old clams getting some type of disease from new clams?

[isseym328]

Hi everyone,

Recently I purchased two gold maximas from an online store and they seemed to be doing well for the first few days. After that their mantles started shriveling up and now they barely come out of the shell. I thought maybe it was because I had to feed them phytoplankton so I bought some today to feed them. I just noticed right now that my two older clams (one of which I've had for 3-4 years) are showing the same signs. The mantles are not fully spread anymore and seems to be shrinking. I never had to feed the old clams and they had always been fine in my tank. I was wondering if anyone know what I can do about this? I don't think I can do anything to save the new clams but I want to save my old maxima which I've had for a long time. Will more frequent water changes help? Anything I can dose my tank with? Any help is appreciated thanks.

James

 

[Scuba Dog]

yes the new clams may have introduced a parasite or a fungus, and developed a pinched mantle. I recently had some that did the same thing, and had to treat them and my older clams to a freash water dip, which resolved the problem.

 

[isseym328]

hey scubadog,

How did you administer the freshwater dip? I'd like to try it out if it worked for you. I don't want them to die on me!


James

 

[Scuba Dog]

I used RODI water in shipping bag, and floated it in my sump/fuge to get the rodi the same tempature as the tank, then I adjusted the ph of the rodi water to match the Ph of the tank water, diped the clams for 10 minuts , then feed them live phyto for about 30 minuts by the bowl technique, then placed them back in the tank, Diping baby maxs that are in bad shape is a little risky but I was told by an expert that they would die anyway if nothing was done. But hey It worked out for me , i diped 9 baby maxs and they all pulled though yesterday, mind you its only been a day..

 

[mia1974]

This is an interesting thread to me, because I go through the same thing everytime I add a new clam. Before the new clam is introduced, all my existing clams look great. As soon as a new one is added the pinching mantle begins. Then I FW dip all the clams and everything returns to normal.

I am wondering if I Q the new introduction until it gets healthy and then FW dip it and then add it to the display, maybe this problem would not occur?

 

[mbbuna]

u should always qt new stock

 

[mia1974]

Yeah, I I did learn I have to Q everything the hard way Even if I Q the clams though (but no FW dip), once I add them the "pinching" begins to occur, whereas if I do not add the new clam and they stay in separate systems they are fine. I am going to try FW dipping the next one I get after the Q time is up (3-4 weeks) before I add it to the display and see what happens...

James, I would do the FW dip as Scuba Dog outlined. If any of the clams do not make it through, chances are that they wouldn't have anyway (IME). They should be fine though Good luck and keep us posted,

 

[Scuba Dog]

Its a frustrating mystery why they pinch, Barry at clamsdirect qs all of his clams for a lengthy amount of time, but once they reach customer tanks within a few days half of them start to pinch....yeah a FWD will be part of the normal aclamation process from now on...I wonder if the "pinching clams" come from any particular farm?

 

[Scuba Dog]

I never had any of the ORA clams pinch ither...but then agen I dont know the source of the last batch of clams I ordered...would be courious to find out though.

 

[mbbuna]

scuba they came from marshall islands farm

 

[mwitten]

I used RODI water in shipping bag, and floated it in my sump/fuge to get the rodi the same tempature as the tank, then I adjusted the ph of the rodi water to match the Ph of the tank water, ....

Scuba,

What do you use to set the PH of your dip water?

Thanks!

-Mike

 

[mbbuna]

i use arm & hammer

 

[Scuba Dog]

A ph probe makes the job super easy, and arm and hammer baking soda.

 

[Scuba Dog]

mbbuna

Is that the same farm that ORA has there ultra maxs imported from also? Might not be nothing to it just an observation on my part. Heck might even be the same farm...I need to dig around and out about how many farms there are, just out of simple couriosity.

 

[isseym328]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the info. I did purchase the new gold maximas from Barry. I know he QT them as well so I was surprised that my clams were "pinching" as you guys put it. I'm going to try the FW dip method as Scuba Dog suggested. Should I do this when the lights are out or does it matter? I want it to be as stress free as possible for the clams. As for the feeding part...do you just put the clams in a dish with saltwater and saturated with phyto? I never really had to feed any of my clams before. Thanks in advance and I really appreciate all the info! I will let everyone know what happens later tonight.....

James

 

[Scuba Dog]

Yes you just put the clams ina bowl or cup or whatever container you have handy. and add just enough phyto to give the saltwater a greenish tint. Then either after the green tint is filterd out or 15 to 30 minuits later remove the clams and place them back in there spot in the tank.

When I Diped mine I just kept them in the baggy, and walked around with them untill the time was up....because when I first attempted the dip the bag fell over whyle i was away, mesed up that first attempt, so LOL I carryed the bag around with me the whole time this time lol....The only reason I used an old shipping bag was so I could flost it in the refugium /sump to get the tempature the same as the tank....

 

[mbbuna]

i dont know where ora gets there's

 

[isseym328]

Success!!

Or partial success I should say. I believe the clams do look better after the FW dip. The mantles on the clams are more fully open. One of the clams I only dipped for 5 mins because it was attached to a big rock of zo's and I didn't want to harm the zo's. That one for some reason is fully extended now..with only 5mins of dipping.

Now I want to ask you guys.....can I do another dip in a few days? I think if I do another dip or two the clams should fully recover. Yet don't want to do FW dips too close to each other so the clams can kind of catch their breath. If anyone dipped more than once let me know. THank you all for posting. Because of you guys my clams will probably survive. =D

James

 

[mbbuna]

for small clams a 10 to 15min dip is what u need if the clams are larger 3" and up u need to dip them 20 to 30 min. if it done right u only need to dip them ONCE. FWD is a last ditch effort to save the clam from sure death ONLY DIP IF U NEED TO. if after a week or two, the pinching comes back dip again but only if it need's it, ,FWD can kill a clam very easly. what ur tring to do with a FWD is kill what ever is hearting the clam before the clam dies from the FWD

 

[Barry N.]

Someone sent this thread to me so I though I would reply to it.

I never had any of the ORA clams pinch ither...but then agen I dont know the source of the last batch of clams I ordered...would be courious to find out though.

All of the clams that we receive as well as other vendors get them from the Marshall Islands and that is ORA farm.

Myself and others are working on the cause of PM but still nothing solid to report but all the clams are quarantined at least 7 days prior to be shipped and when people receive them, they seem to be fine for 2-3 days then develope the PM. This seem to be a small amount of folks. There has to be a common denominator which we are also looking into. Type of salt, pH, salinity or other things.

Best to quarantine ANYTHING before placing in the display tank.