maxima PM fresh water dip not working

D

danlu_gt

ReeFi Lab
I have a Maxima clam for 4+ years. During my tank move, he developed Pinched Mantle. Initally, I did a 15min fresh water dip and it took him a couple days to recover, but PM still there. I waited 2 more weeks before another fresh water dip. This time the dip was for 30min. However, it's been over 2 weeks since the final dip and he still have PM and now not open much anymore.

Anyone else have PM not cured by fresh water dip? Any suggestions/solutions? I have 2 other healthy clams, corcea and sequomose.
 
Because PMD is an infectious disease, he cannot develops PMD unless you added another clam with PMD to your system. He was stressed from the move and even more stress with the two FWD. I would make sure he have the best of care and make sure he does not have any parasitic snails on him, and hope for the best.
 
It took me four 30min FW dips (over a one month period) to cure this maxima of PM. He got it after I added a couple of Hippopus clams. I dipped all of the clams once, but this guy needed 4. I even added some Seachem Coral Dip to the last one.


He made it through:)
TD.jpg
 
Sorry! Didn't mean to hijack your thread, danlu.

Orion - Thanks! You'd hate me if you found out what I paid for this guy:p I don't have him anymore, though. I swapped him for this guy last month:D He's a bit smaller, but a whole lot prettier.

greentd.jpg
 
Last edited:
I don't know why my Maxima got PM, but I didn't add any new clams. I just have total of 3 clams (been together for 4+ years). PM happened when I moved my tank, maybe due to stress. Now the maxima mantle barely comes out, but still reacts a little.

4 FWD, wow! I don't think my maxima will survive another FWD since before the past two FWD, he was a lot healthier. How long did you FWD your clams?
 
The dips were 30 minutes each. He was only able to extend on one half (end to end) during the whole ordeal, but seemed to come out of it a bit after each one.

The protozoa can actually be present on the clam for awhile. When the clam becomes stressed or weakened, it no longer can fight it off. The protozoa also thrives on iron, so the ailment could have coincided with changes in that level.
 
If you did not add any clam, then your clam do not have PMD. Many things can cause clam to withdrawn. What ever your clam have, it is not PMD and likely FWD will not help it.
I don't think anybody isolated the organism that cause PMD. It is though that the pathogen are external parasites/protozoa. If your clams are well for 3+ years, it does not have PMD.
FWD was what I, the first person who described this problem, used to treat this disease after many trial. I just use RO water, match temperature and drop the clam it it for 30 minutes, then put him into an new disease free tank. No drip. It is the osmotic shock iw what kill the pathogen. Dripping them will likely decrease the effectiveness of the treatment.
I don't think you should FWD your clam because it is impposible for your clam to have PMD.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8559823#post8559823 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OrionN
because it is impposible for your clam to have PMD.
Click to expand...

i wouldn't go that far.

the cause has been shown to be an unknown protozoan. there is a possibility the clam had this protozoan but the protozoan wasn't in an hyper or excited state. ive found a few medical papers dealing with protozoans being put into over drive when exposed to iron.

besides all that this is just guess work without a pic of the clam
 
mbbuna,
If you can find any references regarding the actual pathogen for PMD, please let me know. BarryN send some clams to have the pathogen isolate. Last I heard, it was not conclusive.
 
per personal communications with BarryN. the cause of PM was found to be an unidentified protozoan. there are a ton of protozoan and to try to id exactly what it was could have taken a lot of time & $
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8560197#post8560197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mbbuna
per personal communications with BarryN. the cause of PM was found to be an unidentified protozoan. there are a ton of protozoan and to try to id exactly what it was could have taken a lot of time & $
Click to expand...
It was guess to be a protozoa.
I guess it to be a protozoa when I fight this disease in my tank. I told BarryN as much. Just as many other pathogen, these are very host specific. If he did not have them for 3-4 year, then he does not have them in his tank. That is that. They likely cannot survide without a host He cannot just now get it spontaneously. There are many cause for clams not to do well. PMD is just one of these problem. It is something else that danlu_gt's clam has.
 
it very well may be something else, thats why i said that we need a pic.

the lab that tested the clams Barry sent confirmed it was a massive protozoan infestation.

what im trying to say about this is that there is a possibility that the protozoan could have been in a normal state( not at plague proportions) untill something triggered it into overdrive.

ive talked to Barry about this a few times, and out of these conversations i get that he feels that this protozoan MAY be present on some clams and not effect them untill SOMETHING triggers it
 
mbbuna,
It is most likely that PMD is cause by a protozoa. However, just because thes organism id found on a sick clam, is not conclusive evedience that it cause the problem. It can be a secondary infection among other things. There ae criteria we must show inorder to conclusively show that it is the cause of the infection. Regarless, we are not scientists and in trying to save our clams, we can assume that PMD cause by protozoa.
Your second link does not mean a whole lot. We don't even know that the clam problem is actually cause by PMD. It certainly the most diplomatic thing BarryN can say in his position of the seller of the clam. IMO, it is likely that the clam stress out and got sick due to something in that reefer's tank, not PMD. Chalk it to dead/sick clam due to shipping stress/poor tank condition not at all under the control of Barry.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8561424#post8561424 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OrionN
It certainly the most diplomatic thing BarryN can say in his position of the seller of the clam. IMO, it is likely that the clam stress out and got sick due to something in that reefer's tank, not PMD. Chalk it to dead/sick clam due to shipping stress/poor tank condition not at all under the control of Barry.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Salt water in wood
Replies
6
Views
689
C.Eymann
C.Eymann
F
How to measure water level?
Replies
2
Views
452
FishTri
F
M
Hydrogen Peroxide Dip Killed a lot of my frags!... Different strength okay?
Replies
4
Views
1K
BlueOcean168
B
D
Corals slowly dying / getting white spots water tests good
Replies
18
Views
990
griss
griss
Itchy Trigger
Heaters for Sump and for Storage Tanks
Replies
2
Views
449
aquaman67
aquaman67
Back
Top