Blue Maxima Clam dying?

Jeremy1988

New member
Hey guys...so I'v had this maxima clam now for about 3 months...it seemed to be doing really well and in the past 3 days or so has taken a turn for the worst...I think. It looked like one area on the outer edge of his mantle was pinched at first. He was not opening up all the way...opened about half way. My water hasent changed...I cant think of anything nipping at it...or any fish? Tank is a 90 gallon about a year old. Good flow, I keep SPS, and I have kessil 360 tuna blues. Not sure if it was pinched mantle disease. I came home today and he's about halfway open again but its flesh and mantle is sunken way inside of it, if that makes sense.
 
If the mantle is down below the inside edge of the shell and you can see the white, it's already dead. Sorry to say.
 
Sorry about the clam. They are the ultimate in false positive and can look great right up until the time that they die. The only way to have a positive positive is to see new shell growth, but many never get there. I don't think that a Kessil 360 is anywhere near enough light to keep a maxima or crocea. A deresa or squamosa could do quite well, though.
 
If the mantle is down below the inside edge of the shell and you can see the white, it's already dead. Sorry to say.

Yes you can see well inside of the shell...maybe I will do like the other person said and try a different species. Shoot...I actually did start to notice...its blue was not as vibrant...o well, $140 wasted on a small size clam, what can you do.
 
Like I said, it's already dead so I'd pull it out. I've had no problems keeping squamosa or deresa on the sand bed in my 30" tall tank under Kessil 360s. I've also kept maximas under them, but quite close to the surface. I have one now about 8" deep but it's getting around 350 PAR
 
Like I said, it's already dead so I'd pull it out. I've had no problems keeping squamosa or deresa on the sand bed in my 30" tall tank under Kessil 360s. I've also kept maximas under them, but quite close to the surface. I have one now about 8" deep but it's getting around 350 PAR

Holly crap 30" tall...man I thought mine was tall with 2 feet! Jeez...yeah honestly I dont have my rock work set up to even be able to put one that high...how in the world did you get your rock work like that...well I take that back, I have some large tonga branch rock that sticks up there close to the surface but nothing flat...yeah I'm gonna just chuck him in the back yard I guess. Figure some birds or a cat can have some seafood tonight lol.
 
I keep my maximas in my frag tank (also under kessil 360) because of the display height problems. That only works if you have a frag tank though :lol:
 
I keep mine in a frag tank too about 3" under a 20K radium - par about 700-750, or so. I leave them there until they attach onto a rock or disc that I can use to place them up high in the tank. They also need to grow 3/8 or 1/2 inch of new shell so that I know that they are healthy.

Some grow the new shell almost instantly and some take six months. Once they start to grow, they continue to grow. Since I have no idea what happened to them before I got them, the could have been starving at the wholesaler or LFS for months before they got to me.
 
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