Lost maxima today...

[Kirk_M]

I have had my little maxima clam for a little more than a year now. It was about 1.5-2" when I got it, and didn't grow a lot over the year I had it (maybe to 2.5"). I fed phytoplankton 3x/week, and had it placed high in the tank under 440 Watts of VHO. The clam always had full mantle extension, never showed any signs of gaping, and the mantle never bleached out. Today when I got home, the clam was closed partially. I shaded it a little, and it didn't close. I picked it up (had it attached to a scallop shell) and the foot fell off, still attached to the shell. The clam smelled rotten, and didn't budge its shell to try and close. There were no parasites present (I'd check every few nights), and nothing had been nipping at the mantle...even in death, nothing was eating on it. I tested the water and nothing was out of the ordinary... Ca 450, alk 10 dkh, nitrates 2ppm. Has anyone had this kind of experience before with a seemingly VERY healthy clam?

 

[Julio]

how oftern did you feed the clam?

 

[gkmartinez]

I was told that a clam that size should be fed phyto constantly. 2-3x/day.

 

[D2Rhino]

It could have been a slow death due to lack of lighting...VHO really isn't going to cut it for anything but maybe a squamosa.