Clam Emergency

[ezcompany]

My clam arrived today, and the water in the bag has totally leaked out. It was sopping wet, and the clam was exposed to air.
I skipped all acclimation procedures and placed him in my tank.
Is there anythingelse I could've done for future reference? :(:(:(

[Giovanni]

Not sure what else you could have done. Sorry to hear about your luck. Where did you get it from and how was it shipped?

Giovanni

[mbbuna]

i think you did the best thing. was there even a little bit of water in the bag?

[ezcompany]

0 water, but the clam was still wet.
clam is in the tank and spewing out what seems to be micro bubbles in a steady stream! what could this be?

[Unarce]

I always have a camera ready when opening up packages, just in case stuff like this happens. I also would have placed it in a bucket of tank water instead of into the tank, so you can at least inspect for any visible parasites or unwanted hitchhikers.

Sorry to hear this happened. Hopefully, everything will turn out okay:)

[Unarce]

Is it spewing out of the inhalant or exhalant siphon? If exhalant, it could be doing a survival spawn of eggs (how big is it?). It doesn't always mean that it's going to die. It just does it whenever there are any life threatening incidents.

Hopefully, it will recover afterwards.

[mbbuna]

yes it sounds like its spawning.

get some water change water ready and some fresh carbon. when it stops spawning do a water change and add the fresh carbon. also make sure your skimmer is working as best as it can.

the fact that it was still wet is a good thing. clams can be exposed to air for a lot longer then you would think

[Unarce]

It's also possible that it will trigger spawning in your other clams, so be prepared to do possible WCs within the next few days, also.

[ezcompany]

.......
the stuff is coming out of the exhalant siphon. i thought spawn looks like white milkish substance? these look exactly like micro bubbles!
i can't go back home due to work, but will be home in 5 hours. will the water foul significantly?
boy this is one time i'm glad i have a deltec...

[Giovanni]

If it is spawning, at lease it is still alive! Always look for the positive.

[mbbuna]

the gametes will die in a few hours. when you get home do a WC(25% or more if you can) asap

[TracyZeuner]

I thought that I read that clams can be out the water for short periods. Sometimes when they are in shallow pools and the tide goes out, they are exposed to the air.
Where did you buy it from?

[ezcompany]

they can be exposed for a bit. thats how ORA make their clams spawn, by leaving them out of the water for 1 hour, then placing them back in to induce spawning.

[ezcompany]

clam looks like it will make it, whew!
now i have another question, you know how tubeworms live on some clams, and they secrete this long white ugly silky looking thread? can i remove the clam, use a clipper and cut those out? these are on maximas so there are grooves, exactly how thick are the shells and how much can i cut without risking anything?

[Unarce]

You mean vermetid snails?

I had a pretty big one that was right at the top edge of the shell of one of my maximas. The web would annoyingly stretch over the mantle:mad:

I plugged the opening with epoxy:dance:

[ezcompany]

yea, my tank looks extremely messy cuz of this white string 5 inches long flying everywhere...
if you plug it with epoxy, can't they just bore another hole?

[Unarce]

I'm not sure if they can burrow through the shell. I think they can only build on it. I could be wrong. I haven't seen it since, so if it somehow burrowed out, it's not near the clams anymore:)

BTW, glad the clam's okay;)

[ezcompany]

;) thanks Karl

[jmaneyapanda]

I assume they're vermatids, as well. If so, Karl is right, they do not burrow, but build a calcarious shell that looks alike a tube. They are no harm to anything, but if you must, just break them of. They will likely come back though.

[ezcompany]

i took my cutter and removed them from their holes with a toothpick. i hope they don't come back.

[jmaneyapanda]

I guess what im saying is that they are probably somewhere else in your tank, too. And if they are, they'll show up again. Now orrries, though.

[ezcompany]

you cannot imagine how much it STANK those damn snails...not to mention kind of bloody too!