flamehawkfish
New member
hi All
Well, I lost about five clams recently, spread out over only 2-3 weeks. I lost a 7" Derasa, 2" Blue Maxima, 3" purple Maxima, a 2" Squamosa, and a 4" teardrop Maxima.
I have one 4" blue maxima left.
Here's what happened... The deresa and the 4 maximas were established for a few months & showing signs of growth. This past August, I added the Squamosa last. I got it from Liveaquaria. It looked nice for a couple weeks, but then withdrew its mantle for a day, and suddenly looked like it was obviously dying. I figured I did something wrong, or it just didn't acclimate properly.
After a few weeks, the purple maxima showed similar signs of degradation. I chalked that up to a rock falling from its shelf, and landing on my maxima. After a day, its mantle was withered, withdrawn, and the clam was dying. I removed. it.
About 1 week later, the Teardrop showed the same symptoms... It had been placed near the now-dead purple maxima, so I figured it was also damaged from that rock-fall.
About 2 weeks later, the 7" Derasa showed the same signs... heavily deflated mantle and within a day, withered and dying. This really bummed me out, as that Derasa had been with me for almost a year. It grew, and helped keep my tank clean.
At that point, I had two clams left, both blue maximas. They lived side-by-side in the sandbed, when after a couple weeks, the brighter of the two maximas didn't fully open, withdrew its mantle feebly, and died after a day.
Meanwhile, my acans, SPS, cleaner shrimp, and fish were all doing great. I had a couple bouts with Flatworms (for which, I treated w' Flatworm Exit). This treatment resulted in a lost fish, and one lost SPS, but at the time, it didn't seem to affect the clams.
I'm confident that something predatory is eating away at my clams- perhaps from their foot. All of my clams lived in the sandbed. As a precaution for my final remaining clam (a 3" blue maxima), I perched it up on the rockwork a bit. It's since settled back toward the sand-bed.
Also, when I removed the dead (or dying) clams, I inspected their innards for any obvious signs of predation (pyramid snails, a nest of worms, etc.). Nothing.
My pH is 8.2, salinity, 1.023 (and kept stable), nitrates undetectable, and, again, my other LPS & SPS are doing great.
Can you guys suggest ideas for what's causing this wipeout of my clam population?
I'm not going to get any more clams, but I hoped to salvage this last one.
Please let me know. Thanks in advance.
Well, I lost about five clams recently, spread out over only 2-3 weeks. I lost a 7" Derasa, 2" Blue Maxima, 3" purple Maxima, a 2" Squamosa, and a 4" teardrop Maxima.
I have one 4" blue maxima left.
Here's what happened... The deresa and the 4 maximas were established for a few months & showing signs of growth. This past August, I added the Squamosa last. I got it from Liveaquaria. It looked nice for a couple weeks, but then withdrew its mantle for a day, and suddenly looked like it was obviously dying. I figured I did something wrong, or it just didn't acclimate properly.
After a few weeks, the purple maxima showed similar signs of degradation. I chalked that up to a rock falling from its shelf, and landing on my maxima. After a day, its mantle was withered, withdrawn, and the clam was dying. I removed. it.
About 1 week later, the Teardrop showed the same symptoms... It had been placed near the now-dead purple maxima, so I figured it was also damaged from that rock-fall.
About 2 weeks later, the 7" Derasa showed the same signs... heavily deflated mantle and within a day, withered and dying. This really bummed me out, as that Derasa had been with me for almost a year. It grew, and helped keep my tank clean.
At that point, I had two clams left, both blue maximas. They lived side-by-side in the sandbed, when after a couple weeks, the brighter of the two maximas didn't fully open, withdrew its mantle feebly, and died after a day.
Meanwhile, my acans, SPS, cleaner shrimp, and fish were all doing great. I had a couple bouts with Flatworms (for which, I treated w' Flatworm Exit). This treatment resulted in a lost fish, and one lost SPS, but at the time, it didn't seem to affect the clams.
I'm confident that something predatory is eating away at my clams- perhaps from their foot. All of my clams lived in the sandbed. As a precaution for my final remaining clam (a 3" blue maxima), I perched it up on the rockwork a bit. It's since settled back toward the sand-bed.
Also, when I removed the dead (or dying) clams, I inspected their innards for any obvious signs of predation (pyramid snails, a nest of worms, etc.). Nothing.
My pH is 8.2, salinity, 1.023 (and kept stable), nitrates undetectable, and, again, my other LPS & SPS are doing great.
Can you guys suggest ideas for what's causing this wipeout of my clam population?
I'm not going to get any more clams, but I hoped to salvage this last one.
Please let me know. Thanks in advance.
