Clams dying

W

wet reefer

New member
I have three reefs tied into a central system. In the past two weeks I have had 3 out of 4 Crocea clams die. One tank had two and 1 in each of the others. I have had these clams for over a year without any problems what's so ever and all showed very good growth-almost doubling in size. Nothing else in either tank is affected and everything, including SPS, LPS, Zoas are growing at phenomenal rates. The only change I made recently is I added a 135 frag tank to the system. When doing so I made sure all parameters matched the conditions of the existing tanks. I really don't think adding the 135 frag tank has anything to do with it because one of the clams died before that tank was tied into the system.

All have strong lighting (T-5 and VHO) and were at the top of the tanks for maximum light. After each death I scoured over them looking for snails, worms-whatever out of the ordinary and found nothing.
I should say these deaths were sudden. They would look normal one day and be dead the next, so I'm really at a loss.

I do not want to restock any clams until I have an idea as to what is going on. Any help or ideas would be appreciated. All I can think of is either a bacteria or viral infection. Keep in mind these were in three different tanks and I have never seen any fish paying any attention to them. I have always had good luck with clams in the past and the only other time I lost any was when I had a system crash (stuck chiller controller). Until then I was able to keep them for years.

Although I do not believe water quality is an issue I have listed them anyway.

salinity-1.026
PH-7.9-8.0 (I use a calcium reactor along with kalk)
Temp-80
Alk-9-9.5dkh
CA-400-450
PO-undetectable
Nitrate-undetectable

I have zero algae, cyano or diatom problems.

I have been in the hobby over 35 years and have never seen anything like happen before.

Any ideas?

Thank you
 
so you still have one clam?? ( please post pictures if you do )

how do you maintain Ca and Alk??

how stable are your all parameters, any swings or problems lately??

have you changed anything lately?? reactors / dosing / etc.

how often are you adding corals, etc. , anything added to one tank will make its way around??

are you running AC??
 
Do you know where did your LFS got your clams from? Wild caught? Farming? The sad thing is, most Croceas are wild caught and usually do not last longer than a year or two in an aquarium, even if your water quality is top-notch.

Also, check for parasites around the base of the shell ad around the rock for bristle worms and pyramid snails.
 
I have one clam left-no camera right now.
I posted I am using kalk and a CA reactor.
Parameters stable-no swings-IMO it's one of thee most important things in reef keeping. (I'm a testing freak and everything is automated)
I went from 2 part and kalk to a reactor and kalk about 6 weeks ago. Again-parameters remained stable even when dialing in the reactor. If swings were a problem I would have seen other corals affected especially some very delicate acros I have- my canaries in a coal mine so to speak. I'm always on the look out for something new and sell frags. So yes I have added several things during the time I have had these clams in the past year.
The clams are in 3 different tanks so I doubt something is wandering around between them. Keep in mind nothing else is affected either.
AC? In the winter? :D
No idea where they came from. I have had these for at least a year and all grew very well until this. Iv' e never had problems with wild caught through the years either.

Iv' e been in the hobby a loooong time and know what sundials and pyramids look like. If you know what your looking for they are not hard to spot. None found when purchased or after the deaths. The clams were inspected immediately after they died and with bristle worms you will still find them munching until there is nothing left for them.

I literally have hundreds of corals, including frags and not a single other thing is affected. Species much more delicate than clams are doing just fine. This is why I'm at a loss. Never seen anything like this before in 35 years.

I'm leaning toward some sort of infection specific to clams (if there is such a thing) or because I have extremely low nutrients (water changes and macro algae) they may have starved-although unlikely because I would not have seen the growth they had before they died. Zoanthids, shrooms and other nutrient sucking species are doing fine.

With wild caught would I have seen them grow as they did-then just die after a year or two?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14502711#post14502711 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wet reefer

With wild caught would I have seen them grow as they did-then just die after a year or two?
Click to expand...

That's possible.. How big are they?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14502711#post14502711 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wet reefer
AC? In the winter? :D
Click to expand...

Activated Carbon


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14502711#post14502711 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wet reefer
The clams are in 3 different tanks so I doubt something is wandering around between them.
Click to expand...

i was thinking along the lines of a waterborne disease that could easily be passed between tanks sharing a sump, please try to get a picture of you remaining clam.
 
I run two canisters of carbon, each holds about a quart and a half that I alternately replace every two weeks. So far the remaining clam is doing fine and I'll try to post a pic asap. Is there something specific in a pic you may see I should be looking for?
Thanks for the replies because I'm at a loss.
 
Well, I think I found the problem. My last clam died (the largest of the four). I had placed it in a glass container in my frag tank. After it died I found several very small snails I have not been able to identify after searching all over RC. These things are a about 1/16 th of an inch and a clear brownish color with no visable markings. The shells are fairly round in shape. I do not have a camera that can take pics of something that small. Any ideas?

Any links to pics of various snails that attack clams? These are not pyramids or sundials. Any help would be appreciated.

BTW-this is wet reefer. I used my wife's computer and didn't know I was on her screen name.:p
 
They must have been in the flesh because I had inspected the clam before it died and could see nothing on the shell. After it died I cut it open and found a bunch of these things inside and on the shell and in the glass container. I think after it died they when looking somewhere else. When I say a 1/16th-that was the biggest of them all and they where almost clear with a brown tint to them. I would never seen them without a coin magnifier I have.
 
Would be great if you could post pics of these snails. Can you please take a look at the fourth picture in this article Mysterious Clam Deaths and let us know if the snails you found inside your clam look like them?
 
No, they don't look anything like that but thanks for the link. These had round shells, very slightly conical but no real point to the shell. No markings at all. Just a semi transparent brown. I'll try some experimenting with a magnifier and camera to see how the pics come out. I believe these came in on an unidentified clam I bought with Ricordia on them from a Florida OL retailer. I didn't even know it was a clam until I saw it slightly open after having it for several months. BTW-that died recently also.
 
Those are likely Collinista snails wich will be everywhere in your tank and harmless.

Pyrimid snail killing snails are white and shaped like a dunce cap.
Very hard to miss or misidentify.

Our club just did a 28 maxima clam order and most of them came down with pinched mantel (A protozoan infection)

Here is the link to the SLASH forum on RC and all the information we have about it to date about the clam problems we are having.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1596093


"Miles.P
The sad thing is, most Croceas are wild caught and usually do not last longer than a year or two in an aquarium, even if your water quality is top-notch."

That is very untrue and misinformation.
They do not last long in MOST aquariums because people try to keep them under expired power compacts and DO have less than top notch water.

There is nothing wrong with the clams, it's the under equipped and misinformed whose clams die.
 
Iv'e looked all over frags on some rocks and they are not to be found. I pay very close attention to my tanks and would have seen these without a doubt. I believe they were actually living on tissue inside the shells and did not leave it. This is why I could not find any when I inspected the clams that were still alive. This last one was the first I cut open. They were also under more than enough light. I have Acros growing like weeds and the clams were placed high in the tanks. Until this happened they all grew very well and were fully open all the time.

Iv'e had Croceas for many years without problems and I agree 100% with Letmegrow.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14645705#post14645705 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Letmegrow
That is very untrue and misinformation.
They do not last long in MOST aquariums because people try to keep them under expired power compacts and DO have less than top notch water.

There is nothing wrong with the clams, it's the under equipped and misinformed whose clams die.
Click to expand...

Well, that's why they told me when I bought them :D
 
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