Aiptasia-x on maxima clam?

[Daniel Doherty]

Hey folks, I added a maxima clam to my tank a week ago. Got it from a local hobbyist for a bargain. Unfortunately it has came with hitch hikers. Aiptasia. I’ve been reading up on it, and don’t know which route to take. I’ve thought about a file fish, but have heard of them picking at sps? And also peppermint shrimp, but that they also mightn’t eat them? And so I came to aiptasia-x, but I am not too sure if I’d be able to use that as my aiptasia is actually attached to the clam shell! I would preferably go the natural route and get a file fish or a pepper mint shrimp, as a peppermint shrimp is the same price as aiptasia-x, and I get something else to keep in the tank, or the filefish, but am wary about them going for sps. Any recommendations? Any advice at all is welcome. Thanks!

 

[DatReefGuy]

Good God. That's a lot of aiptasia. I don't have much experience with clams but I do with the Aiptasia X. I would say start small. You're supposed to squirt it in it's mouth to seal it shut with no flow and it will melt away. I would do a little bit at a time. The stuff is very effective.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Good God. That's a lot of aiptasia. I don't have much experience with clams but I do with the Aiptasia X. I would say start small. You're supposed to squirt it in it's mouth to seal it shut with no flow and it will melt away. I would do a little bit at a time. The stuff is very effective.

Nice. Just bought some there should arrive in the next few days. I’m just worried would it have an affect on the clam!

 

[JayM]

I'm no expert, but I do know that clams can be out of the water for quite a while with no harm. I would consider taking it out of the display and thoroughly scrubbing the shell with a toothbrush then rinsing with saltwater before adding any sort of chemical to the tank.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

I'm no expert, but I do know that clams can be out of the water for quite a while with no harm. I would consider taking it out of the display and thoroughly scrubbing the shell with a toothbrush then rinsing with saltwater before adding any sort of chemical to the tank.

That’s part of the problem. I’ve completely superglued him to the rock! I scrubbed off some bubble algae alright but didn’t see the aiptasia at all before glueing it down.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You glued the clam to the rock??!! It’s a living animal, it can and will move itself, you can’t do that.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

You glued the clam to the rock??!! It’s a living animal, it can and will move itself, you can’t do that.

No haha sorry about the confusion - it came attached to some rock, and I super glued the rock to a rock in the tank

 

[JayM]

That’s part of the problem. I’ve completely superglued him to the rock! I scrubbed off some bubble algae alright but didn’t see the aiptasia at all before glueing it down.

You've got a bigger problem than aiptasia. Clams should never be glued in place.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

You've got a bigger problem than aiptasia. Clams should never be glued in place.

Oh what? I was even told by the guy who gave it to me to do so, he’d used epoxy putty to secure it in his tank, and there was a Little Rock attached to it that I then glued to a rock with good lighting. I’ve had no issues so far. What should I have done?

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Thinking about it now, it could also be the case that the clams epoxy isn’t attached to it, and is instead an epoxy cradle??? So I just glued the cradle with the clam attached by itself to it??

 

[JayM]

Oh what? I was even told by the guy who gave it to me to do so, he’d used epoxy putty to secure it in his tank, and there was a Little Rock attached to it that I then glued to a rock with good lighting. I’ve had no issues so far. What should I have done?

If the clam has attached its foot to a rock or cradle or whatever, it’s fine to glue/epoxy that to something else.

I initially thought that the clam itself was glued directly to the rock. That’s bad.

 

[FMF0331]

My first clam had apatasia, took it out of the water and scrubbed the heck out of it.
Clams being out of water is perfectly fine.


skip video to 9:00

 

[Tahoe61]

Yup, just take the clam out of the tank put it in a container of tank water. Scrub the shell with a soft tooth brush. Rinse in another container of tank water, and repeat. Burp clam by pointing the mantel to surface upon return to display.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

good video. Ya I did that before adding to the tank to scrub some bubble algae off, but never saw the aiptasia. I presume it must have just been too small, but the next day there was one tiny piece of aiptasia on it. I’ve super glued the clam “cradle” down, with no way of taking it off. My entire rock structure is glued together so wouldn’t even be able to lift it out to scrub the clam while on the rock. The only way I could get the clam out would be if it where to disattach it’s self from the mantle, which I don’t really want to do as it seems fairly settled and in good health apart from the aiptasia. I’ve aiptasia-x on the way, so will use that when it arrives. My LFS is hours away from me so I won’t be able to get a filefish/ peppermint shrimp for awhile. In the mean time, I’m thinking of just scrubbing it in my actual tank maybe ??? And having my siphon on hand while doing a water change to try suck them out if they come off the clam!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

good video. Ya I did that before adding to the tank to scrub some bubble algae off, but never saw the aiptasia. I presume it must have just been too small, but the next day there was one tiny piece of aiptasia on it. I’ve super glued the clam “cradle” down, with no way of taking it off. My entire rock structure is glued together so wouldn’t even be able to lift it out to scrub the clam while on the rock. The only way I could get the clam out would be if it where to disattach it’s self from the mantle, which I don’t really want to do as it seems fairly settled and in good health apart from the aiptasia. I’ve aiptasia-x on the way, so will use that when it arrives. My LFS is hours away from me so I won’t be able to get a filefish/ peppermint shrimp for awhile. In the mean time, I’m thinking of just scrubbing it in my actual tank maybe ??? And having my siphon on hand while doing a water change to try suck them out if they come off the clam!

Super glue is very easy to break off in saltwater, just give it a little twist, it will pop right off. I would not add a file fish or peppermint shrimp to solve this problem, they will eat the aptaisia then maybe try a taste of the clam too. I've used aptaisia x and also f-aptaisia, all it did was make the aptaisia spread more, it has only a 50/50 chance to work. The best solution is to pull it from the tank and clean it properly.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Super glue is very easy to break off in saltwater, just give it a little twist, it will pop right off. I would not add a file fish or peppermint shrimp to solve this problem, they will eat the aptaisia then maybe try a taste of the clam too. I've used aptaisia x and also f-aptaisia, all it did was make the aptaisia spread more, it has only a 50/50 chance to work. The best solution is to pull it from the tank and clean it properly.

Okay. Im going to do that right away. Thanks a million!

 

[DatReefGuy]

good video. Ya I did that before adding to the tank to scrub some bubble algae off, but never saw the aiptasia. I presume it must have just been too small, but the next day there was one tiny piece of aiptasia on it. I’ve super glued the clam “cradle” down, with no way of taking it off. My entire rock structure is glued together so wouldn’t even be able to lift it out to scrub the clam while on the rock. The only way I could get the clam out would be if it where to disattach it’s self from the mantle, which I don’t really want to do as it seems fairly settled and in good health apart from the aiptasia. I’ve aiptasia-x on the way, so will use that when it arrives. My LFS is hours away from me so I won’t be able to get a filefish/ peppermint shrimp for awhile. In the mean time, I’m thinking of just scrubbing it in my actual tank maybe ??? And having my siphon on hand while doing a water change to try suck them out if they come off the clam!

Do not scrub in the tank. The aiptasia will spread more than ever. It releases spores into the water when threated or attacked and will spread like crazy. Like said in other posts, remove the clam and scrub it and rinse or use the aiptasia chemicals. I've had the opposite affect as others with it spreading. I haven't had a problem.

 

[Miami Reef]

Peppermint shrimp from Reeftopia are fantastic. They eat aiptasia and leave all of the corals and clams alone.

I highly recommend them.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Fingers crossed I got it all ! Ya it snapped off fairly handy, and yes the clam definitely isn’t glued to its rock.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

I’m going to leave it on the sand bed to keep an eye for anymore for a bit before glueing it up!