YIKES!! New clam attached to glass!

[tooshay]

I bought my second clam yesterday (A precious little gold Maxima),
and placed him in a scallop shell and put him on a rock. I just got up and he somehow has attached himself to the aquarium wall :eek1: !!! I put my clams in a tupperware bowl every other day to target feed DT's, so the little buggar can't stay there, but I am scared to dislodge him. Should I take a razor blade and kind of scrape the glass where he is attached?

 

[reef-man_d-man]

leave him be, if you need to give him DT's use a turket baster and target feed him that way, scraping him off will cause problems.

 

[tooshay]

Will he be able to get enough food that way? I usually leave my clam in a bowl with DT's for 30 minutes, then put him back in the tank. My new one is only an inch long, so I will need to feed him for quite a while.

 

[Julio]

small clams do require a lot of food which is why so many people have a hard tiem keeping them alive. I am sure in due time he will move from the glass and on to something else for the time just let him be so you don't tare any tissue trying to get him off the glass.

 

[tooshay]

Thanks, I will be patient and see what he decides to do

 

[Peabody]

You can always fashion a "feeding bell" out of a cut up 2-liter bottle....it will be just like bowl-feeding him

 

[tooshay]

I do that to feed things on the sandbed, but how could I do it for my clam that is on the glass? I'm having trouble getting a mental picture He is about 3 inches from the surface on the front wall, and seems to be hanging from 3 strings.

 

[crimson156]

use the 2 liter bottle trick but cut the side also so u can put it flush against the wall when u stick it in the sand

 

[Stretch]

MY deresa is semi attached to my glass on the bottom of the tank to big deal. hes nice and happy there, if i ever need to get him off i'll only need to cut a couple threads.

 

[Julio]

cutting can be a little detrimental to the animal.

 

[AQUAN8TOR]

I've found that there is NO detrimental effect at all to cutting byssal threads, especially with derasa clams. Derasas have the smallest byssal opening of any clam, both allowing for very little if any chance of cutting the actual byssal gland tissue, and allowing unobstructed water flow around the threads, so if any decay of the remaining threads does happen, it will not likely affect the overall health of the byssal gland. (knop clam book).

 

[AQUAN8TOR]

have you ever considered that removing the clam on a regular basis might stress the clam even more than the lack of extra food? clams in the wild don't gorge themselves all at once. How can that greatly benefit the clam? just my thoughts, I'm not an expert.

 

[Julio]

i agree, and i know a lot of people that still do this on a regular basis instead of letting the clam feed in a more natural way.

 

[tooshay]

Well... I dunno why I feed them. When I got my first Maxima, I did alot of research and talked to people who had clams, and the info I got from every angle was to target feed them until they are 2 inches. I did this to my first one, and he has grown so much that I thought I would do the same to my new one. This morning I woke up to find the little buggar attached to the side of the big clam!! I had no idea they were quite so mobile!!

 

[Julio]

target feeding and take a clam out to feed are two different methods of feeding, i target feed my clams once a week and i don't remove them from the main tank.

 

[Sloth]

I cut my maxima from the glass. Didn't hurt him one bit. I believe the damage comes from trying to dislodge the clam without cutting. Ripping the organ that produces the threads = bad.

I cut my crocea from a rock too. And he's been fine ever since. You have to make SURE you're only slicing the threads.

heck, my clam even cut himself from a rock once. Somehow. *shrug*

 

[holeinone1972]

Cutting the byssal threads with a clean sharp razor blade will do no damage whatsoever.

Ripping or pulling him off the glass will do damage.

Every clam that is wild caught is cut from the reef for the most part, cutting the fine threads will hurt nothing.

Rob

 

[tooshay]

Thanks for the imput everyone. The big clam is having trouble opening fully with the little guy stuck to his shell, so I am going to have to get him off. Hopefully he will stay in the scallop shell that is supposed to be his home! Is there anyway to make him attach to the scallop shell?

 

[SeanT]

Cut off his flow and cover it so little to no light can reach it.
He will eventually dislodge himself in search of a better area.
Has worked for me on the rockwork before.