What's wrong with my clam???

[talon4x4]

Here are parameters to start:
Temp - 80.1
Salinity - 1.025
Nitrate - ~5-10
Phosphate - undetectable (Salifert)
Ca - 520
dKH - 7.5
Mg - 1320

I can't see any visible pests on it. As you can see from the pics below the mantle is extending at all on the right side and just a little bit on the left.

 

[dreaminmel]

Interesting... Is flow blasting it from that side?

 

[toddmh]

pinched mantle maybe ??

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/jf/index.php

 

[Posidion]

i believe they call that gaping. what ever it's called it aint good every one i ever had do that didnt last much longer. i scincearly hope this is not the case for you. first i would enshure that your not blasting it with direct flow as mentioned above. if that is not the case i will tell you that i have tried fresh water dipping them thinking parasite with no luck but i cant hurt to try anyway. mabey somone else will have a better suggestion.

 

[talon4x4]

Definitely not flow. The flow coming from the right side is in the rear of the tank. The clam has been in that spot for a little over 1yr. I also forgot to mention that I have 2x250W halides, so lighting shouldn't be an issue either.

I can't even fresh water dip, I have no fresh water. I have new filters and a new flush kit coming from BRS but they won't be here until Thursday.

I think it may be pinched mantle disease. I have one bucket of fresh water left, I'm gonna dip it for 30 minutes. I'm wondering if I should dip all 3 clams?? Only problem with that is 1 of the clams is attached to a very large rock.

Is there a pH calculator somewhere?? I tried to Google one but no luck (or my google searching sucks!). I tested my fresh water and the pH is around 7.4, I need to get it to 8.1 (the tanks current pH).


Thanks!!

 

[DEEP BLUE SIX]

Have you looked underneath it?

How is the foot?

There could be pests underneath / inside at the bottom.
Any damage under there and it can cause problems extending mantle as well.

How does it react when you cover it a little? pass over with your hand..
Does open / close shell to different degrees?

See how things look from there, if you still can't find anything then all I can suggest is leave alone. If there are no pests, then dipping is going to do nothing for it.

If you do take out, do not expose to the air.

Are the other clams showing any signs of things wrong with them too?
If not, I would not dip them.

I have 2. A Crocea and a Maxima.
1 had mantle problems on one for a couple weeks out of no where once. With time it all went away. Don't know what caused it. There were no pests or condition changes to bring it on. After a month it was all better and has not reappeared ever.

I have heard some people that had problems like that, it died on them shortly after. But not in every case. These things are often sensitive and mysterious in some cases. Of course many of them succeed and live for years as well.

I've had mine for 2.5 years so far.

Let me know how things look or pan out.
Good luck.

 

[jdoenumber2]

Is that a Derasa by chance?

 

[superkat]

did you move it recently? or did something fall into it?

 

[Cptn Spaulding]

one..... did it look like that when you bought it... two.. how well did you acclimate it? ive found best results acclimating it like a fish, about 45 minutes or so at least (not sure if you just got this or not). it looks like a derasa.. right under the halides on the sand should be good enough, especially if its a double ended halide.. three... what about livestock.. do you have any dwarf angels or any other fish that might be nipping at it behind your back? four... definitely check the foot.. or if it even has a foot.. my derasa didnt have a foot when i got it unbeknownst to me, and it unfortunately didnt make it probably due to poor lighting (on sand bed with 216 watts of T5 on a standard 55). shoulda put it up higher in my tank.

 

[talon4x4]

Yes, it is a dersa. It hasn't been moved and nothing has fallen onto it. It does react when I put my hand near it. I've had it for 2 years now. This one doesn't have a foot or if it does it has never attached. No angels in the tank. I've never seen anything bother it.

I haven't pulled it out to look for pests, just viewed thru the glass.

Why can't it be exposed to air?? I've never heard that. A year ago when I moved all my livestock to a new tank it was definitely exposed to air, during the transfer over.

 

[DEEP BLUE SIX]

Exposing to air:

You "CAN". Very briefly without a problem often.
Some are even exposed to it in the wild during low tide times.
They are not all completely taken from the water in this natural fashion though. Usually only partially exposed.

However, doing it by hand on purpose is frowned upon by some. Highly suggested against. If you can help it.

An air bubble can get trapped on the skin inside and cause damage even after the clam is back in the water. This can lead to it's demise shortly after.

The air may not escape right away and stay trapped somewhere inside on the clam flesh. Though this may be a rare occurance. It's not worth the risk.

I know someone else who had 2 clams both died after exposure to the air. Though he can't prove it was this. Nothing was wrong, like forever before that, and after doing it they declined out of no where fast in 2 days after.

Also, when I got my first one, The LFS(Not to name - names here but) ABC PEts "very trusted by me" suggested NOT doing it if it can be helped.

I also use a bowl in the tank and take it out in the bowl so the clam never hits air. ABC Pets made sure they bagged right in the water and did not take it out to air at all. The way they do with some corals... air exposure on most corals is harmless to them completely.

Possibly a practice not known or done by all. But definitely recommended by many.

 

[superkat]

i agree with you. when i got my clam from G, he bagged it in the water. never touched the air. i did the same when i got home. however, this clam has been in tank for a while..unless you moved it, exposed to air...during any recent changes...

 

[Cptn Spaulding]

never thought of the air factor but it definitely makes sense... working at a LFS i will definitely take heed to this fact

 

[jfl14609]

Yeah sorry man that doesnt look good at all I had one when i first started out with clams look like that within days the fish were all over it. to be honest I wouldn't fw dip it I think that would just stress it more

 

[DEEP BLUE SIX]

2 Things:

#1 If you can confirm it DOES HAVE Pests, then you MUST dip it, & / or combo of brushing / cleaning where you can do it. Avoid "fleshy" areas. Only because if you do nothing in that case, it will surely die from the pests.

#2 If it does NOT have pests or you CAN"T confirm, then DON'T dip it.
'Cause dipping when truly not needed, will just worsen it's situation.


The "air" thing-

if it was not out & exposed recently, I don't think it's problem has anything to do with that. However, I was just warning that if you took it out- "possibly to try a dip or something", to make sure when doing so- to NOT expose to air again. That's all.

Good luck man, If it's not findable pests, it may just be a waiting game then.
Where it will recover or won't.

Keep us posted.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

IME you can expose Tridacna to air for brief periods of time and in fact that's what I'd recommend you'd do:

take the clam out of the aquarium and give it a thorough exam for pests. Examine the byssus gland. Was the clam ever attached to substrate?
Nice clam, BTW.

Are you dosing iodine or anything else besides ca/alk/mg?

 

[talon4x4]

I did end up exposing the clam, I couldn't really do a good inspection of it without exposing. Anyways, I didn't notice any pests on it (inside or out with a magnifying glass). However, I still did the freshwater dip for 30 minutes as recommended in the Reefkeeper article posted above. I examined the water and saw nothing floating around in there. This clam has never attached and I've had it around 2 years and it has always been sitting in the sand.

To my dismay my Squamosa clam is also now looking the same, my Crocea looks fine though. I have since also dipped the Squamosa and saw nothing in the water. I don't now what to do about the Crocea, it is firmly attached to a very large rock. I hoping nothing happens to that one as well. The Squamosa has also never attached, I've had it around 10 months and it has also been sitting in the sand.

I guess will see in a couple days if they recover. The article says it will usually take 2-3 days for the clam to recover after the dip.

As far as dosing, I really only have been dosing Mg. I maintain the Ca and Alk with my kalwasser drip.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I tested my fresh water and the pH is around 7.4, I need to get it to 8.1 (the tanks current pH).

don't bother to test pH of RO water. Besides, you've already posted that you use kalkwasser. This leaves me confused. Since kalk raises alk and Ca evenly (and boosts pH) how did your calcium get so high in proportion to alkalinity? What saltmix do you use?

FWIW: IME abnormally high levels of Mg can cause Tridacna to gape.

You're not dosing any lanthanum product, are you?

Your other two clams remain unaffected?

 

[talon4x4]

I'm just as confused why Ca is so high. I think maybe my kit is bad?! Its a Salifert kit and I'm guessing the sticker on top is the use by date?? If so its 2-2012, so it should be good. I've tested several times over the last couple weeks and it has consistently been at or above 500.

I use Reef Crystal saltmix.

My Mg has been around 1300, that's an acceptable range, correct?!?

I don't use any lanthanum products.

No, my Squamosa clam now has the same symptoms, I FW dipped it yesterday. The Crocea is still doing fine.

**UPDATE**

The Dersa seems to be extending more today, with slightly less of the pinched mantle look. However, I noticed a small 1/4" chunk of the mantle seem to have been ripped off and is hanging on by a thread. The Squamosa is still pretty closed up so I can't really asses how its doing.

 

[Posidion]

the reason i suggested the fw dip earlier is because in one article i read along the line of clam research had mentioned some sort of parasite not visible to aquarist that caused pinched mantle and the recomended treatment was fw dip as you have done. I understand the frustration of having had it a long time the last time it happned to me the clam was over a year in tank.he didnt make it. but you say yours opened back up a little after dip, i would say this is a good sign hope all is well in the end.