Giant clam ID, feeding and nutrition, and Pyramidellid snail removal

[TJ's Reef]

Nice write up and thread Chris, surely missing in many Forums thus making for a lack of knowledge to those in the early stages of Clam keeping.

Cheers, Todd

 

[reefbrucie]

Hi Guys, I had these and I got rid of them by putting a 6 line wrasse In my tank. he got rid of them pretty quick. I tried the tooth brush thing to for a while but you never get rid of all off them. Admittedly If you have an expensive clam I wo
ld tooth brush them off but take care not to upset the clam too much.

 

[VicD81]

Thanks for the info Skinz.

Question:

I see you take them out of the water completely to brush them. Do you need to take any particular precaution while they are our of the water? Do we need to do anything when we reintroduce them to the display ie Burp?

I purchased a small crocea a couple months back and it didnt make it through the night. Not sure if I didnt acclimate it right or if it was my CUC that attacked it but they were all over it and completely eaten down to bare shell by the morning. Ill try again eventually.

 

[skinz78]

Yeah I rock them back and forth to try and get all the air out of them but they are capable of doing this themselves.

 

[artreef]

 

[skinz78]

Holy Smokes, thems some big gigas!

 

[Gools]

Is there a life cycle for pyramid snails? I have them and will be moving the clams to quarantine. Will the snails die off with out a clam?

 

[Reef Stu]

I don't have a clam. Never have. But I do have pyramid snails, lucky me [emoji1304]. They seem to be pestering my turbo snails. So depending on the species of pyramid, removing your clam won't work.
In my case... My question is, will cleaning the snails cure my problem? Do pyramids snails only lay eggs on clams and others snails? Or are my rocks infested with eggs (I have only seen a few pyramids). I would love to get a clam someday, but I don't want to doom it to a death by snail attack.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

Question, ever have a clam not grab on with its foot? I have a T. Maxema that I can't see any foot damage and I've had healthy now for about 6 months and he is on a Marine Depot clam disc (my wife's horseshoe crab terrorizes my sandbed) but he has never really held on to it...

 

[OrionN]

Sorry for the late answers guys and gals but skinz78 does nto seem to be active any more. I though I give this a try.

Is there a life cycle for pyramid snails? I have them and will be moving the clams to quarantine. Will the snails die off with out a clam?

Pyramid snails are obligates parasites so without the host, they will starve to death.
How long does it take? I am not sure but IMO, 1 month is plenty. Imagine something that small that cannot feed for 1 month, they will be dead. Likely shorter than a month.

I don't have a clam. Never have. But I do have pyramid snails, lucky me [emoji1304]. They seem to be pestering my turbo snails. So depending on the species of pyramid, removing your clam won't work.
In my case... My question is, will cleaning the snails cure my problem? Do pyramids snails only lay eggs on clams and others snails? Or are my rocks infested with eggs (I have only seen a few pyramids). I would love to get a clam someday, but I don't want to doom it to a death by snail attack.

In the past I had both Turbo snails parasites and Tridacna parasites. While I cannot guarantee that the Turbo snails parasites will not infect other snails, I can guarantee that the snail parasites will not infect Tridacna clams, and vice versa.

Question, ever have a clam not grab on with its foot? I have a T. Maxema that I can't see any foot damage and I've had healthy now for about 6 months and he is on a Marine Depot clam disc (my wife's horseshoe crab terrorizes my sandbed) but he has never really held on to it...

Normally happy and healthy Maxima, Crocea and Noae clams will attach in short order if they are at a place with enough light and not too much current. Otherwise, they try to get to a better place.
If your Maxima does not attach, it is becasue he is not happy where he is, there is no suitable things for him to attach to (like a sand bed).

 

[Aswswild]

I have a clam that never has attached he sits on glass or sand bed he is crocea T I have had him for over a year

 

[OrionN]

A clear top down picture of him and a picture of the bysal opening is needed to ID that clam (from picture in another thread). Initial impression is that you don't have a Crocea, rather, I think it is one of the hybrid. Clearer picture is needed to ID him for sure.

 

[sector9]

This clam was sold to me as a blue squamosa but I am 90% sure it is a maxima instead. Confirmation from the clam experts here?
Also pretty sure he has PMD; unfortunately he has attached to my rockwork so would need to forcefully remove him to do a freshwater dip