Derasa clam HELP..?!?!

Jester

Member
I have been posting this in another thread about the placement of my clams... here are some pics from Friday..

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I then did a 20 minute FW dip on saturday... came home today to find the clam looking like this (see below)... any suggestions to help my Derasa survivie would be greatly appreciated...

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the clam looks very pale imo it hasn't been getting enough light for some time. i also see a lot of dead snail shells, do you have problems keeping inverts? any copper or brass any where in the system? a little kid through a penny in the tank anywhere?
 
I havent really had any problems with inverts, that I know of.. it always seems like I buy a dozen and 3-4 die over a month or two... I just have always left the shells in there... so thats about 2-3 years worth of snail shells... I dont have any metal that I know of in the tank... all my hose clamps are plastic and nothing new has been added in over 8 months... I did jus replace my halide bulb 4-5 days ago... I think that was definitely getting old and dim... is that a weird amount of inverts to be dieing..?? Thanks again...

Jester
 
have you looked for pyram snails? i was just looking at the white dots on the edge of the mantle in the first group of pics.
 
Would my emerald crab have anything to do with this clams troubles..?? Sometimes I need I see the emerald perched on the shell of this clam. He's not picking at him or anything, but he sits there...
 
to update everyone, the Derasa looks about the same as it did in the last set of pictures... I could try to move it, but I dont really have any in between spaces... so it would have to be the bottom or really near the top... would is shock it too much to move it directly up about 8 inches..?? Thanks again everyone...

Jester
 
have you gotten new test kits yet? i noticed that before you didn't mention how you maintained your Alk? how deep is he now?, with a new bulb he should be fine where he is ( what is he about 6" off the bottom )

could you do some tests and post all your params?

how does the crocea look through all of this?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11221024#post11221024 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by a4twenty
have you gotten new test kits yet? i noticed that before you didn't mention how you maintained your Alk? how deep is he now?, with a new bulb he should be fine where he is ( what is he about 6" off the bottom )

could you do some tests and post all your params?

how does the crocea look through all of this?

He is probably about 4-6" off the bottom. It is a 25 gallon tank, so its 18" deep. I am going to be testing my water tonight. I have never had to add anything specifically for alk. I get my alk and calcium tested every week and all other parameters every two to three weeks, when I go to the local reef store... I've been perfect every time... I bought almost everything from him directly, so he is pretty good about knowing whats in my tank and how everything should be...
 
just to update everyone... yesterday I took some water and my hydrometer up to my friend who has a local reef store... checked my water, checked the calibration of my hydrometer and showed him the pics of my clam.... he said my water was great and that I should spot feed him some and see if that helps... I went home and put the derasa in a clean container full of tank water, added live phyto till the water was greenish and placed him in... gave him about an hour or so and returned him to the tank... this afternoon he was open as much as my last pictures but was extending a lot more... looked somewhat better in my opinion... ill post pics after tomorrow... thanks again everyone...
 
good to hear, i'm keeping my fingers crossed.


in the bleached weakened state your clam will benefit from some phyto but i wouldn't bother target feeding him. clams are filtering water all the time but not necessarily feeding on what they find. the danger with target feeding phyto is that you can actually clog the gills and cause more harm than good. there would be no harm in dosing the phyto directly into the tank ( start small ) and letting the clam utilize it when he wants.
 
I don't think a 20 minute FW dip was a good idea. Thats a long time for any invert in a huge change. Try standing outside in winter naked and see how you like it. I'm glad your clam is doing better. I think you should feed it like you are and leave it alone other than that. Also while you are feeding it just be sure to keep you water the same temp. Or you can cover it with a pop bottle and unscrew the cap shoot phyto in the pop bottle then recap and leave for about 30-40 imnutes. Thats what I do. Also clams need a little bit of nitrates to feed off of. If your nitrates are 0 you should feed it.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11235097#post11235097 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mscarpena
I don't think a 20 minute FW dip was a good idea. Thats a long time for any invert in a huge change. Try standing outside in winter naked and see how you like it. I'm glad your clam is doing better. I think you should feed it like you are and leave it alone other than that. Also while you are feeding it just be sure to keep you water the same temp. Or you can cover it with a pop bottle and unscrew the cap shoot phyto in the pop bottle then recap and leave for about 30-40 imnutes. Thats what I do. Also clams need a little bit of nitrates to feed off of. If your nitrates are 0 you should feed it.

the dip is a tried and true method for ridding certain parasites. also clams don't feed in short bursts they filter slowly all day long, feeding high concentrations of particulate all at once is too much for them and most of it is just rejected
 
Just got back from Thanksgiving out of town and the Derasa looked even better when I got back... Sad news though is the little Crocea looked not so good... I did a FW dip on it tonight and I'll post some pics if its still here in the morning... not a good a sign when you see the hermits getting close and looking hungry... I think he was the down fall of the Derasa to start with... but we'll see....
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11276669#post11276669 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skinz78
did the crocea make it?

The crocea did not make it... after Thanksgiving he had retracted completely into his shell, by the next morning he was food for the hermits. =(
 
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