Derasa shell misaligned - dying?

[ReefAnon]

Have had this Derasa for 3 years and in that time he has grown to about 6 inches - 3 times the size he was originally.

Today I noticed he was on his side (which has happened occasionaly over the years) and went to right him. To my surprise his shell misaligned rather than closing tightly. Half an hour or so after this his mantle extended as normal and inhalant and exhalant siphons were active. I then (gently) re-aligned the shell and he immediately closed up.

Pic:

Water parameters:
#1 Calcium 420 ppm
#2 Salinity 1.026
#3 Alkalinity 10 dKH
#4 Ph 8.1-8.2
#5 Magnesium 1300 ppm
#6 Temp 77-81 deg F
#7 Nitrates undetectable <> 0.2 (Salifert high sensitivity)
#8 Nitrites undetectable
#9 Phosphate undetectable (Salifert high sensitivity)
#10 Ammonia undetectable

Lighting:
250MH, 4xT5

Position:
At the bottom on sand though tends to blast it down to the glass.

Feeding:
usual range of fish food plus Coral Frenzy and live phyto/rotifers once a week.

Bristleworms and brittlestars present but always have been.
Examined for pyramellid snails but found none when examined with a magnifier.

Any thoughts on if he's dying and why or what the problem might be?

Thanks

 

[unbreakable]

hm, the only thing i could say is keep it on sand and maybe dig it in the sand so it stays upright. Not sure if itll eventually fix itself, but at least make sure there are no predators that could take advantage of this, like any fish that may pick the mantle

btw everything else looks great, just make sure it faces the light so it gets adequate amount of lighting. Seems like either that part where the clam is in has no sand or tank almost looks bare bottom

 

[mscarpena]

I would look at the base to see if the muscle is torn. If it is torn it will probably not make it. The top does not look too bad. Who knows maybe you'll end up with the most unique clam.

 

[allhobbs]

I read on a forum (maybe clams direct) about a clam that had the same thing happen. They re-alined it gently and made sure that nothing bothered it and it eventually healed. I'm no expert on this but It worked out for the other clam. You might trying searching their site or posting this question on their forum to see if you can get additional information. Good luck!
Mary

 

[a4twenty]

the ligament that holds the shell together has deteriorated, you can carefully realign the shell and prop the clam back up using sand and bits of LR. i have seen clams go on to live a long time after this and the ligament may even regrow but that is far less likely.

good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[ReefAnon]

Thanks everyone for the advice and support.

I also posted on clams direct forum and the consensus seemed to be that there is ligament deterioration possibly caused by a bacterial infection but that he should be ok. Learn something new every day

Suggestion was to realign the shell and support him with some rock rubble which I've done but need to redo as he's managed to knock it out of the way this morning.

Will update once done.