Have any clams recently died of "disease"

[anathema]

Yeah, you are probably guessing right.

I was really bummed because it had really nice colors.

I don't think we should be too quick to cry "disease" when a clam dies. They die for many reasons, and do not always handle shipping well.

The contagious aspect of the disease was what was so frightening. 1 clam gets it and Poof! all of your clams are dead. As long as we aren't seeing that, I think we are pretty safe.

FWIW, the crocea came from the exact same store as the max, and the derasa is from TP. I bought the crocea and max together, and the derasa is more recent.

I don't think the previous poster who commented on crystal seas causing a problem with their clams has the disease at all. I think crystal seas just sucks, and it kills a lot of things. Not interested in kicking off that debate here, and if anyone is go read the neverending thread that does debate it.

The clam disease I got was not stopped by a FW dip or even antibiotics in several cases. You got it, and your clams ALL died. If you FW dipped them and they recovered you had something else.

 

[Aged Salt]

My exp. similar to those above. Lost 3 nice max.'s recently purchased over the last 2-3 mos.! They lasted about 14d. Would wait on the maximas until Sept. Warm temps. at the collectingstations? It should be noted, that I have recently added 2 crocea's[3wks. ago] that are doing fine.

 

[mia1974]

ingore

ingore

.

 

[mia1974]

ignore

ignore

not sure what happened here ...

 

[mia1974]

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.

 

[mia1974]

oopps double post

oopps double post

sorry

 

[mia1974]

anathema: The disease I had may not have been what you had but it mirrors the "problem" (symptoms and whatnot) that was talked about by other posters (ming for eg...) The initial episode that occured last year was the result of adding 1 "sick" Phonepei maxima whic quickly spred to all my other clams within 2-3 weeks. The telltale symptoms I found were pinching and the clam looking OK in the early hours of the photoperiod and then as the night approached the clam would being to close up (not fully, but definately withdrawn)...it was the same observations everytime...I just found it odd that altho I didn't introduce any new clams, the apparent stress fromt he salt fiasco would prompt the exact same symptoms and would ilicit the exact same symptoms to resurface... so in my case is was not merely "shipping" or "poor environment"...anyhow I was only adding my commentary to show that I have had clams since the incident and that until the salt mixing problems they were in fact doing quite well...

 

[thephoenix48]

recent losses

recent losses

I lost maximas and croceas in the past two months. The gigas (2) , and squamosas(4) and one maxima are doing fine. I personally believe there is/was a serious problem with clams brought into the market in the first half of 2003. FW dips were only a temporary solution.

 

[Mako]

I recently introduced a 5" Marshall Island maxima to my system. About 10 days later I noticed mantle pinching in a small ORA gold max that I have had for about 11 months. Pinching spread to older and more established clams (2 maxi's and a squamosa) within 2 weeks. The small ORA max gave up the ghost about that same time so I resorted to the 30 min fw dip which appears to have corrected the problems. Mantle extension is back to normal in all remaining clams. Needless to say I won't be introducing any new clams without serious q. time from now on.

Funny thing was I had watched this clam at the dealer for a couple of months and it looked perfect. Go figure.

 

[wanareef]

I wish I had known the "clam" problem the early part of the year. We got in 2- 2" gold maximas from dr mac&son. They were ok when I got them from Fed x. Several days later, one dies and the other just died yesterday. (sure is expensive bristle worm food :mad2: ) I called the dr up and informed him of the problem and basically said SOL. Just gaurentee live on arrival. Just lost a customer :mixed:

The other maxima's are doing fine -no problems.

 

[chewie]

I wish I had known the "clam" problem the early part of the year. We got in 2- 2" gold maximas from dr mac&son. They were ok when I got them from Fed x. Several days later, one dies and the other just died yesterday. (sure is expensive bristle worm food :mad2: ) I called the dr up and informed him of the problem and basically said SOL. Just gaurentee live on arrival. Just lost a customer :mixed:

The other maxima's are doing fine -no problems.

Keep an eye on em' Charles.

I bought a 5-6" T. Crocea on Friday, It is doing very well but I look very closely about every 5 minutes to see if any pinching is going on. I also have 2 T.Derasa and 1 T maxima.

Crossing fingers.

 

[RonN]

Funny thing was I had watched this clam at the dealer for a couple of months and it looked perfect. Go figure.

Then I would think that should tell you something.

Several days later, one dies and the other just died yesterday. (sure is expensive bristle worm food ) I called the dr up and informed him of the problem and basically said SOL. Just gaurentee live on arrival. Just lost a customer

Several days later!!! I don't buy my clams but from one clam distributor and in the 9 months I have bought 12 and lost one and it isn't Dr. Mac but defending him a little, how long should he or any other dealer guarantee their livestock? Yes, I think his "guarantee arrival" sucks. They can not be responsible for other people water condition or tank mate for that matter. Certainly not saying this is the case with you but we all have read that people go out and buy livestock without any idea how to care for it, nor have the proper setup for the animal, then when it dies, "it was a sick clam".

They were ok when I got them from Fed x.

From my experience in keeping clams which is about 2 years, the first 24 to 48 hrs seem to tell the story.

Ron

 

[Dr. Mac]

Just to set the record straight, wanareef bought 2 1.5" Gold Maximas. Called me a week or so later and told me they died. Asked me my guarantee and I told him live arrival, but would work with him to replace them, never said "SOL", never have to anyone--I have replaced animals that died up to 2 weeks later--I have always been fair with anyone that has been fair with me. With 2 $18 clams and no dead-empty shells to verify the deaths its difficult to do much, but told him I would work with him to resolve the situation. Tough for any on-line or LFS to guarantee any animal indefinitely, actually most LFS have no gurantee at all on marine animals. Its a fine line and I have always tried to be fair, but when does it become the responsibility of the customer vs. the dealer?

 

[jimmyj7090]

Dr. Mac

Excellent reputation, good to see you responding to posts.

Do you or can you comment on the "clam disease" of last year? Assuming you agree that there was a "clam disease", do you think it is ok to try clams again a year after a wipeout? I have no idea if you had problems related to this or not, but I'm curious of your thoughts or expereinces as you are a respected person in the field. I've been trying to log onto Barry's fourm but have been having computer problems with that.

Thanks
jk

 

[Dr. Mac]

At the time of the "clam disease" many of the clams in the US were coming from a small handful of suppliers and I think they were mixing a lot of clams from many sources. I think, there was no doubt that some type of infectious situation did pass through clams at the time, too many folks had problems with clams to ignore the problem. From specific clam suppliers such problems still happen from time to time and these situations are difficult to distinquish from poor handling along the chain of supply from the islands to the US or an actual infectious problem. Wild collected clams and so-called cultured clams are usually impossible to distinquish and even if they were there is no guarantee that cultured clams are disease free and some suppliers mix them together anyway. In my opinion, until someone raises clams in a strictly closed captive system then it may not make much difference, from the aspect of disease introduction, whether the clam is cultured or not.

In my experience, for the most part I think it is safe to buy clams again. Folks like Barry and other clam vendors have an excellent selection and are very reputable and stand behind the product they sell. Rumor is that there will soon be another clam only California vendor so there will be even more selection for the hobbyist.

Given the history of some problems with clams, and as a general rule, I would highly recommend STRICTLY quarantining any new additions prior to adding to an established system. Rather than wiping out an existing population of clams in your system, quarantine any new ones for several weeks in a small seperate tank and be extremely careful not to transfer any water from the quarantine tank into your main tank. Short of strict quarantining to minimize any losses, there is obviously little that can be done once a potentially infected clam is added to an established system already containing healthy clams.

IMO, clams smaller than about 3 inches are more delicate and need lots of feeding, many hobbyists are not fully prepared to properly handle these smaller clams. Also, many hobbyists do not have adequate lighting to support clams, there is never a week that goes by that folks don't ask me if they can keep clams under PC lighting, IMO I would say no to anything less than strong MH lighting. IME, wild collected clams from certain areas are extremely colorful and can be extremely hardy and long lived in captivity. The problem with these clams is that handling to get them to the US can be inconsistent and sometimes very poor and this leads to losses and stressed clams that could be weakened to become susceptible to infection. Buying from an established reputable dealer and strict quarantining will assure hobbyists of being able to get nice and healthy clams.

 

[anathema]

FWIW, the quarantine period needs to be over a month.

I kept my infectious clam in a nano for over 3 weeks before I added it to the main tank, and I still had every clam dead within a couple weeks.

It didn't show signs until right about the month mark.

 

[RonN]

I've been trying to log onto Barry's fourm but have been having computer problems with that.

Barry said that they have been having server problem but has been resolved. Good forum.

Buying from an established reputable dealer and strict quarantining will assure hobbyists of being able to get nice and healthy clams.

The good Doc is correct when he says Quarantine. I know that clams direct always quarantine their clams prior to shipping and he still suggest to his customers, still a good idea to quarantine when buying.

As far as wild and cultured clams, I have both and have only lost one clam in several months.

With 2 $18 clams and no dead-empty shells to verify the deaths its difficult to do much,

Yes I am sure that there are some out there that do try to get something for nothing. Makes it bad for the honest ones. This policy is on all online vendors that I have seen.

Ron