Clam or Mussel?

[IAmDaryl]

Attached is a photo I took last night. I have a 45 gal tank with 50 lb of LR, 250W MH, and 2 65W actinic. A CPR CY192 wet/dry filter with a protien skimmer. I have been up and running since Nov 26th 2008.

Anyway on my first piece of LR I noticed that there appeared to be a clam. I didn't think that it would last long as I had not been through a cycle yet. But low and behold he appears to be thriving. I just want to know if there is anyone out there who can identify the fella and give me any suggestions. He is about the size of a silver dollar, he has never moved (attached to the LR) but he will wiggle when hermits eat the algae off his back. I'm pretty excited that he is still alive!

[jenglish]

All I can give you is generalizations I'm afreid. Most bivalves are harmless filter feeders that take nutreints from the water column. He probably cannot move otehr than detach his foot and reattach wherever the current takes him. I have really only seen non photosynthetic bivalves come in as hitchhikers so the literature on them is spotty at least to my knowledge. Hope it does well for you!

Welcome to TRT!