Am I going to lose this clam ! ?

[hhegedus]

I have a 3" - 3 1/2" Ultra Maxima clam that I got from FFExpress a little over amonth ago. The clam arrived with his foot attached to a small rock. I placed him on my DSB with the rock attached and he has done very well.

But this morning I saw that he was laying quite a bit over on his side and his mantle was considerably less open even though the shell was pretty wide open. Thinking that maybe my Bali Star had disrupted the sand around the clam and this resulted in the lean, I reached into the tank to gently re-adjust the position of the clam. When I picked him up the rock he was attached to stayed on the sand, WITH a good part (or all) of his foot still attached! He wasn't connected at all to the rock.

I have attached a picture of the clam and will post another message with a picture showing the rock he was attached to in the foreground.

He still responds to his environment (pulling in his mantle, etc.), but the mantle doesn't come out very far and he doesn't "close up" as much as he used to.

Can anybody tell me what happened and if this clam is a goner? Could he have actually shed his foot to regrow again?

[hhegedus]

Here is a picture (a bit out of focus) showing the rock he was attached to and the foot still attached.

[DaveP]

Looks like it is under some serious stress. Check all water parameters: CA, ALK, temp, Salinity, etc.
Also be aware of oxygenation in your tank. My skimmer was off for 2 days and my clams did not like it.(I am assuming there was a lack of oxygen)
Good Luck!!
DaveP

[toptank]

By the look of the picture is doesn't look real good but never give up.

As far as a him being attached to a rock that is not uncommon at all. I get several clam from some farm that they have attached to rocks.

The clam has a byssal organ and a byssal gland. The threads that attach to a surface is from the byssal gland and I have seen them survive if that was damged but if it is the byssal organ then it will most likely not survive.

Pictures also indicate a lot of central bleaching witch could be a loss of symbiotic algae.

Just hope for the best.

Barry

[simonh]

What lighting is it under? If only low lights then you may need to move it him higher. Clams sometimes detach from a rock to move if they are unhappy with where they are.

Also feeding phytoplankton seems to give the clams a boost especially in times when they need as much energy as possible to repair tissue.

[hhegedus]

Well....that didn't take long. The death of the clam was assured by 6 pm this evening. It stopped responding at all, was gaping open, and the mantle shriveled deep into the shell (a hermit was already doing it thing and crawling up into the shell). I just removed it and the rock it was attached to from the tank.

All chemistry is good. CA is a little low (in the high 300's) but certainly not far enough to affect the clam so quickly. So now I watch my only other clam closely. I had thought to increase the DT feeding (just a good dose once a week) but, with one less clam, and all other things being equal I don't believe it starved with such a rapid onset of death. And I have had, prior to this tank, a very large Derasa that did very well with my lighting (2 175W MH and 2 96W Power Compacts). What caused it to lose its byssal organ is beyond me. I should also mention that I just recently (2 weeks ago) lost a lawnmower blenny that I had for almost 3 years. No evidence of attack from other organisms. Just laying on the sand one morning.

The only parameter that is off from where I would prefer is the Ph. It is 8.0-8.1, but is very stable (does not vary more than .1). But I would prefer an 8.3-8.4 range. I have been increasing tthe frequency of my water changes to slowly bring this up, but it doesn't seem to budge. Could the Ph have contributed?

[DaveP]

What size tank do you have?
Maybe you don't have enough lighting to keep a maxima on the sandbed.

[toptank]

In regards to your question about Ph. The ideal Ph for clams is 8.0 - 8.2. Some disconfort can be seen if the Ph is lower or high. Sudden Ph swing will defenity show signs of stress. IMO.


Sorry he didn't make it.

Barry

[hhegedus]

It a 75 Gal Acrylic (48" wide, 18" deep. and 20" tall). Does a maxima have higher light requirements than a Derasa?

[DaveP]

IMO they do have higher light requirements. I am not a clam expert here but I would think a Maxima would be ok under 2 175 MH at 15" depth (assuming you have a 3" sand bed)
At least, you wouldn't see a sudden decline.

[toptank]

Good question, as far as everything that I have read the Maxima, Crocea and Derasa required intense lighting and the Squamosa require mid to high lighting. No doubt that it is better for the clams health, growth and color to be placed under intense lighting but their are people keeping them under PC with success. IMO, I like to keep mine under MH. This is what I recommend.

15" or less 175MH and better 150 HQI's

20" 250s MH

30" 400s MH

Kelvin rating 5500K to 10,000K

Now I have read the young clams are able to govern the amount of photosynthesis so they get by with less intense lighting.

Also take into consideration that some clams that are farmed are raised in less depth than wild clams.

The subject of lighting has always been a topic in reef keeping.

Barry

[ADS]

Specific gravity and temp are also considerations. Heavy metals should also be considered. Your first picture showed some central uniform bleaching as far as I could tell. You might consider these factors and look at your parameters again before any new livestock are introduced into your system. Adam

[Project Reef]

I feel getting a healthy established clam from the beginning is key.

[Project Reef]

Sorry about the loss though, it looked like it was a really nice colored maxima.