Clam death question

[Conesus_Kid]

I recently purchased a baby (~2")gold maxima from Liveaquaria.com. It arrived on Tuesday, however, there was no heat pack in the bag, and the water was cold to the touch. (Overnight temps were in the low 30's here during the clam's cross country trek.)

I floated the bag for an hour and a half, then acclimated w/ tank water for another 1.5 hours. The clam was responsive, and it was placed high on the rocks (about 12" below my overdriven T5's).

When I left for work this morning, I shined a flashlight in the tank to check on the clam, and it seemed fine.

I just got home from work, and noticed the mantle was pulled in, but the clam shell was slightly agape.

I poked at it and picked it up, and there was no response from the clam. It's dead.

Is it likely that the swing in temp. stressed the clam to cause its death, or could it likely be something else.

Params:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrates: undetectable
pH=8.2
Ca-420
Alk.-9.6 dKH
Mg-1400
SG-1.026

All other corals are thriving-acros, euphyllia, platygyra.

The only fish suspect in the tank is a 1.5" juvenile Majestic angel, but I never saw it get near the clam. (He tends to hang in the bottom third of the tank.) Could he kill the clam that quickly, or would he "pester" it to death, where I would notice something wrong.

I don't want another clam if the fish is the culprit, but would be willing to try if it was a problem with the temp.

Thanks for any light you can shed.

 

[ezcompany]

unfortunately small maximas are very sensitive and have a lot of unaccounted deaths. if you're 100% sure your clam was fine then one nip from your Majestic can be enough to do a small clam in that has recently gone through the stress of shipping.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

I'm really bummed about this. This being my first clam, I wasn't sure if the temp swing/stress could have an impact a couple of days after it was put in the tank.

I'm thinking I better stay away from clams.

Thanks.

 

[BlakDuc]

My guess would be light acclimation. You should have put it in the sand to begin with and then moved it up if it needed it. A lot of people don't give T5s credit, but they will cook a coral or a clam if not acclimated to the light.

 

[EQCM2B]

Sorry. Double post.

 

[EQCM2B]

Maybe try a larger clam the next time. As ezcompany said, smaller clams are harder to care for than the larger ones. They can tolerate more stress. HTH

Steve