Clam Help

[BLUEMANDJ]

I bought a really heathy Maxima Clam last week, ( about 10 dayas ago.) It hasn't extened it mantle and today when I went to move it, its food has detached from the shell it was attached to.

I dont think I aclimated it long enought. but I deffinately has enought lighting. It is at the top of my tank under 250 watt MH lighting.


What if any thing can I do to save this clam? Would it be good to send it back to the original tank it came form, to get well and then try again in a month? OR Start feeding it in a dish out side of the tank?

HELP please.... I dont want to loose this clam.

 

[Barry N.]

I dont think I aclimated it long enought. but I deffinately has enought lighting. It is at the top of my tank under 250 watt MH lighting

How did you acclimate it? What kind of lighting was it under before you placed it in your tank?

 

[BLUEMANDJ]

I aclimated it for only 5 minutes.... I had to leave and could wiat any longer. The lighting it was under befor was 150 watt 20k and 150 watt 10 bulbs.. now it is under 250 watt 14k bulbs.

 

[Barry N.]

Very short acclimation and you should have also acclimated to the stronger lights as well. Sure it is very stressed out. Not trying to beat you up but please take the time to read all the information you can on how to care and keep the Tridacnid clam. I know there is a new book coming out this coming year that will cover the above in detail.

 

[Barry N.]

Very short acclimation and you should have also acclimated to the stronger lights as well. Sure it is very stressed out. Not trying to beat you up but please take the time to read all the information you can on how to care and keep the Tridacnid clam. I know there is a new book coming out this coming year that will cover the above in detail.

I would lower the clam to the bottom of your tank so it will have some time to acclimate to the lights. Would not take it back and place it in that other tank, just adding MORE stress. Lower your photo period as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[Peabody]

I agree. THey need gentle acclimation both to a new tank's water and to new lights. I drip acclimate for several hours at a minumum, and take careful consideration as to what lights they came from....that can be a HUGE shock to a clam.
I guess I'm just repeating what Barry said, so....

 

[BLUEMANDJ]

I think I need to clearify...

The tank It came out of was a 75gal with two 15o watt 20k bulbs and two 150 watt 10k bulbs. the Clam was located on the bottom 1/4 of the tank.

I have two 250 watt bulbs over a 180 gal tank. My lights are 18" off the water (lowering them soon). the clam is 6" below the serfice.

Does that change you oppinion?

 

[Peabody]

Well, that doesn't change a 5 minute acclimation. Whether you intended to or not, he got a major chemistry shock from change of SG, Temp, PH, etc. that he may not recover from.

 

[Foreverlearnin]

Do you happen to know how greatly the difference between the water the clam came from to what it is now? We should all have very similar water chemistry, hours of acclimation probably causes more damage then it could prevent. I have taken a clam (many clams) and added it to a tank with no acclimation and in minutes they looked, well happy as a clam. Since then they are doing GREAT! The two systems are almost a match in chemistry. Temp is also only 1 degree off.

I think we should look into other options as far as what is wrong with the clam. What kind of surface is the clam siting on? What angle of orientation is the bysal opening to the rock?

 

[Peabody]

Ooh...I don't think you're going to have many people share that opinion. Our tanks all have very different chemistry, using different salts, different suppliments, or lack thereof, different creatures in them, chemical filtration, no chemical filtration, etc. The trace elements can be WAY different as well as our different systems deplete them in different amounts. Just look at the lab anlysis of differe aquarists water by Dr. Shimeck.

On top of that, being in a bag changes everything. Buildup of toxins and depression of PH slowly happen, and then going suddenly into a different environment of a tank can be a huge shock.

Please explain how "hours of acclimation probably causes more damage then it could prevent" From fish to inverts, countless deaths have been caused by acclimation problems.

 

[Foreverlearnin]

Peabody,

We are all free to disagree about whatever point people make. I am a skeptic by nature, and have a hard time believing ANYONE regardless of thier level of education who speaks in gloom and doom tounges then changes thier mind more often then most people change thier underwear. Water analysis by Dr. Shimeck? As in his heavy metal poisoning from IO theroy? No thanks! I have a couple of his works, and read up in his forum and find my experiance is often in contrast with much of his opinions. Maybe it's because I work in this industry and he is on a different end then myself. Not sure.

The basic water parameters of all our systems should be very close if we intend to keep animals that come from one specific habitat. In this case Clams. Why would you assume acclimation periods wouldn't be harmfull. Who knows what kind of reaction mixing two different systems waters might create. D. Knop recomends giving clams immediate photoperiod if they have been in the dark for long, and most species including Maxima and Crocea have very active bysal glands (in active/healthy specimens) and can attach in less then 30 minutes. In almost every case when adding my 6 Maximas they immediatly attached to the rock in question and opened thier mantles, not one was acclimated. Maxima and Crocea clams are subject to change in thier natural enviroment being from shallow water. They can handle small but abrupt changes is salinity and temp. Like when it rains. This I know from personal experiance.

If you took a clam from a good system, and putting it into your water would kill it with no acclimation, I would venture to say your water would kill it regardless of acclimation, and one should adress that issue before acclimation becomes a topic.

Acclimation in fish/inverts is a whole other topic and I will leave it out as this is the clam forum.

 

[Peabody]

Hey, we're all entitled to our own opinion and that's cool THis hobby is all about learning. If things didn't change we'd all be using undergravel filters still and not "throwing weird rocks" in our tank

 

[Barry N.]

Our tanks all have very different chemistry, using different salts, different suppliments, or lack thereof, different creatures in them, chemical filtration, no chemical filtration, etc. The trace elements can be WAY different as well as our different systems deplete them in different amounts.

I have to agree with the statement above.

If acclimation wasn't important than I don't think your major wholesalers would take the time to acclimate new arrivals. as I am sure they have enough other things to do. Now as far as hours of acclimation, then yes that may be over kill, pardon the expression but does no harm that I am aware of.

I wonder how we would feel if we jump out of a hot shower and into a cold swimming pool or walked out of a dark movie into bright sunlight. Talk about stress.

JMO of course.

 

[Peabody]

I agree, Barry. We're all entitled to our own opinion's around here, and no acclimation might work sometimes, but I would much rather acclimate a thousand creatures that it was unnecessary for, rather than risk not acclimating that one that really needed it to live. That being said, I suspect the numbers that need acclimation are much higher

 

[Charlie Davidson]

Bluemandj, please, spend some time reading what these guys are saying- they are really trying to help!--------- take a deep breath--------- my tank gets me really stressed (at times) and I am here on R/C to get answers.

 

[Reefmaniac1]

Can't say that I would ever take the risk of putting anything into my tank without acclimating it. Temperature and salinity are going to be the LEAST of your worries when adding something new. If an animal has been in a bag for any appreciable length of time, it has given off ammonia and the pH has dropped (which has the effect of keeping the ammonia from being quite as toxic, but is still toxic nontheless). You could induce serious pH and/or salinity shock unless you do some kind of drip acclimation.

Some animals are so sensitive to salinity (Fire shrimp, eg) that if you DON'T acclimate them, it is more likely than not that you are going to kill it.

Now, this is not to say that you can't get away without acclimating the animals, but IMO, "better safe than sorry".

 

[xrunner1234]

The basic water parameters of all our systems should be very close if we intend to keep animals that come from one specific habitat. In this case Clams. Why would you assume acclimation periods wouldn't be harmfull. Who knows what kind of reaction mixing two different systems waters might create.

Don't you contradict yourself here? Please elaborate.