Clam?

I bought this rock with some mushrooms on it from my LPS for $15. I thought it was a good deal and I liked that they were attached to a large piece of rock.
Well after the first day I saw this coming out of the so called "rock"





Is this bad and what should I do? Everything I have read says that clams are hard to care for and my tank is only 2 months old.

 

Yikes! What happened to the pictures? they looked fine in the preview...

 

looks like a clam shell. doubt it is alive, it looks like it the was made that way with the shell as a part of the "rock"

 

the clams that they are saying are hard to keep are of a different variety very colorfull and require very excellent water/light you will know the ones when u see them and the price!! not cheap.

 

That's definitely a bivalve (probably a muscle). It looks alive, as I see some of the flesh coming out of the opening. Does it close when you "scare" it.

I have at least 15 or so of these (alive) larger than 1.5-2" and more that are smaller on my rocks. I had a lot in my last tank as well (common on florida aquacultured rock which both my present and past tanks had). They actually reproduced in my last tank.

They are harmless filter feeders. The only things to look out for are putting rocks on top of the large ones as they will move your rock work when they open up.

 

It's an oyster in the Jewel Box family, Chamidae, maybe Chama brassica (Chama pacifica can look similar also). They are often very encrusted, and appear to be part of the rockwork until they open a bit. They are filter feeders like most bivalves, and can be difficult to keep. Assuming yours is still alive and isn't just an empty shell, you'll probably want to hit the reef forums and try to come up with a feeding strategy for it.

Conchology, Inc - Search Results - CHAMIDAE

Cheers,



Don

 

sweet pics..

 

It's still alive. It opens up every day. And yes it closes when it is spooked. Thanks for the ID!
Pagojoe you nailed it! thanks! K+
Guess I'll search the forums for some feeding info on a Chamidae