new derasa from diversden

what do you guys think.. should I take it out of the tank? I emailed liveaquaria already about the guarantee.

Is this something that happens often or what? Do you think its something I did wrong?
Should I not get a replacement?... like should I just steer clear of clams or what?

Maybe I should stick with LPS:( I really am having a hard time thinking about that this was my fault. I feel terrible.
Jess
 
So I was feeding my mandarins (I watch them like a hawk) and I noticed one of my torch heads had what looked like a brown jelly on it... Its a coral with about 15 heads on the right side of the tank, and the head with the jelly was right in the MIDDLE of the coral on a stalk that was splitting in three..

What the heck is going on? did this clam bring back some bad kharma from a tiger barb I flushed as a child? I just got done dremmeling the nasty head off the coral.

Anyway, diversden emailed me and asked questions about the tank (gen. specs and parameters). It shouldnt be a problem to get a refund. I sent them the most recent pic as well.

I think I will take a break from trying another clam. I dunno, I have a great spot on my upper rockwork that could hold a maxima or crocea but I dont think that 150w is enough do you?

Is my tank ok to try a maxima or crocea or should I just move on?
Jess
 
I read that derasas are supposed to be THE easiest or at least one of the easiest... so Im a little leery about getting another if I already killed the 'bulletproof' one.

What do you guys think? maxima on the rock? 8" from surface of a 150w halide?
 
derasas are the most light forgiving of the clams because it comes from deeper waters than the maxima and crocea...just because your first one didnt work out is no reason to give up on clams...more than likely it wasnt healthy to begin with
 
do you think I should re-order from liveaquaria or should I go to like clamsdirect or fragglereef instead?

Should I get maxima or crocea? Does it matter?
 
you could have a clam predator eating it away at night. that was my problem with the first few clams I tried. I had no clue what was going on and stopped after my 3rd clam died. Then when I moved tanks I found a 4 foot clam eating worm in the sand bed. The worm is now gone and I have 3 healthy happy clams in my tank. Do you ever find snail shells in the morning covered in slime? or just empty shells with no explination? You could have a killer worm too.
 
ewww! a 4 ft worm! Even if its harmless I dont want it! lol I havent 'seen' anything but like you said it could be at night... grr I hate the unknown predators. I hope there arent any.

The clam isnt slimy but there are these like iridescent stringy things kind of blowing in the flow right along the edge of the shell opening. I think its where the flesh used to be stuck to the shell and now its pulling in and tearing those threads.

Theres nothing obvious and Ive checked the clam the first day (tues), thursday and today for any signs of critters.. and nothing.

Jess
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13568600#post13568600 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dragonette
do you think I should re-order from liveaquaria or should I go to like clamsdirect or fragglereef instead?

Should I get maxima or crocea? Does it matter?
Click to expand...


If it was me, I would buy from a local fish store instead. That way you can actually see your clam in person and don't have to deal with shipping. I bought my first clam, an ORA maxima, several months ago from my LFS and it's doing great! Just my 2 pennies.
 
ok so today he looks worse again (obviously) and Im wondering if I should remove him from the tank so he doesnt mess with my water chemistry. ?
 
How do you check your salinity, and which salt mix do you use? Your salinity is low for a clam, should be 1.025-1.026, I doubt that's the problem but it really depends on what you're testing your salt with. Do you have a way to test your magnesium? I'd definitely wait on getting another clam until you figure out what may have killed this one, it would be a shame to have to go through the same thing with another one...

Also, that fungia in your tank needs to be on the sandbed, on rocks their flesh will get cut up and they'll eventually whither away. On the sandbed it will puff up a lot more and be much happier and nicer :)
 
thank you organism for your advice. I dont think the levels in my tank contributed to the loss of this specimen. Im pretty sure he has been dead for at least a day, I just removed him from the tank and his fleshy area slid right off the shell (EWWWW! and it smelled BAD!)

I get my salt from the LFS. I do not make my own saltwater.
Salinity is measured with a refractometer. (Ive never seen a hydrometer ACTUALLY work haha!)

I agree that some more research will be done just to see if there was a problem with my tank, but honestly, I dont think that my mag level for instance could have killed the clam in 24hrs. Im thinking neglect like that would take a little bitter longer to kill him.

The plate coral is a weird specimen.. it likes the rocks better. It gets ****ed off and wont eat when its on the sand bed. Its kind of its own enigma. Im not sure why, but it definitely prefers the rock:confused:

Thank you everyone for your support. I have removed the clam and dfs has already processed my credit. Im not sure what Im going to do about the credit.. whether to try another clam or not. Im gonna sleep on it.. Im in no rush.

My water is a little cloudy and Im a bit worried that the decaying clam may have messed with my water chemistry so I might do another water change this weekend
thanks again
Jess
 
So im finding alot of croceas I like but not as much maximas..
Id my tank ok to support a crocea? I have an area about 3/4 the way up in the tank where I could place it on the rocks and it has a 150 sunpod. Would this not be enough light for a crocea? should I stick with one of the other species?
Jess
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13547220#post13547220 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Phyxius
Thats a nice looking one :)

Like the others have said it one of the faster growing ones so be prepared to give it room. Ours started out in a 29g frag tank as little 2" Blue lipped Derasas my kids picked out from a local guy Chad at Reefscience and they now reside in my 210g and are at least 6-8" now tip to tip and when fully open are huge.

It will give you and excuse to upgrade tanks sooner or just give it plenty of sand space now :)
Click to expand...

Glad to know that your Derasa is doing well after some time! Please be sure and post pics when you get a chance!

Thanks,
Chad D. Bryant
 
I would address getting your calcium levels up a little bit more before going out an buying another clam. Crocea should be fine, just make sure he doesnt get stung by LPS corals! Research Research! Research! :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13662198#post13662198 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pipper
I would address getting your calcium levels up a little bit more before going out an buying another clam. Crocea should be fine, just make sure he doesnt get stung by LPS corals! Research Research! Research! :)
Click to expand...

thank you for your recommendation. I have decided to hold off on a new clam until I upgrade my tank and light (to 250w and solana tank) next month. Calcium is working its way up to where it needs to be, but again, I dont think my calcium level killed the clam in a 2 day period.
 
Jess, when you are ready, visit The Logical Reef in Vero. Its a little ways from you, but he gets beautiful clams in all the time and Lee is a decent guy that if anything happened (it died within a few days), he'd replace it.
 
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