Clams and Nassarius Problems....

Mattfish

Member
We've lost two clams - a derasa and a crocea in the past week and a half due to Nassarious snails eating them from the bottom up. Strangest thing - we've never had this problem before.

They seem to decide to swarm on an otherwise perfectly healthy clam, eat them from the open spot at the point where the shell halves join and the clam is dead within 10-20 minutes.

Two beautiful clams lost. I'd like to find a way to remove all the Nassarius fromt he tank if I could, but that doesn't seem likely since they're buried in the sand.

I have one beautiful large clam left and don't want to lose it.

Any ideas why this would happen and what to do about it?
 

reefsurf

Member
oh yeah......put some fresh dead in the tank within easy access.....the snails will race over to indulge in their last meal, scoop them up along with the dead food....then put them in a blender along with phytoplankton and make a snail paste to feed to the last remaining clam! jk on the last part but it just sounded right!
 

Mattfish

Member
Good idea! Makes sense. I know we all talk about a cleanup crew, but to be honest, every snail I've seen is pretty lazy - they sure don't clean the algae so far as I can tell, and the bad outweighs the good if they're going to eat my clams.

And besides, for sandsifting, I have a sandsifting star, and two horseshoe crabs and they do a pretty good job of keeping the sand as clean as it's going to get.....
 

reefsurf

Member
nassarious snails don't eat algae. they are carnivores and eat meat, living or dead. other CUC members eat the algae......i was at my LFS recently and saw the owner place a dead fish in a tank with nassarious snails. as soon as the fish was placed in the tank then entire population of them raced towards the dead fish. within an hour there was nothing left of this 4 inch fish. it was pretty awesome and interesting. that said their use is eating left over food and dead animals...they are opportunist and apparently enjoy their clam in the full shell as well. might be bad news because i have both in my 12 gal tank.
 

mps9506

Well-Known Member
Don't know if you had your clams on the sand, but consider placing them on a small rock or halfshell to allow the clam to attach to something and help protect the vulnerable underside. Croceas especially are naturally found in rock and coral crevices.
 

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Hmm.
I've never had a problem with them going after anything live. Anything dead or dying is another issue.
I have a turbo right now that is annoying my Dersa trying to clean the shell. Clam still looks ok but if it is still there he gets moved tonight.
 

TonyD

Member
nassarious snails don't eat algae. they are carnivores and eat meat, living or dead. other CUC members eat the algae......i was at my LFS recently and saw the owner place a dead fish in a tank with nassarious snails. as soon as the fish was placed in the tank then entire population of them raced towards the dead fish. within an hour there was nothing left of this 4 inch fish. it was pretty awesome and interesting. that said their use is eating left over food and dead animals...they are opportunist and apparently enjoy their clam in the full shell as well. might be bad news because i have both in my 12 gal tank.

I know this is way after the fact but I want to make sure the correct information is available. Nassarious snails are omnivores, not carnivores. They eat detritus, uneaten food, decaying organics, and fish waste. Simply put they do not attack healthy tank inhabitants. They will however devoure anything dead or dieing in no time flat.
 

cbrownfish

Well-Known Member
One time I placed a new clam in the tank and an hour later, my entire nassarius population was eating it from the foot. I am not certain but I have to believe that the clam was on it's way out or had been damaged in some way. Since then, I have added 3 clams with no similar event. Tongan or Vibex Nassarius will not typically attack something that is alive and healthy. Something must have been amiss with the clams or you have some variety of Whelks IMHO.

Remember, in the wild it is HIGHLY important for clams/fish to give the appearance that everything is fine or they will be eaten quickly. Weakness means a quick end. Folks often wonder why a fish suddenly dies and state that it seemed perfectly healthy. Most are quite simply being very stoic as their health degrades.

Photos from my experience a couple years ago (Vibex on the far left of the clam and mainly Tongan on the foot) --

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2080298070_47e357df07.jpg
 

CATALYST

Well-Known Member
I just made a post a couple days ago about snails eating my clam. They weren't nassarius..some other predator. I have nassarius and they haven't gotten to the clam yet, but I have a maxima. Maybe sand clams and sand snails aren't a good combo.
The snails I HAD were munching on my clam and it's healthy. I stayed up and removed all the little buggers and my clam is on the mend. Putting a big shell under it could help.
 

Ganrin

Member
Babylonia sp. whelks are frequently sold as giant nassarius and are predatory sand dwellers. I had a Babylonia kill an previously healthy maxima clam last winter. The snail im refering to is pictured here, about half way down the page there is a heading Not Reef Safe, the second row, middle picture is the Babylonias that I had Indo Pacific Snails
 
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