it may be hard to tell when they died, if your sand bed is dep like mine.
Also, I was wondering,.... I doubt that they are actually "eating the nitrates", I think it is more along the lines that...
If you have enough flow, then most detritus, will stay "water borne". The clams filter the water (actually, I am thinking that it would be very strange, that all clams that we get as "cleaner" clams, actually filter out of the water column, it would seem that some would sift sand), which is laden with detritus. While filtering the water, they ingest this detritus, which means that their is now less detritus in the water, less detritus = less decomposing matter= less nitrates.
Please correct me if I am bieng crazy AGAIN!
Also, I was wondering,.... I doubt that they are actually "eating the nitrates", I think it is more along the lines that...
If you have enough flow, then most detritus, will stay "water borne". The clams filter the water (actually, I am thinking that it would be very strange, that all clams that we get as "cleaner" clams, actually filter out of the water column, it would seem that some would sift sand), which is laden with detritus. While filtering the water, they ingest this detritus, which means that their is now less detritus in the water, less detritus = less decomposing matter= less nitrates.
Please correct me if I am bieng crazy AGAIN!
steelgluer
Member
If they die they will come to the top and open up. Do yourself a favor go to your local fish market and get them for 25 cents. Take some water put it in a bowl place clam in it watch it when it spits place in your tank.
celacanthr
Active Member
steel gluer, how many of yours have come up to the surface and then died? I am just trying to see the likely hood of this happening.
steelgluer
Member
I had 10 all together the lasted about 6 months.
celacanthr
Active Member
all 10 of them did this? How deep is your sand bed? I am very interested!
steelgluer
Member
4" They dont last long thats why i said to get them from fish market. The clams in the pic are is what is know as cherrystones. you might want to get rhode islands they are smaller.
ANow i have this in mu fudge. I now have over 400 feather dusters
ANow i have this in mu fudge. I now have over 400 feather dusters
celacanthr
Active Member
Thank you so much! Also, how large are they (an estimate is fine) from their 2 farthest points?
steelgluer
Member
the ones in the pic are 3 to 4"
celacanthr
Active Member
Now, that FD pic is soooooo cool!
Well, it seems to me that if they are that large, then they may not every go far enough in the fuge that they dis appear... IDK, maybe I am just rambeling...again..
Well, it seems to me that if they are that large, then they may not every go far enough in the fuge that they dis appear... IDK, maybe I am just rambeling...again..