Tear on our Maxima?

[Redhdfishgirl]

I'm posting a photo of our maxima clam. I was alarmed that there was a tear in our clam, however; when I browsed through the photos of the maxima (from the link from the sticky) it looked similar to one of the ones posted. What is it or what is it used for? Or is it a tear? Thanks!

 

[Ohiomom]

what you are pointing to in the second picture is the intake "valve" of the clam..how it takes in water to strain for food..the little "spout" is where it pushes out the water. The first picture isn't clear enough for me to see if you are referring to the same thing. hth

 

[Ohiomom]

p.s what type of lighting do you have as these clams require a lot of lighting..

 

[Redhdfishgirl]

We have two T5s (white & one actinic) that are on for about 10 hours a day and two 175 watt MH that are on about 7-8 hours a day. I just reduced the lights a bit thats why I can't remember the times exactly. We just upgraded our powerhead and I noticed the intake valve a bit more than usual.
That is the intake valve then....the spout is on the other side...phew! Guess he must be feeding right now because it got even bigger. Thanks!

 

[Ohiomom]

Sometimes they get bigger when the clam is stressed..but I don't have maximas so not sure what is normal for them. The only thing I have heard of is something called "gaping" when the clams intake open extremely wide. I have never been able to find a clear cut definition of what gaping is but I do know that it is a bad sign and a sign of an extremely stressed clam.

The first picture looks a little wide but I would say if it isn't always like that there isn't much to worry about. Especially if it reacts to shadows and such.

 

[DSR]

gaping is actually when the clam loses the ability to open and close it shell... it is very noticable. if you are concerned about gaping, wave your hand under the light and see what the clam does. If there is no reaction at all this is a sign of gaping and is not a good thing at all.

OP, if you just changed your flow, keep an eye on the clams. They don't like a lot of direct flow and will let you know. They do require a good amount of flow for filter feeding, but do not do well in direct.

Also, Maximas should not be placed directly in the sand. This can cause problems with their byssal organ and can kill them from the inside out. If you need to keep the clam on the sand, place a large frag plug or piece of rock under it to keep out the nasties. Good luck. Post some more pictures.

 

[Redhdfishgirl]

Okay, I have some rock that I was cycling in my nano that might be the right size, probably on the larger size though. The tank is cycled now-so it should be okay to use. I am very nervous though about moving him.....how do I try and do this? He is MUCH better, the new powerhead was giving him too much flow but we have since adjusted this. Thanks!

 

[ludiNano]

Its good to hear its doing better. Im not sure on maxima's just got my first, a week ago. I have seen my squami "gap" pretty wide at times. Usually wasn't for a whole day.

If you know what kind of lighting it came from and how much adjusting would really be needed. But don't be afaid of handling it if you need to. You could buy a piece of LR from LFS to be safe and pick one that would work.

How long is has the 90g been set up?

 

[Redhdfishgirl]

We bought the tank used (water was still in it and pumped out right before we went home), all our live rock was used from established aquariums the only thing new was the water. Its been set up since late spring.