why, Why, WHY????

[Rovert]

I really wish I knew what the F is going on here.

This clam on the left just came in on Saturday. I acclimated it for over an hour, but found the incurrent siphon to be excessively dialated. Everything was fine for the first few days, but the dialation persisted, so I moved it half way up to the rockwork, thinking that it's a light or flow issue.

The first picture is what it looked like after I removed it from the rocks and put it back onto the sand bed just today, thinking that perhaps it suddenly got too much light. Disregard the plastic ring, I had just placed that there in case it was a stress or excessive current issue bothering the clam.

The second picture is what it looks like now after a couple hours after placing the ring around it, but I still don't understand why the incurrent siphon is so dialated.

My tank parameters are fine. The pH ranges around 7.9-ish, depending on the time of day. Alk is up at around 11, SG is 1.025, and although I haven't tested calcium, I'm sure it's fine because I'm running a Korallin reactor. If calcium were that out of whack, the alk levels would reflect it.

What the F is going on here??? Why is one clam just fine, and the others that I've had over the past weeks have been dropping off like dead flies?

 

[ezcompany]

because they are smaller maximas, which are notoriously known for unexplained deaths

 

[jmaneyapanda]

I think you are messing with it too much. Just find a spot and leave it be. Is your pH 7.9 during the day? Surely it is dropping at night, and that might be to a dangerous level also.

 

[Rovert]

No, 7.9 at its lowest point, before lights on. Closer to 8.x during the day. So, moving it only twice from the sand over to the rocks then back to the sand over the span of four days is too much?

This isn't the first such identical kind of demise I've seen. I've had clams from 1" all the way up to 6" DOA on me in the past couple months. You may recall my inqiry a month ago regarding a teardrop maxima that 86'd on me. Yet the one you see in the picture to the right is just fine. And an Elegance I bought from the same source and came in the same shipment, is doing great. For now.

Other than tank chemistry, is there anything else I should be looking into? I just get the feeling that there's something else amiss in there.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10227967#post10227967 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rovert
No, 7.9 at its lowest point, before lights on. Closer to 8.x during the day. So, moving it only twice from the sand over to the rocks then back to the sand over the span of four days is too much?

This isn't the first such identical kind of demise I've seen. I've had clams from 1" all the way up to 6" DOA on me in the past couple months. You may recall my inqiry a month ago regarding a teardrop maxima that 86'd on me. Yet the one you see in the picture to the right is just fine. And an Elegance I bought from the same source and came in the same shipment, is doing great. For now.

Other than tank chemistry, is there anything else I should be looking into? I just get the feeling that there's something else amiss in there.

Yes, I think that is a lot of stress for a clam that has just been acquired. I would just let it be. Enlarged inhalents are not alone a sign of problem, so keep watch.
I cannot say exactly what is ailing your clams. However, suffice to say, something is. I would not add more clams until you can figure out what is going on. Why has that one survived? It may be hardier, plain and simple. Clams are as individualistic as you or I, when it comes to hardiness.
On a related note, I have neard of a nasty bug coming in recently on imported clams, such as croceas from Vietnam. It is not only killing the host vector, but also all other clams housed with it in short order. This is all speculative heresay, so take it with a bucket of salt.

 

[Rovert]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10240747#post10240747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmaneyapanda
On a related note, I have neard of a nasty bug coming in recently on imported clams, such as croceas from Vietnam. It is not only killing the host vector, but also all other clams housed with it in short order. This is all speculative heresay, so take it with a bucket of salt.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out in six months that there is, in fact, another pathogen other than PM that is affecting the animals. It would surely explain a great many things.