Best way to clean a clam

[TheEngineer]

I have a clam in my holding tank that's firmly attached to a piece of rubble (as I hoped it would). The trouble is that the rubble and the one side of the clam has algae growing on it. With corals I'd just dip in peroxide and be done, but I doubt a clam would tolerate that. What's the best approach?

 

[TheSchwenkster]

Could you use an eye dropper to get just the algea?

 

[cwalton00]

I just use a soft tooth brush to clean mine. I haven't pulled then from the tank to clean them but I did it before they went in.

 

[Greybeard]

I've seen people clean clams with a soft toothbrush...

Honestly, I'd probably leave it alone. A bit of algae never bothered me. It is, after all, a normal, natural part of the reef habitat... there's tons of creatures that will consume most algaes.

I'd just try and maintain healthy nutrient levels, keep a decent cleanup crew, and let it be. It would be a major blow to try and clean up a bit of algae, and end up killing an otherwise healthy clam.

 

[TheEngineer]

Ah yes. The toothbrush!

The clam has been with me for 5 years. So don’t want to kill it :) I just rebooted my tank from crazy algae issues so I’m hoping to at least stave that off for a bit.