Pohnpei clams and disease...

OscarBeast

Member
I was just wondering if anyone has dared to keep these clams since the recent problems? Has anyone bought any recent Pohnpei clams with other clams and not had any problems? I like some of the different colors, but I am still worried about that disease.
 
Don't do it. You will regret it. I have no idea why vendors are still selling these clams. One of them is an r.c. sponser as well.
 
While opinions are great, they don't do a whole lot of good in this case. What I am looking for is recent experience only please. Thanks.
 
OscarBeast said:
While opinions are great, they don't do a whole lot of good in this case.

Oscar, I am not merely giving an opinion. That is the way it is.
Just last week I saw about 30 ultra maximas from the Chuuk and Ponephei area from two different suppliers, 20% were dead, about another 20% were showing signs of the sickness, and there rest where looking good, but then again, they all look good during the first couple of weeks. Then - Bam.

Don't do it.

If you want to set up a small experimental type quarentine tank that is not plumbed into your main system, then purchase a couple of Ponephei Maximas and tell us all your results.

Good luck.
 
And you can state for a fact that the losses are due to disease and not the fact that they are wild clams? Or that before this disease that more than 80% of wild harvested clams survived and more than 60% were never stressed? I hate to tell you, but that is the nature of wild collected animals and proves nothing about disease without being able to rule out different causes of death.

For this very reason, I would like to hear from individuals that have purchased these clams recently and added them to their established systems with other clams. Wild clams will and do die, however if it is disease, it will infect other healthy established clams as has been shown. This more strongly suggests a pathogen than the simple death of a wild clam. The success or loss of the actual wild clam is not as important as how it affects other healthy clams from a research perspective unless you can positively identify the cause of death.

I don't care to debate or discuss the issue or anything related with you Project Reef unless you have the experience I have asked for very politely. If you can't respect my request, that is fine, but I will not reply to you again. I really don't know how to be any clearer or more polite about my request.

So to clarify, I would please like to hear from those of you that have had recent first hand experience with these clams in your established systems with other clams, and only these people.
 
Re: Pohnpei clams and disease...

OscarBeast said:
I was just wondering if anyone has dared to keep these clams since the recent problems? Has anyone bought any recent Pohnpei clams with other clams and not had any problems? I like some of the different colors, but I am still worried about that disease.

I don't care if you don't care to care about debating or discussing this with me. I will post it anyway for the sake of helping others.

I 'recently' saw over 30 dead and dying Ponephei clams this last week in Los Angeles. These are diseased clams. With the exception of a few, they are not dying because of shipping stress. They are dying because wild caught clams from this particular region are diseased.

Do not put these clams in with your healthy clams in an established aquarium because they will wipe those out as well.

Please ask your LFS where they obtain their T. Maxima clams before you purchase. If they say it's wild caught, it most likely means it came from the Ponehpei region. Please avoid unless you don't mind dead clams and empty wallets.

If you know of a place which carries wild T. Maxima clams from the Red Sea, please let me know and I will purchase 70 of them on the spot.

You can ignore this if you want Oscar, even though this may be "your" thread, I post this information on this forum, not just for you, but for others to read.
 
I lied, I am going to reply. You don't know factually what killed those clams therefore it helps nobody and simply clutters a thread that asked for very specific information. If you feel there is something you can post to help others, you do have the ability to start a new thread specifically addressing the issue. I simply believe that you are being malicious now and using ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œhelping othersââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ as an excuse to do so. If help was your intent, you would have provided this information in your first reply.

I started this thread with the intent to gather very specific information and attempted to keep it on topic, however you have blatantly undermined this.
 
Project Reef,

I know of someone that goes to LA everyweek and visit just about all the supplier in that area, and he told me that he has not seen this snce last August. One of the major wholesalers and retailer outlets told someone in the trade that he has these clams come in every month and has had no problems since last year. Where did you witness this wipe out last week????

Was told that there was a large shipment of Crocea's that came in that were all DOA's They were from Viet Nam. not Pohnpei!
 
Hey Ron, other than the big named wholesalers, I also visit many of the smaller wholesalers in the Inglewood and near the Southbay area pretty much on a weekly basis as well. I will tell you that Ponephei clams are not as common in major wholesalers on 104th as they used to be. That is a great sign that many of them are cleaning up their act.

The 'underground' or smaller wholesalers in the area, however, still get them in. What is even more scary is that while talking to some of the owners, a couple of them actually KNOW and understand the Ponephei problem, yet they still continue to bring them in. The price to bring them in is much cheaper than going through other areas so they continue to do so. Sad, but since they are a business and usually not hobbyiests it is all about $ in there eyes.
 
Project Reef

Project Reef

Where do you witness these wipe outs, I would like to know as well. If I remember correctly this is not the first time you have seen a wipe out like this.

I'm not trying to start a war, just would like to know where to stay away from :D
 
wild clam from chuuk

wild clam from chuuk

This clam was added to my tank - among other 30+ clammates (most are farm clams). This one was doing good, not so good, and currently very happy - as shown in mantle expansion. I think I have this clam for at least 3 month.

This was sold as chuuk clam from then flyingfish.

clam_purple.jpg


NOw that flyingfish is gone, I bought two green/black ponephei clams from LiveAquaria.com. They arrived yesterday and looking great. See my thread below for picture.

clam tank thread
 
Thanks Peter for your in put as I know you have a lot of clams and beautiful as well.

If these clams were diseased, then you would have lost them all by now. IMO!
 
Thank you so much peter for your input and superior reading comprehension skills. :) This is exactly the type of information I am looking for, good or bad. :) Please keep us updated.
 
holeinone1972 said:
I agree with Project Reef. These are not a good idea to chance it.

Rob

Dude, this guy is a clam distributer. If he agrees with Project Reef, I think you better be careful about clams from that region.

You may get lucky, but when the disease hits, it's all over. It happened to me last year, it happened to many experienced reefers I know, it happened to one of the better wholesalers in Los Angeles. So when people give you information and advice on the current status of the health of clams from that region, be thankful. They are just trying to help you out.

Good luck.

Jim
 
1) Diseases come and go. Even if there was a disease last year, who is to say that it has not passed. Especially if nobody is willing to try.

2) Nobody knows for sure if this really is a disease that has affected the majority of these clams.

3) Nobody actually knows the source of the disease, if that is actually what it is.

Jumping on the bandwagon and blaming something without solid proof is how misinformation is spread. Misinformation helps nobody. Many of the deaths are simply due to improper collecting methods and terrible wholesaler conditions. Many of the less reputable wholesalers in LA mix all types of livestock together in nasty conditions. There is no doubt in my mind that dead and dying clams have been spotted in LA and that these vats may be disease infested. It is just too bad that many of these places are the same wholesalers that are selling bulk shipments into your LFS where nobody ever sees the conditions there are coming from. Then some unsuspecting customer drops on in his tank and it dies then blames the region the clams came from. This does not mean that clams from this reason are disease, especially when other wholesalers have these clams and they are healthy.

To my knowledge, the only way to determine the cause of death of a clam by the lay person. These are complicated and sensitive animals. Wild collecting compounds the many issues that can arise with clams, especially if they are collected poorly. Injuries from poorly collected specimens can take weeks to fully subdue the clams while others result in DOAs and immediate deaths at the wholesalers. Simply put, there are too many variables to intelligently attribute a cause of death at a wholesaler, though by human nature it is tempting to so.

If you however place a wild clam in a healthy tank with healthy clams and the result is the death of the other or all clams, this lends strong evidence towards a pathogen. For this reason, I am looking for current experience in this type of situation. The exact type of situation peterlin98 has setup and this situation only.

Obviously if all of these clams were diseased, our friend peter would have one heck of a mess on his hands. If you have never taken a look at his clam tank, I suggest you look up his tank thread and see exactly what I am talking about.
 
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