Was excited over my first clam....now a bit worried.

[MJAnderson]

After getting knocked over on the sand for a few nights straight, I made a cradle for my 2" maxima. Sadly his mantle has stay retracted and he's not open much. Is this pinched mantle? I checked and no snails, and all my parms are normal( ca=420, alk 9.5, mag 1300)

Day 1:

Day 10:

 

[itZme]

Wow that is not looking good. Sorry you are having troubles. If you want to try putting it into my tanks for a while to see if it recovers I don't mind. (seriously I will give it back when you are ready)

I would hate to have it die off. My maxima was about 4 inches when I got it and it was open from day one.

I will be up that way again on Thursday so let me know if you would like me to stop by. I don't have any advice to offer but hope things work out for you. I love my clams and don't know why I haven't ever had trouble with them. You just added a couple fish didn't you? It may have started a mini-cycle. Did you do an ammonia test?

-- Kevin

 

[MJAnderson]

Thanks Kevin,

I posted something in the clam forum. Hopefully they will have some advice. I assumed it was retracted due to irritation from being on its side, but it hasn't bounced back. I added 3 chromis fish 2 weeks before but no amonia or nitrates/trites in my weekly tests.

Let me see how he looks tonight.

Michael

 

[Old Crusty]

that dont look good at all.

 

[stevestank]

Mike

Mike

Mike,

Do you feed the maxima with a dropper? Is he in a low flow area?

 

[Kreeger1]

I'd say thats dead and pull it out before it fouls your tank. Does the clam even react anymore, close up completely that is?

 

[MJAnderson]

He does react and will close up. I didn't spot feed him but I do feed phyto 3x a week. I was told that spot feeding isn't necessary once they get to 1.5-2".

 

[Briney Dave]

I have three clams in my big tank, they do not care too much to be over handled as may be the case with falling over repeatedly.

Also, they are much happier when they can attact to solid substrate (ie rock) they have threads that anchor to the rock and are very strong. (bysssal threads made of proteins to be more accurate) but I am rambling.

If you are sure about water and light quality in the tank overall I would move him one more time to a decent spot on a rock that can be seen and enjoyed by you but is secure for him to attach to with moderate water movement. then leave him be for a while. Do not bother feeding him until he is back with mantle extention and looks generally to be healthy.

my two cents
Briney

 

[ChickenCannoneer]

MJ,
Here is what I would do from experience with all of my 9 clams. I would take a bowl of tank water and cloud it with phyto. Then float the bowl in the tank so that the temps won't change and let the clam set in there until the water is clear or for about 30 or so minutes. This will help your smaller clam get energy as it is from my experience that under about 2" need bowl feedings. I hope that it makes it and if you would like I grow my own phyto and would gladly take care of it if you want. Good luck!

Tim

 

[MJAnderson]

Well I got a possible culprit. On the clamsdirect.com forums there was a discussion about epoxy/superglue in the tank causing some issues. Anyone had that happen? I moved about 6 frags from an eggcrate holder to my rockwork and epoxy/glued them all. Thinking it may have been too much for a new clam. Will change carbon tonight and see what happens.

Thanks for the help all. I'll try the bowl feeding tonight as well.

 

[bond007069]

i am no expert but looks like a dead clam

i would never buy a clam under 3-4 inches.

 

[MJAnderson]

Ran carbon and fed as Tim suggested. Mr. Clam is still kicking and looks a little better this morning. Still one mantle "ruffle" is retracted and he's only open about 1/2 way. Thanks for the help. Fingers crossed.

 

[zzpw3x]

The clam is not dead. When they die, it happens very fast and there is little doubt when you see it.

Clams can be difficult at first and they can take 1-2 weeks before fully opening in my experience. I'd go with the direct feedings and pick a spot to place it and stick with it. They don't like being moved so much. I've never noticed a maxima clam complaining about the substrate (i.e., sand vs. rock).

Also, I don't know what the verdict is on clams and T5's, so I 'll leave that to someone else to address. I've read MH only for maxima's but when I was reading up T5's were kind of new (and I didn't have them so didn't care!).

Many people have had good luck with FW dips to address pinching but I would give the calm some time to acclimate to your system first before I tried that. You will find many others completely opposed teh FW dips and say they accomplish nothing. Good luck sorting that arguement out. I say if it is pinching anyway it is going to die, so what do you have to loose?

Dale

 

[ChickenCannoneer]

A note on Pinched mantle. I have had several clams in the beginning get this disease and tried FWD. The clams ended up not making it before they looked any better. I have also had a few get the disease and I left them alone and now they are alive and well. Just my two pennies, Tim

 

[Old Crusty]

Hows The Clam Doing Michael?

 

[MJAnderson]

Mr. Clam passed yesterday morning. I really thought he was doing better since he was responding to touch and I was bowl feeding him which caused him to open up more. But I found his shell completely scrubbed clean in the morning. Guess it's a good test for how effective my cleanup crew is. Tested the water and no amonia, nitrates or nitrites.

I'll try again in a few months. My parms are normal and stable, but maybe there is an unknown factor.