My Derasa Looks Bad!

[spanglish]

Last Night I noticed that my Derasa was not fully out.

It had moved slightly into the shade of an overhang so I
scooted it out into the light some and this moring I find this.

I'm testing water but quick test shows all normal.
Is it a lost cause?

 

[spanglish]

 

[spanglish]

It appears to be seperating from its shell

 

[saurus]

I am no expert at all but anytime I have seen a clam in that state, it doesn't recover.

Good luck.

 

[spanglish]

Should I remove now to avoid harm to tank?

 

[saurus]

I hope someone else can chime in here with more experience but I have waited till it separates more and you see kind of a bumpy jagged meaty part which may be its foot? I wish I could be more help.

 

[spanglish]

Any real threats to rest of tank?

 

[saurus]

I lost 5 clams within a 2 week period due to either a parasite or fish. I was never able to determine who did it. I did not see any negative effects but my total water volume is 375 gallons. Once or twice I pulled out a empty clam shell. I don't think you should be too concerned considering your water volume but if you see any further separation, I would just remove it. If you would like, you could remove it and place it into a 5 gallon bucket with tankwater, circulation and a heater and then follow its progress. Again, I have no extended experience with clams other than 3 years of reefing.

 

[spanglish]

I'm about to eject the ill clam unless someone can advise
otherwise......anyone?

 

[spanglish]

Well, it' s an ex clam now.
I had a 4 degree temp shift two days ago in 24 hrs
(went from81.9F to 78.2 in less than 24 hrs) would that
do it?

 

[chaseracing]

I doubt the temperature change would do it. My tank swings that much every day.

-=E=-

 

[spanglish]

I have an ember blenny. I never saw him nip it but I've read
they will. Whatever it was happened almost instantly. Literally
no visible signs 48 hrs before death.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

That is what is called gaping- its usually a sypmtom you see pre-death. It can be cause by a flurry of problems, so it would be impossible to say what caused it.

 

[Gatorfan]

That's not gaping. Gaping is a stress response where the incurrent siphon is open much wider than normal.

 

[a4twenty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9092971#post9092971 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gatorfan
That's not gaping. Gaping is a stress response where the incurrent siphon is open much wider than normal.

actually that is a classic case of gaping as jmaneyapanda has said.

gaping refers to the loss of control of the abductor muscle ( the big muscle that opens and closes the clam ). the symptoms of gaping are a stretched open incurrent siphon and the mantle retracting back inside the shell. also as jmaneyapanda has said, it is usually seen when the clam is very close to death or dead.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

thank you, twenty.