New Maxima Clam not opening fully

mic209 · 05/20/2012, 09:33 PM

A week ago I picked up a little blue maxima, about 2", It looked good in the fish store, its mantel was fully extended and was responsive when I put my hand over the light. Since its been in my tank I have not seen its mantel fully extended, although it is still responsive when I cover the light and jumps off the rocks and prefers to be in the sand bed. I even put a rock under it in the sand bed and it still jumped off the rock. My livestock includes, 2 clowns, a firefish, peppermint shrimp, various snails (no hermit crabs as they killed one of 2 helfrichis while it was sleeping, so they all got moved to the sump). Tank is a 25 gallon cube with vortech mp10 for flow, I put the clam in a low flow area. Lighting is Sol Nano LED lighting set at 70%

Parameters:

SG: 1.026 (calibrated refractometer)
No3: 0 (API)
Po4: .03 (Hanna Checker)
CA: 460 (Red Sea Pro)
Alk: 8.0 DKH (Red Sea Pro)
Mag: 1400 Red Sea Pro)

Sorry for the super blue pic, I can't figure out how to get a decent picture with LEDS.

moliken · 05/21/2012, 04:50 AM

i'd say gone or close to it. sometimes it's acclimation, travel, internal parasites or snails. params are fine. maybe a failure to thrive or something we can't tell.

mic209 · 05/21/2012, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moliken

i'd say gone or close to it. sometimes it's acclimation, travel, internal parasites or snails. params are fine. maybe a failure to thrive or something we can't tell.

Should I try a freshwater dip?

moliken · 05/21/2012, 03:52 PM

it's a last resort, but yes!

sig_1959 · 05/22/2012, 04:01 PM

Sorry to hijack but I got the same problem, with ~ 6" maxima. got it from the member.
Tried to put on the sand/rock and it did not work. Now it even starts to retract inside . you can see bare shell appears. I use T5 and guy was using LED AI
Can you please say few words how to dip it in fresh water (just in case)
My other maxima, which I got one year ago is doing perfect and it is on the side position.

moliken · 05/22/2012, 04:54 PM

fwd is too complicated to type out. pm is highly contagious. sure looks like pm to me. do the 10 mins of research and save that clam. highly salvagable at this early stage. not just in case. do it!

sig_1959 · 05/22/2012, 04:59 PM

please tell to the uneducated guy what is the PM means and I will do reserch This is first time that I am dealing with clams
Thanks

moliken · 05/22/2012, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sig_1959

please tell to the uneducated guy what is the PM means and I will do reserch This is first time that I am dealing with clams
Thanks

pm pinched mantle. look at post 10 on the thread about clam prob. i just posted there. fwd is explained there. baasically

sig_1959 · 05/22/2012, 05:01 PM

thanks, found in the previews post pinched mantle syndrome.
Thanks again moliken

moliken · 05/22/2012, 05:04 PM

np good luck. use baking soda to equalize ph.

sig_1959 · 05/22/2012, 07:51 PM

sorry moliken, I ma reading and can not find to which species it is contagious. Is it applies just to mollusks, snails or fishes also
thanks again

agruetz · 05/22/2012, 07:59 PM

Just a warning the freshwater dip is going to be hard on the guy sooner you do it probably the better. Make sure to match the temp and PH best you can. I just did it to mine because of suspected pinched mantle syndrome. The mantle has unrolled compared to what it was, but it definitely was stressful on him. I hope to see some visible improvement tomorrow. Let us know how it goes. (I am a clam newbie, but was best I could come up with in my research.)

moliken · 05/22/2012, 08:43 PM

pm is highly contagious to other clams, any of them.

sig_1959 · 05/23/2012, 03:18 PM

dipped the clam yesterday for a 10 minutes with the same pH and temperature. turned lights off. Checking today and do not see any improvements.
I have one clam for the year and since it is always in perfect health, never bothered to read about them.

What I do not understand, how I got this PM, if my clam is healthy and I brought it home from the tank where it was looking healthy and the guy has few other clams
Will see tomorrow

mic209 · 05/23/2012, 05:32 PM

so i did the freshwater dip for 10 minutes in temperature matched RO/DI water, and unfortunately, it was dead shortly after being placed back in the display.

moliken · 05/23/2012, 07:49 PM

sig, fwd takes more than 10 mins. . it'sa 20-25 min treatment. pm is difficult to trace or determine the origin. cpould be in lfs and stress of move/acclimation weakened it somewhat, but that's just a guess

sig_1959 · 05/24/2012, 11:16 AM

thanks. will try to deep again. I was reading that maximas are accepting FW much harder than crosea clams. That why I did 10 min, instead 25 as was recomended for crosea

Thepopo · 05/28/2012, 05:43 PM

Feed him phytoplankton for three days straight. You should see an improvement by the third day. But he does seem to be in bad shape.

05/20/2012, 09:33 PM	#1
mic209 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kingman, Arizona Posts: 1,060	New Maxima Clam not opening fully A week ago I picked up a little blue maxima, about 2", It looked good in the fish store, its mantel was fully extended and was responsive when I put my hand over the light. Since its been in my tank I have not seen its mantel fully extended, although it is still responsive when I cover the light and jumps off the rocks and prefers to be in the sand bed. I even put a rock under it in the sand bed and it still jumped off the rock. My livestock includes, 2 clowns, a firefish, peppermint shrimp, various snails (no hermit crabs as they killed one of 2 helfrichis while it was sleeping, so they all got moved to the sump). Tank is a 25 gallon cube with vortech mp10 for flow, I put the clam in a low flow area. Lighting is Sol Nano LED lighting set at 70% Parameters: SG: 1.026 (calibrated refractometer) No3: 0 (API) Po4: .03 (Hanna Checker) CA: 460 (Red Sea Pro) Alk: 8.0 DKH (Red Sea Pro) Mag: 1400 Red Sea Pro) Sorry for the super blue pic, I can't figure out how to get a decent picture with LEDS.

05/21/2012, 04:50 AM	#2
moliken Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: smyrna Posts: 2,963	i'd say gone or close to it. sometimes it's acclimation, travel, internal parasites or snails. params are fine. maybe a failure to thrive or something we can't tell. __________________ not obsessse--scuse me gotta check on the tank Current Tank Info: 75 and 65gals plumbed together, clams 12 fish. lps corals/ aquaillumination leds on the 75 and lovin them. t5's

05/21/2012, 03:52 PM	#4
moliken Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: smyrna Posts: 2,963	it's a last resort, but yes! __________________ not obsessse--scuse me gotta check on the tank Current Tank Info: 75 and 65gals plumbed together, clams 12 fish. lps corals/ aquaillumination leds on the 75 and lovin them. t5's

05/22/2012, 04:01 PM	#5
sig_1959 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 107	Sorry to hijack but I got the same problem, with ~ 6" maxima. got it from the member. Tried to put on the sand/rock and it did not work. Now it even starts to retract inside . you can see bare shell appears. I use T5 and guy was using LED AI Can you please say few words how to dip it in fresh water (just in case) My other maxima, which I got one year ago is doing perfect and it is on the side position. __________________ 150G 72x27x19; 75g sump

05/22/2012, 04:54 PM	#6
moliken Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: smyrna Posts: 2,963	fwd is too complicated to type out. pm is highly contagious. sure looks like pm to me. do the 10 mins of research and save that clam. highly salvagable at this early stage. not just in case. do it! __________________ not obsessse--scuse me gotta check on the tank Current Tank Info: 75 and 65gals plumbed together, clams 12 fish. lps corals/ aquaillumination leds on the 75 and lovin them. t5's

05/22/2012, 04:59 PM	#7
sig_1959 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 107	please tell to the uneducated guy what is the PM means and I will do reserch This is first time that I am dealing with clams Thanks __________________ 150G 72x27x19; 75g sump

05/22/2012, 05:01 PM	#9
sig_1959 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 107	thanks, found in the previews post pinched mantle syndrome. Thanks again moliken __________________ 150G 72x27x19; 75g sump

05/22/2012, 05:04 PM	#10
moliken Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: smyrna Posts: 2,963	np good luck. use baking soda to equalize ph. __________________ not obsessse--scuse me gotta check on the tank Current Tank Info: 75 and 65gals plumbed together, clams 12 fish. lps corals/ aquaillumination leds on the 75 and lovin them. t5's

05/22/2012, 07:51 PM	#11
sig_1959 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 107	sorry moliken, I ma reading and can not find to which species it is contagious. Is it applies just to mollusks, snails or fishes also thanks again __________________ 150G 72x27x19; 75g sump

05/22/2012, 07:59 PM	#12
agruetz Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 499	Just a warning the freshwater dip is going to be hard on the guy sooner you do it probably the better. Make sure to match the temp and PH best you can. I just did it to mine because of suspected pinched mantle syndrome. The mantle has unrolled compared to what it was, but it definitely was stressful on him. I hope to see some visible improvement tomorrow. Let us know how it goes. (I am a clam newbie, but was best I could come up with in my research.) __________________ 27 Gallon Cube w/ 15 Gallon Fuge - 2 Black Clowns, 1 Red Scooter, 1 Queen Conch, 1 Peppermint Shrimp, 1 Clam, Faviva, Galixia, Green Star Polyps, Assorted Zoa's and some hermits running around.

05/22/2012, 08:43 PM	#13
moliken Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: smyrna Posts: 2,963	pm is highly contagious to other clams, any of them. __________________ not obsessse--scuse me gotta check on the tank Current Tank Info: 75 and 65gals plumbed together, clams 12 fish. lps corals/ aquaillumination leds on the 75 and lovin them. t5's

05/23/2012, 03:18 PM	#14
sig_1959 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 107	dipped the clam yesterday for a 10 minutes with the same pH and temperature. turned lights off. Checking today and do not see any improvements. I have one clam for the year and since it is always in perfect health, never bothered to read about them. What I do not understand, how I got this PM, if my clam is healthy and I brought it home from the tank where it was looking healthy and the guy has few other clams Will see tomorrow __________________ 150G 72x27x19; 75g sump

05/23/2012, 05:32 PM	#15
mic209 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kingman, Arizona Posts: 1,060	so i did the freshwater dip for 10 minutes in temperature matched RO/DI water, and unfortunately, it was dead shortly after being placed back in the display.

05/23/2012, 07:49 PM	#16
moliken Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: smyrna Posts: 2,963	sig, fwd takes more than 10 mins. . it'sa 20-25 min treatment. pm is difficult to trace or determine the origin. cpould be in lfs and stress of move/acclimation weakened it somewhat, but that's just a guess __________________ not obsessse--scuse me gotta check on the tank Current Tank Info: 75 and 65gals plumbed together, clams 12 fish. lps corals/ aquaillumination leds on the 75 and lovin them. t5's

05/24/2012, 11:16 AM	#17
sig_1959 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 107	thanks. will try to deep again. I was reading that maximas are accepting FW much harder than crosea clams. That why I did 10 min, instead 25 as was recomended for crosea __________________ 150G 72x27x19; 75g sump

05/28/2012, 05:43 PM	#18
Thepopo Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 140	Feed him phytoplankton for three days straight. You should see an improvement by the third day. But he does seem to be in bad shape.