Clam loss due to fish?

[aggie13reef]

Recently bought a maxima and I think it is on its last limb. Probably going to have to pull it tonight from the tank. Are there any issues that could arise if it dies in the tank? It opened fine when I got it home from the LFS. I feel I got bad info from the guy there, I feel like I dont have sufficient lighting for a maxima, but he assured me it would be fine. I then noticed my melanurus picking at it yesterday. It has since gone downhill rapidly. Do you think the wrasse is the cause?

[MondoBongo]

likely it was already on the decline. did his picking leave marks?

with Tridacna spp. they tend to look fine, right up until the point when they're not.

as far as as having it die in the tank, depends on the size of the clam and the size of the cleanup crew. ideally i would try to remove it as soon after death as possible, but if you have a well sized cleanup crew, they should be able to take care of a moderately sized clam in short order.

i had a large (6+" shell size) derasa die in my 20L QT system. stunk a bit, but i ran some carbon and did a 50% water chance and had no visible ill effects or ammonia spike. i removed him shortly (within a few hours he died over night) after he expired.

[Stevenliu9]

I have learned to only purchase clams with visible growth (white rim along the shell). Healthy clams grow continuously and those in distress may look fine but will no longer generate any new shell as the growth halts to conserve energy.

[aggie13reef]

Thanks for the replies guys, I have a feeling it was on the decline when I bought it (inexperience hits hard again). I also feel my tank wasn't really proper for a clam after reading through different threats here. Well lesson learned and experience gained!

[MondoBongo]

ah sorry for your loss. out of curiosity, what about your tank do you feel makes it unsuitable?

love your dachshund by the way, reminds me of mine, Jackson

[aggie13reef]

Thanks Mondo, its actually my fiancees 11 year old shes had for 7 years and I became "co owner" when we moved in together and I love her! her name is Daisy.

I just feel that my lighting isn't sufficient (I may be wrong) and my tank is just to dirty. I don't run a sump or HOB filter or anything. I just keep up with water changes. I have had great growth out of my LPS and the tank is nearing 6 months old. I dose Ca and Iodine, along with coral-vite. I have quite a few species in my tank along with 5 fish. Everyone seems very happy (minus my RBTA). I just feel like I dont have a proper setup sometimes. I constantly wish I had done more research before building the tank, seeing as how I had money at the time I would have done a lot differently ha!

[MondoBongo]

well, lighting aside, as long as the tank water isn't so high in nitrates that it impedes calcification, the clams i've kept aren't generally too picky, especially if your alkalinity stays stable, and you're maintaining calcium in some way.

really, in most cases, the hardest part about clams is picking the right specimen.

what kind of lights are you running? if i'm not mistaken a 37 gallon is a relatively shallow tank, right?

[aggie13reef]

Last time I checked nitrates they were present but very low. My lighting is Build my LED 14000K reef spectrum. Yeah I will eventually try a clam again one day but not until my new tank. The bad thing about the 37 is it is 30Lx12wx28T. Once again I would have not chosen it had I known anything about reef tanks and what I wanted my end result to be.

[phillrodrigo]

Originally Posted by Stevenliu9

I have learned to only purchase clams with visible growth (white rim along the shell). Healthy clams grow continuously and those in distress may look fine but will no longer generate any new shell as the growth halts to conserve energy.

Just seen James Fatherree do a presentation on clams and that's exactly what he said to make sure it has growth before you buy. My issue with that maybe there is a difference but I got my clam from Pacific east and they must clean the shell before they sell since it's all white. My dersa you can see the growth since the algea is on the shell then it's white at the top 1/4 inch.