Sick Clam?

[dyeman]

Hey all,
I got this Dersa from Jedi about 4 years or so ago and up until today it has been doing great. It started out about the size of a a small childs hand and has grown to be nearly 10" long. It recently made its way into a corner of the tank, and although yesterday it looked fine, today the tissue is only half filling the shell where as it used to spill out over the edges of it (the shell). No real changes to the tank recently other than removing some hammer and ricordia. Poor picture here because its right in the corner. Every thing else in the tank seems to be doing fine despite some heat fluctuation. Anyone else seen this occur?

Thanks
david

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I think it's a goner. It could be a natural death.

IME derasa grow very quickly and live for 5 years or so after being sold at a marketable size.

 

[Capt_Cully]

I'm in agreement with Gary's prognosis. I think it's circling the bowl.

2 years ago, I lost 4 otherwise healthy clams in about 1 week. Ultimately, Gary, as coincidence would have it, helped me determine it was most likely due to pyramid snails.

 

[magdelan]

Dyeman... Any pyramid snails? With enough irritation, these little snails can "suck the life" out of an otherwise healthy clam.

 

[tmz]

Looks done to me, sorry.

 

[tent boy]

Not to thread jack....but. Would those snails you talk about make a hard tube off the shell? And if so do you break off the tubes to kill the snails.

 

[Capt_Cully]

you're refering to vermetid snails. pyramid snails have a small spiral shell similar in shape to ceriths, but they are only the size of a grain of rice. They would be down around the foot of the clam at its interface with the sand. They'll commonly jump hosts to astrea snails.

 

[Flanders]

that's exactly how my large derasa went.

 

[tent boy]

Will those vermetids effect the clams health?

 

[Capt_Cully]

Nah, unsightly, but harmless.