dieing clam =(

[cobra1713]

ok well i bought a crocea about a week ago, i drip aclimated it and placed it on the sand bed (there was my first mistake) and since it was also under 14k 250 watt MH, i reduced my photo period by 2 hours a day and am now one hour less than normal 8 hour photo period.

calcium is 410
alk is 9.0
salinity is 1.026
PH 8.2
temp 79
amonnia, nitrite and nitrate all zero

ok on to the problem, i read that the clam was supposed to be attached to rock and not to sand bed, well it seemed like it had been accclimated well and was doing fine, so i figured i could move it to a piece of rock. i found a nice piece of rubble in the tank and positioned it on the rock. well sometime last night the clam fell on to its side, so first thing in the morning i ran to my other salt tank grabbed a larger flatter piece of rock and picked up the clam and repositioned him, but i think the damage might have already been done. the shell is staying open but the mantle has shriveled pretty far inside, and it is not reacting to shadows any more. it looks very bad, what are the signs of a dead clam? and what could have caused it?

 

[cobra1713]

ok well im almost positive its dead now, it is way to far shriveled to come back now and has absolutely no reaction to light and also has not closed it shell for some time now, i figured that if it was just stressed it would have shut it shell not just pulled the mantle into the shell and left the shell open. sorry for stupid questions but this is my first clam. could it have been injured when it fell on its side?

 

[a4twenty]

sorry but he's gone, if in doubt give him a sniff, you'll know right away.

it's very hard to say what went wrong without more info and some pics.

 

[aalhait]

Causes for clam diseases? Viruses?

Causes for clam diseases? Viruses?

I've also been so unlucky with clams...

My parameters are:

SG. 1.024
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <=9
Ca: 420
PO4: 0
Lighting: 2x 250 20K MH + I48 Solaris System


Every clam I buy shrivels up and and dies within a week or 2.

Nothing to pick on it that I can see. Seems to be happy for a few days, then dies all the sudden!

I think you may have the same symptoms. I believe it's a viral problem.

The BIGGEST problem is any clam you add after that, the same thing happens. It's like buying an Elegance coral from Indonesia. You're almost guaranteed to get a disease and have it die a few weeks later. The issue is the disease stays in the tank, so anything you add will be infected after that.

I have 3 UV systems running 24x7. One of them is 36W and the others are 15, 7W. Still nothing to kill viruses I think...

I remember reading a post about this issue before... Any luck with solving it?

 

[ptr13]

Unless the mantle shrivels into the shell and the clam starts downsizing and you see more of the shell,it means that it is dying,it might have been stressed so give it time. Hope you did not lose it,I lost mine through some kind of virus or something it did not like in the water,almost had mine for a year until it acted funny.

 

[Estevon]

FYI Ive been keeping croceas on the the sand bed for years.No prob.If u can see the inside of the shell and it stays that way Im sorry but I would have to say its toast.A clam falling on its side usually isnt a prob,and probably isnt the cause of death.Maybe a contributing factor.

good luck