How to remove aiptasia from a clam

[sirreal]

Hey all. I have 5 clams and one of my large squamy has aips on it and its getting worse. I wasnt to worried about it until it reached the mantel and now it looks like the clam is not opening quite as far as it did. This clam is 13" and the mantel comes out all the way but the clam itself does not seem to open quite as far. I have another squamy thats the same size and there are no aips on that one and it opens all the way. Maybe its something else that has it not opening as far as it used to but I am not seeing it. I looked for snails and dont see any . also new shell growth is good. when your dealing with a clam that opens and puts its mantel out 8+" and now its maybe 7" which if I just had 1 I might not notice but the othere is open 8+" I might be worried about nothing as I have raised these clams from small and the aip problem has been there for years but just in the last few weeks did they ever make it to the mantel. I am thinking about getting a butterfly fish to take care of the aiptasia. any sugestions?

 

[Mike J.]

Most butterflyfish will also nip at your clam. I have a Matted Filefish that does a good job at eating aiptasia and doesn't bother anything else. I think the smaller the Filefish is the better.

 

[sirreal]

Thanks Mike. Yes that was my consern> I will look into a filefish.

 

[Sangheili]

Can you remove the clam? In my experience (with smaller clams), a toothbrush, toothpick, and some vigorous scrubbing gets rid of most baddies.