Gaping! Merry Clam-mas!

[PRJ]

Got home from visiting family to this:

 

 

Since he's so small, you can see all the way to the bottom of his shell, basically.

 

 

[basser1]

That aint lookin' too good my friend.

 

I just lost a clam I got and it was a lot bigger to gaping. Was this one of those baby clams???

[GHill762]

is that at night? how does it look during the day?

 

I've read a bunch online recently about gaping, and from what I understand as long as your clam looks healthy and responds to light stimuli (closes when you put your hand over it) then gaping doesn't mean a whole lot.. now, if your clam stops responding to light stimuli and looks like it has PM, then gaping is definitely bad, but gaping alone (especially if it's only the siphon gaping and not the shell as it appears to be in your pic) isn't necessarily bad..

 

my new maxima has been gaping a little at night, but it looks super healthy and always closes to light change, I'm not terribly worried..

[PRJ]

That aint lookin' too good my friend.

 

I just lost a clam I got and it was a lot bigger to gaping. Was this one of those baby clams???

 

It's 1 7/8", so I suppose it counts as a baby.

 

 

is that at night? how does it look during the day?

 

I've read a bunch online recently about gaping, and from what I understand as long as your clam looks healthy and responds to light stimuli (closes when you put your hand over it) then gaping doesn't mean a whole lot.. now, if your clam stops responding to light stimuli and looks like it has PM, then gaping is definitely bad, but gaping alone (especially if it's only the siphon gaping and not the shell as it appears to be in your pic) isn't necessarily bad..

 

my new maxima has been gaping a little at night, but it looks super healthy and always closes to light change, I'm not terribly worried..

 

I run my light from about 10:30 AM to 10:30 PM and this was around 8PM, so the lights still had a little oomph at that point, definitely not "night time," unfortunately.

 

As of last night it was still reacting to light stimuli.

[ZephNYC]

is that at night? how does it look during the day?

 

I've read a bunch online recently about gaping, and from what I understand as long as your clam looks healthy and responds to light stimuli (closes when you put your hand over it) then gaping doesn't mean a whole lot.. now, if your clam stops responding to light stimuli and looks like it has PM, then gaping is definitely bad, but gaping alone (especially if it's only the siphon gaping and not the shell as it appears to be in your pic) isn't necessarily bad..

 

my new maxima has been gaping a little at night, but it looks super healthy and always closes to light change, I'm not terribly worried..

 

Gaping is a definite indication something is wrong. They can and are often still responsive, but wind up dead in a few days. If it is gaping only at night it is not receiving enough energy during the daylight to maintain its metabolism in the dark. It is extremely common for clams, especially maximas, to be responsive to light up until the day ( morning) you find it callapsed inside its shell. What can you do to help ? Turn off your skimmer, atleast for a while, and feed a high fat food like SELCON.

[PRJ]

Gaping is a definite indication something is wrong. They can and are often still responsive, but wind up dead in a few days. If it is gaping only at night it is not receiving enough energy during the daylight to maintain its metabolism in the dark. It is extremely common for clams, especially maximas, to be responsive to light up until the day ( morning) you find it callapsed inside its shell. What can you do to help ? Turn off your skimmer, atleast for a while, and feed a high fat food like SELCON.

 

Thanks, Zeph. Do you target feed the Selcon right into the clam or broadcast?

[PRJ]

Thanks, Zeph. Do you target feed the Selcon right into the clam or broadcast?

 

Never mind! Looks like you soak regular food in it. I'm guessing add it to some Phyto or something of that nature?

[ZephNYC]

Never mind! Looks like you soak regular food in it. I'm guessing add it to some Phyto or something of that nature?

 

For clams you need to broadcast feed it. Use 0.5 ml per 50 gallons of tank water.

[ZephNYC]

Also make sure you turn off your skimmer and any reactors for several hours or all day so the food is not removed from the system so fast.

[Cameron6796]

Really that's all you have to do if you catch it early, does more light help

[ZephNYC]

Really that's all you have to do if you catch it early, does more light help

 

It might if your light was lacking in the first place.

[Cameron6796]

Makes sense, could to much light be another problem,

[PRJ]

Makes sense, could to much light be another problem,

 

I don't think the clam is getting too much light. Too little is probably a lot more likely given those two choices.

 

He's about 1" off the sand bed in the direct center of the tank, which means he's getting around 200 PAR based on most of the threads I've seen about their PAR output.

 

I had him higher on some rock, but he's so small and has no foot now, that snails and/or crabs kept moving him around and I'd have to adjust him every day, so I built a little shelf out of rubble that keeps him off the sand and wedged in with no danger of falling off anything due to the other critters.

[ZephNYC]

I don't think the clam is getting too much light. Too little is probably a lot more likely given those two choices.

 

He's about 1" off the sand bed in the direct center of the tank, which means he's getting around 200 PAR based on most of the threads I've seen about their PAR output.

 

I had him higher on some rock, but he's so small and has no foot now, that snails and/or crabs kept moving him around and I'd have to adjust him every day, so I built a little shelf out of rubble that keeps him off the sand and wedged in with no danger of falling off anything due to the other critters.

 

Where did you get this clam and is it a Crocea or a maxima< not sure if you provided this info. If its a Crocea it is pretty much impossible to give it to much light. Croc's are sometimes found in such shallow water that they get exposed to air during low tides. Maximas are not.

[PRJ]

Where did you get this clam and is it a Crocea or a maxima< not sure if you provided this info. If its a Crocea it is pretty much impossible to give it to much light. Croc's are sometimes found in such shallow water that they get exposed to air during low tides. Maximas are not.

 

It's a maxima. Got it from Cultivated Reef. He's the link to the exact product I ordered: http://cultivatedreef.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=16&product_id=862

 

Here's a link to their "Nano Clams," which look exactly like what I ordered, even though I was reassured I was sent an "Ultra Maxima" rather than a "Nano Maxima." http://cultivatedreef.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=16&product_id=872

 

It says 2.5-3.5" + but the one I received was 1 7/8"

 

 

And I decided to move it back up higher on the rock to give it some more light and it stopped gaping as much the last 36 hours. I also broadcast the only food I currently have (BRS Reef Chili) containing clam-approved food very closely to the clam.

[ZephNYC]

It's a maxima. Got it from Cultivated Reef. He's the link to the exact product I ordered: http://cultivatedreef.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=16&product_id=862

 

Here's a link to their "Nano Clams," which look exactly like what I ordered, even though I was reassured I was sent an "Ultra Maxima" rather than a "Nano Maxima." http://cultivatedreef.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=16&product_id=872

 

It says 2.5-3.5" + but the one I received was 1 7/8"

 

 

And I decided to move it back up higher on the rock to give it some more light and it stopped gaping as much the last 36 hours. I also broadcast the only food I currently have (BRS Reef Chili) containing clam-approved food very closely to the clam.

 

sounds good. Reef Chilli is pretty good. Another great non live clam food is Kent Chromoplex.

[ward827]

Hopefully your clam pulls through. Sounds like it just may do so!

So far mine has been doing really well, and it's even smaller.

[ward827]

How's the clam?

[metrokat]

Here is a detailed post about a 24/7 light experiment JBB did on a gaping clam.

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/327930-bs-87-hybrid-is-here-pg22/?p=4577085

[PRJ]

How's the clam?

 

Gaping less, for sure. Thanks for asking!

 

He's slightly knocked over again... it's impossible to keep him in a single orientation. It's getting pretty frustrating. Each time I have to reach in and right him, he closes up and it's just stress that isn't needed. I'm thinking about fashioning a holder out of epoxy for him, because these snails and/or crabs won't stop.

[PRJ]

Here is a detailed post about a 24/7 light experiment JBB did on a gaping clam.

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/327930-bs-87-hybrid-is-here-pg22/?p=4577085

 

Thanks for the link, Kat.

 

Very interesting. I don't have a set-up capable of doing anything like this other than keeping the 160w Razor on the whole tank 24/7 and blasting the tank with Marine Snow and Reef Chili.

 

Do you think that would be worth it? I'd think the corals in the tank, not to mention the clowns, may not appreciate the 24/7 lighting.

[metrokat]

You could find bleaching in your corals. The fish will find a hiding spot if they needed to.

[jbb]

Thanks for the link, Kat.

 

Very interesting. I don't have a set-up capable of doing anything like this other than keeping the 160w Razor on the whole tank 24/7 and blasting the tank with Marine Snow and Reef Chili.

 

Do you think that would be worth it? I'd think the corals in the tank, not to mention the clowns, may not appreciate the 24/7 lighting.

 

 

I can lend the PAR bulb if needed. Just cover shipping .

[PRJ]

I can lend the PAR bulb if needed. Just cover shipping .

 

Definitely appreciate the offer! I'll let you know.

 

 

You could find bleaching in your corals. The fish will find a hiding spot if they needed to.

 

Yep, that's what I thought. I'll try some stuff and keep you guys updated.

 

Here's a top-down I took a few minutes ago. Finally got a "decent" pic with the iPhone. Not opened as much as it was yesterday, but seems "ok."

 

[metrokat]

She does look better. check several hours after lights out for gaping.