I was trying to figure out where it was coming from but I couldn't. Being in four gallons, it could be that the clam's normal mucus seems all over the place since it doesn't have anywhere to go. I doubled the antibiotic dosage for good measure. It's coming out of the separate tank tomorrow morning. I'll be putting it into a propagation tank I have that has not been subject to infected clams.
This is painful to watch! Can I save my clams?
- Thread starter ReefDream
- Start date
saltkreep, I heard of a problem from someone in Houston. If you think about it, though, it can and will hit anywhere if the clams are shipped from the west coast and are sick.
UPDATE
I decided to put the crocea clam in the tank tonight. As much as I hoped my antibiotic would solve the problem and as much as I want to say it will work, I have doubts. The clam is sliming from within by the vent. From time to time, it expells the slime too. From what I've read and what toptank told me, this is not normal. It is a sign of sickness.
My guess is that while the antibiotic may have helped the clam pull through a few more days, I probably will lose it without the antibiotics, and I just can't have it bathed in antibiotics without light much longer.
It may have been the case that this clam has deteriorated too much to be saved by antibiotics. I wish I knew...
UPDATE
I decided to put the crocea clam in the tank tonight. As much as I hoped my antibiotic would solve the problem and as much as I want to say it will work, I have doubts. The clam is sliming from within by the vent. From time to time, it expells the slime too. From what I've read and what toptank told me, this is not normal. It is a sign of sickness.
My guess is that while the antibiotic may have helped the clam pull through a few more days, I probably will lose it without the antibiotics, and I just can't have it bathed in antibiotics without light much longer.
It may have been the case that this clam has deteriorated too much to be saved by antibiotics. I wish I knew...
Sorry to hear about all your losses. It's not easy to lose any livestock but clams are a different breed. I have lost several in the past couple of weeks. Not to mention the frustration at watching the clams die and not being able to do anything to help. It's even more frustrating to think about all the $$$$'s lost. What makes it very hard is the majority of my clams have been with me for several years. Here is a list of what I lost:
1 5" peach & purple squamosa
2 6" ultra max
2 5" ultra max
1 4" solomon max w/teal & yellow tear drops
2 3" super crocea
2 2" ultra max
I have 2 clams left. One 6" derasa and one unknown from Hawaii. The clam from Hawaii is releasing small amounts of mucus through the exhalent syphon but seems to be doing well otherwise (this is only a $14.00 clam). Seems to be a strong clam, and pulling through fine. The derasa is showing no signs of sickness at this time.
It's difficult to look at an empty sandbed
Scott
1 5" peach & purple squamosa
2 6" ultra max
2 5" ultra max
1 4" solomon max w/teal & yellow tear drops
2 3" super crocea
2 2" ultra max
I have 2 clams left. One 6" derasa and one unknown from Hawaii. The clam from Hawaii is releasing small amounts of mucus through the exhalent syphon but seems to be doing well otherwise (this is only a $14.00 clam). Seems to be a strong clam, and pulling through fine. The derasa is showing no signs of sickness at this time.
It's difficult to look at an empty sandbed
Scott
ReefDream
I'm starting to wonder if a weak clam that cannot pump water has a difficult time getting the antibiotic into his system? I hope the best for your clam. It is obvious you have tried very hard. It was nice to talk to you this weekend. Hope all else is well.
Scott
I'm starting to wonder if a weak clam that cannot pump water has a difficult time getting the antibiotic into his system? I hope the best for your clam. It is obvious you have tried very hard. It was nice to talk to you this weekend. Hope all else is well.
Scott
The clam I have left is not weak. When I pulled it out of the antibiotic bath this afternoon, it squirted water so hard that it nearly hit me in the face! Even though it is strong, I do have my doubts if it is cured. Slime at the vent can't be good, and in the six months I've had that clam, I never saw slime at the vent except since the plague started killing my clams. This last clam (an electric crocea) seems strong enough to expel the slime with a lot of force, but the slime just keeps building inside. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out, but I fear the worse.
ReefDream, How can you see the slime, did you notice it when you went to do a water change and add more medicine? I received the medicine yesterday and put an otherwise healthy looking crocea in the bucket. This clam looks great this morning with only about 20 hours in the medicine bath. I plan on swapping out water and putting new medcine in this afternoon and going another 24 hours. This clam showed no signs of infection in the tank prior to pulling it out so I have hope that it is still quite strong and the medicine may work if it is in fact infected. Any update this morning on your guy?
calv3, I saw one post on one of the three threads going about this, could have been this thread, that someoen fears they may be losing a clam after introducing a coral from the same holding tank as infected clams were in but that is definately speculation and hard to know. Are you losing a clam in the way described in these threads at this point or are you worried it might happen as you purchased some corals from a certain lfs who has been having this problem?
calv3, I saw one post on one of the three threads going about this, could have been this thread, that someoen fears they may be losing a clam after introducing a coral from the same holding tank as infected clams were in but that is definately speculation and hard to know. Are you losing a clam in the way described in these threads at this point or are you worried it might happen as you purchased some corals from a certain lfs who has been having this problem?
cal3v
Premium Member
I'm worried that this will happen to my clam if I get a new coral. Its pretty scary. If we have any sure fire reports on this, and its ok, then I'll probably go ahead and not worry. But if we are still not sure, then I'm definately holding off buying any soon. Wow, if it can spread like this, we might really be in trouble, with all the frag trading and what not that reefers do. Plus, somebody without a clam could get one from a tank with infected clams, trade to someone with clams, etc etc. I think I might have an idea to what store some of you are referring to, and if you don't feel right mentioning their name here, if you could pm or e-mail me that would be greatly appreciated. I don't think it would be right to call out names either on this or the other thread.
Its pretty scary. If we have any sure fire reports on this, and its ok, then I'll probably go ahead and not worry. But if we are still not sure, then I'm definately holding off buying any soon. Wow, if it can spread like this, we might really be in trouble, with all the frag trading and what not that reefers do. Plus, somebody without a clam could get one from a tank with infected clams, trade to someone with clams, etc etc. I think I might have an idea to what store some of you are referring to, and if you don't feel right mentioning their name here, if you could pm or e-mail me that would be greatly appreciated. I don't think it would be right to call out names either on this or the other thread.<b>slojmn</b>, the clam shows signs of trying purge itself of the slime. On a positive note, the mantle is not retracted nor is the clam gaping as of this morning. What happens is that I see excessive clam contractions (i.e. "coughing"). Every few minutes it expells (or at least tries to expell) some of the slime. It's like clam Bronchitis! And for all we know it could be similar, but this is all speculation at this point.
Running with the bronchitis analogy, when someone has Bronchitis, they first have a viral infection. The infection causes inflammation which leads to a bacterial infection. The infections cause the mucus that bronchitis suffers are constantly dealing with and the reason they cough all the time. If we are dealing with a viral infection like bronchitis, it could be possible that the clam will get over it with the aid of the antibiotics since it lends a fighting hand to the clam with respect to the associated bacterial infection, giving it more energy to fight the root viral problem. Only time will tell.
<b>cal3v</b>, due to the excessive mucus production and the fact this mucus gets all over the place, I do DEFINITELY think this clam problem could be spread from tank to tank by the transport of live rock or coral. It might not be too likely, but I am betting it could happen. Just to be sure, I am not bringing any frags to this month's local Seabay meeting (July 20th) for the very fear that it might infect other's clams. I would feel so bad if that happened.
I will keep everyone updated about my antibiotic clam, and slojmn please do the same.
Running with the bronchitis analogy, when someone has Bronchitis, they first have a viral infection. The infection causes inflammation which leads to a bacterial infection. The infections cause the mucus that bronchitis suffers are constantly dealing with and the reason they cough all the time. If we are dealing with a viral infection like bronchitis, it could be possible that the clam will get over it with the aid of the antibiotics since it lends a fighting hand to the clam with respect to the associated bacterial infection, giving it more energy to fight the root viral problem. Only time will tell.
<b>cal3v</b>, due to the excessive mucus production and the fact this mucus gets all over the place, I do DEFINITELY think this clam problem could be spread from tank to tank by the transport of live rock or coral. It might not be too likely, but I am betting it could happen. Just to be sure, I am not bringing any frags to this month's local Seabay meeting (July 20th) for the very fear that it might infect other's clams. I would feel so bad if that happened.
I will keep everyone updated about my antibiotic clam, and slojmn please do the same.
The antibiotic-treated clam has now been in the regular tank for 24 hours. It has stopped coughing mucus as much now (perhaps that was related to the antibiotic itself or is like a post-sickness cough) and generally it looks better. Here is a picture of it that I just took minutes ago:
<center><img src="http://home.attbi.com/~domitron2/reefcentral/clams/antibiotic_clam.jpg"></center>
Again, this is a clam that was definitely infected with the bacteria (and maybe still is). I think would have died last week if I had not treated it with antibiotics.
<center><img src="http://home.attbi.com/~domitron2/reefcentral/clams/antibiotic_clam.jpg"></center>
Again, this is a clam that was definitely infected with the bacteria (and maybe still is). I think would have died last week if I had not treated it with antibiotics.
Eddie is also using doxycycline (I provided him some pills) to save his prize clam and a couple others he has left. The only trouble is that he has been moving the clams from antibiotic to antibiotic and from tank to tank for over a week and a half now. Doxycycline is the fourth antibiotic he has used, and to make matters worse, he has not been following my recommendation to keep the clam in treatment for 5 days in a row (he took them out after 1.5 days). He also choose to reduce the dosage to 25% of what I used. Given these facts I doubt the clams will bennefit from the doxycycline even IF--and I say if since it has not been proven that it even works--the doxycycline could save them.
turbosiavr
New member
are the sick clams coming from eddies store reef dream? i am planning to buy a clam from there tomorow so please let me know it it is!!!!
turbosiavr
New member
are the sick clams coming from eddies store reef dream? i am planning to buy a clam from there tomorow so please let me know it it is!!!!
