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Tamarisk sea star and clam

Jan

By Jan,
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Jan

Jan

(edited)

I've had a Tamari sp sea star for a couple of years. I had two clams before the sea star that were very healthy and then all of a sudden they retracted and died. All parmaeters were perfect and the clams were getting enough food , light and calcium. I suspected that it may have been the sea star but since they died I just let it go.

 

I recently purchased another clam. Large and very healthy. I noticed the sea star moving towards the clam very fast 3 nights ago and took it out. in a couple of days the clam receded. It must have gotten to it before I caught it. I'm convinced that the sea star has caused my previous clam deaths.

 

Can a clam recover once a sea star has injected it with it's digestive enzymes or is it just a slow death? I'm not sure how the sea star affected the clam but i suspect it's like all sea stars that eat clams it empties its stomach and started to digest. Do they leave digestive enzymes in the clam? Does the one time assault slowly kill the clam? the sea star has not been allowed back into the DT after I caught it on the clam. It's gone now. Clam is looking deathly.

Edited by Jans Natural Reef Foods
LCDRDATA Grandmaster Reefer

LCDRDATA

(edited)
Can a clam recover once a sea star has injected it with it's digestive enzymes or is it just a slow death? I'm not sure how the sea star affected the clam but i suspect it's like all sea stars that eat clams it empties its stomach and started to digest. Do they leave digestive enzymes in the clam? Does the one time assault slowly kill the clam? the sea star has not been allowed back into the DT after I caught it on the clam. It's gone now. Clam is looking deathly.

If the sea star poured digestive enzymes on the clam, I think the chances of recovery would depend on the "dosage," the sites that received that dosage, and the contact duration, but I have no idea what the likelihood of saving the clam would be. :sad: Since enzymes aren't alive, they won't replicate, so I would suggest gently irrigating every part of the clam's soft tissue you can get to -- including inside the siphon and mantle cavity, if at all possible -- to remove anything still left. I don't know if you can distinguish any necrotic tissue, or whether trying to remove it would be the best option. Beyond that, I think it will be up to the clam to heal itself, and your role will be limited to providing the very best environment you can (something I know you already do) to enable the clam to fight its own battle. Good luck!

Edited by LCDRDATA
Coral Hind

Coral Hind

Sorry to hear the clam is not doing well. The Tamarisk or Purple stars also can eat small rock anemones as well as clams. If it was eating the clam I think it would have left an area that would have had some visible white slime behind where the flesh was being dissolved. It is hard to tell but the clam could also have been weak and the starfish already sensed that and was moving in for the snack. Have you tried to give the clam a freshwater bath to wash away any of the enzymes left behind or anything else that it might have?

Jan

Jan

  • Author

This clam was very healthy. One of the healthiest I've seen. The second thing I did was give it a 20 min FW dip in same PH & temp water. It's completely receeded now, but still responsive to light. The first thing I did was place it in a container in the tank with some phytofood. There was slime on the inside.

 

Its deterioration was rapid. Overnight. It was wide open and happy with bright colors and then the next day the back mantle receeded. It was then that I saw the starfish go towards it and in no time at all it was on top of it. By the end of the day all of it receeded. I tried to feed it and then gave it FW dip.

 

Today the shrimp are hanging around it. It keeps snapping shut when they get too close. its entire mantle is receeded.

 

Sorry to hear the clam is not doing well. The Tamarisk or Purple stars also can eat small rock anemones as well as clams. If it was eating the clam I think it would have left an area that would have had some visible white slime behind where the flesh was being dissolved. It is hard to tell but the clam could also have been weak and the starfish already sensed that and was moving in for the snack. Have you tried to give the clam a freshwater bath to wash away any of the enzymes left behind or anything else that it might have?

Jan

Jan

  • Author

Yes. I can make one out of eggcrate but then I was thinking it may die and rot overnight preventing the shrimp and cleaners from getting to it. It would be a very expensive meal and might save me having to kill it or saving my tank from crashing. :wacko: Dunno what to do.

Coral Hind

Coral Hind

They don't really foul the tank much very fast so it will not crash your tank during the night. pods and worms will still be able to pick at it if it does die.

davelin315 Neptune Reefer

davelin315

They won't impact your water quality unless they are huge.

 

From your description it sounds like it was already going south when the starfish jumped on it, is that correct?

Jan

Jan

  • Author

Worse. It's all receded. No reaction to light. The same way the other two died.

Jan

Jan

  • Author

:sad: I don't have the heart. I would never put it in my blends :ohmy: .

I would pull it now then before it goes all the way. It is probably still good enough for fish food.

Jan

Jan

  • Author

The clam went bye bye this afternoon. 4 snips and about 1 lb of clam meat slid right into the porcelain pool never to be seen ever again. Sometimes this hobby really SUCKS!

Jan

Jan

  • Author
(edited)

Hunter^ bought the starfish over the weekend. I hope I'm wrong about it. All I know is that I had clams with no issues before that starfish. After I introduced that starfish they both died the same way. I'm just bummed. How many years did it take that clam to get as big as it was in the wild? Such a travesty.

 

Sorry to hear that Jan. What are you going to do with the starfish?

Edited by Jans Natural Reef Foods
MBVette

MBVette

Didn't he also pick up a large clam? I hope he watches that starfish closely.

 

He wants that clam to become a snack, b/c he is also talking about putting that clown trigger in there.

Jan

Jan

  • Author

:why: I mentioned it on the F/S post for the clam. I didn't think it was a good idea. :why:

 

Didn't he also pick up a large clam? I hope he watches that starfish closely.

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