"cleaning a clam"

[mayjong]

is it wise to scrub/clean a new arrival?
if so, what would/do you use?
thanks!

 

[moliken]

toothbrush, but i wouldn't do it. y u want to?

 

[goochesfish]

you would want to scrub and inspect to make sure there are no pyramid snails that are hitchiking on. I've had my clam over 2 months and looked clean but only recently had problems extending one side of the mantle. One night I picked off 6 pyrams, 2 nights later I picked off another. Now I have to cut off it's attachments and scrub the eggs off. I would also suggest you have it attach to a small piece of live rock so the clam can be easily removed in the future. I've heard of making a bed from epoxy by taking an imprint of the clam base, allowing epoxy to harden, then setting the clam on it to attach.

 

[Pudge957]

Just last night I pulled my clam out of the tank to scrub it bc it had a bad case of hair algae growing all over the shell. I worked fast b/c i didn't want to keep it out of the tank for to long and I just used a toothbrush on it. After about 2 min being back in the tank it was fully open and was only out of the water for about 3 min.

 

[a4twenty]

the best way to keep pyram's out is a QT and inspections.

yes you can clean the clams shell using a toothbrush. i wouldn't do it out of water even though you can get away with for a short period. use a large tupperware or a salt pail with some tank water and keep the clam submerged. then just return to the tank and ditch the water.

HTH

 

[moliken]

if you do take the clam outta water for ANY time, no matter how short a period, make sure to burp it, shake it under water to get rid of any air bubbles. i put a clam from the qt into the dt today. was outta water less than 2 seconds, and released 4 bubbles when shaken.
when i was treating/scrubbing for snails, they might be in the air for a minute or 2, so burping was always necessary. didn't lose any.
remember, though, tridacnas gather in shallow water and are frequently exposed to rain, air, sun. crashing waves, etc. until the next tide covers them.
when bred in captivity, they are taken out of water for long periods of time [i read an hour at a time], while pulled apart and injected with a secret steroid to encourage sperm/egg release

 

[a4twenty]

remember, though, tridacnas gather in shallow water and are frequently exposed to rain, air, sun. crashing waves, etc. until the next tide covers them.

it's mostly limited to crocea clams that are exposed to the air during low tide, the majority of clams ( including crocea's ) are not.

when bred in captivity, they are taken out of water for long periods of time [i read an hour at a time], while pulled apart and injected with a secret steroid to encourage sperm/egg release

those are two methods of inducing spawning ( exposure and hormone injections ) but we're trying to avoid a stress / survival spawning in our closed system.


there's no doubt that you can expose a clam to air for a period of time without incident, the problem is we don't know how long is too long for our individual clam. a survival spawn by a relatively small portion of the clam population in the the billions of billions of gallons of water in the ocean isn't a problem, in our small tanks it can be.

personally i try to limit exposure to a few minutes at most. could i get away with more, absolutely but i don't risk it.

 

[Sig45]

Clams have to be sexually mature to spawn. This usually means an older, large specimen.
Small clams will simply close up out of water and can remain outside water for about 5-10 minutes without adverse affect.
Scrubbing wild clams should be routine since parasites are common. Aquacultured are less likely to have parasites but should at least be inspected.

 

[moliken]

absolutely limit the time we, as hobbyists expose clams to air. but air won't automatically kill them in an instant like some people think. burping is crucial.

 

[Sig45]

agree with the burping. Especially large clams. I hold them on side to prevent shear of muscle attachments to inner shell while out of water.

 

[Zuska]

fresh water dip all your clams b4 putting them into your reef Works best.

 

[moliken]

u better know what u r doing with an always stressful fwd. temp is crucial as is timing as is rodi water as is pre-dip health of clam as is what u are trying to remove. i'd never do a fwd unless i knew that it was an answer for a specific problem. imho qt and nightly exams are the first step for clams. fwd if necessary, hate to disagree, zuska.

 

[luther1200]

Also make sure the pH is the same with a FW dip.