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Calling clam gurus...clam didn't make it :(


FishyFishy11

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FishyFishy11

Hi everyone,

 

I was hoping some clam masters could take a look at my new maxima. It's been about six years but I've kept maximas and croceas in the past with success and had so much fun with them (seriously - they're better than fish!) Anyway, this one arrived on the 31st from Vivid Aquariums. Drip acclimated for about an hour and he seemed to settle in fine.

 

He did gape a little yesterday after I put him up on my rock but was back to normal after a couple hours. Doesn't seem to be gaping now (at least - I don't think so). The problem I'm noticing today is he seems a little transparent in the center, between the intake and outtake siphons. I'll post pics but it doesn't really show up very well. It's like I can almost see it's innards through the flesh. I feel like I should be concerned...should I? Really other than the transparency, he seems fine. Reacts quickly to movement, shadows, etc.

 

(Please excuse my lack of photography skills - some of you guys make me soooo jealous - these were taken with my phone).

clam1_zps8549fa05.jpg?t=1407009925

 

clam2_zps67e53574.jpg?t=1407009940

 

clam3_zps6b3c7f4a.jpg?t=1407009957

 

I have him in my just turned 7 month old nuvo 8 gallon, stocked with a juvenile Ocellaris, a green clown goby a Randall's goby, two scarlet reef hermits and various sps, lps, zoas, acans and shrooms. I'm beginning to realize it may have been a dumb move to attempt a clam in something so small, (my last tanks were all 20gal on up) but I really want to give it my best shot. My tank params have been stable for a few months now, so when I saw him on a WYSIWYG I decided to go for it.

 

Lighting: Nanobox Mini Tide

Circulation/Flow: Cobalt MJ900 return

Filtration: inTank media basket with filter floss and chemi pure elite

Temp: 79f

Salinity: 1.025

ATO: AutoAqua Smart ATO

 

Salifert tests as of this morning:

Cal: 480

Mag: 1350

Alk: 8.2

Ph: 8.0

Phosphate: -0.05

 

API tests as of this morning:

Nitrate: 0 (<<<comes up as 0 but it must be higher than this because I'm kind of a heavy feeder - 2-3x daily: Blue zoo mix, frozen, pellet)

Ammonia: 0

 

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FishyFishy11

Well, this morning I'm not getting any response from the clam when I shade the light or when my clown swims by, etc. Is it safe to assume it's passed on? :( I feel terrible! I've never had a clam die on me before...

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I'm sorry about your clam :(

And Zeph is prolly the one you should talk to. In the first and third picture, the mantle looks pinched to me but I could be wrong.

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Nickbruh510

I have had a derasa clam for 3 months in my 9 month old tank doing great mines showed some transparent in the beginning, I wouldn't worry much, and just for the record I've had then under intense led as far as the kessil and the shimmer on most led are a lot so I wouldn't really worry about the shading as the LEDs shimmer ally it's constantly shading in a way so a clam won't always close up do to this and most suppliers have them under metal halide, IMHO

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FishyFishy11

I'm sorry about your clam :(

And Zeph is prolly the one you should talk to. In the first and third picture, the mantle looks pinched to me but I could be wrong.

 

 

Poke it just to make sure, my clam doesnt allways react when I shade

 

Thank you both for your replies. Yeah, I just tried poking him...no response. I'll pull him out of the tank :tears: Probably do a water change after too, just to be safe.

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FishyFishy11

I have had a derasa clam for 3 months in my 9 month old tank doing great mines showed some transparent in the beginning, I wouldn't worry much, and just for the record I've had then under intense led as far as the kessil and the shimmer on most led are a lot so I wouldn't really worry about the shading as the LEDs shimmer ally it's constantly shading in a way so a clam won't always close up do to this and most suppliers have them under metal halide, IMHO

 

That makes sense...I want to be hopeful but like I said, I poked him with no response and he kinda has a rigor mortis look to him now so I'm fairly certain he's gone. I am still in the 15 day money back guarantee window, so that's something I guess.

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thegambler26

That sucks! That was a such a beautiful clam! I was thinking of ordering a clam from vivid. Did it look good on arrival or was it kinda suspect from the start?

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I actually think your clam look(ed) pretty good. The mantle on the lower right side of the clam looks like it had a chunk (bitten) out of it? Was it that way when you got it?

 

Hope it gets more responsive for you.

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FishyFishy11

Okay so, when I went to take him out of the tank I didn't get any response when I lifted him but I was turning him around a bit (under water) looking him over again, he responded twice by closing - (not all the way and kinda half-heartedly). I never did lift him out of the water. Right away, I put him back in his spot on the rock. His mouth was gaping and then he slowly closed it. Now I'm torn...is it alive?? And if he is, can I do anything to save him?

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FishyFishy11

Some pics:

 

 

Here he is before I touched him. He looks really transparent in between the mantle and his mouth was definitely gaping (on the other side).

 

ab52bcc8-5d93-48f6-90b9-c2b1c28bc79f_zps

 

And right after I put him back:

 

clam5_zps4e3ae377.jpg

 

Then his mouth slowly closed:

 

photo31_zps00d1fb52.jpg

 

And this is what he looks like now:

 

 

photo_zpse4fd1f0f.jpg

 

I'll just wait it out and hope for the best :) Thanks all!

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FishyFishy11

That sucks! That was a such a beautiful clam! I was thinking of ordering a clam from vivid. Did it look good on arrival or was it kinda suspect from the start?

 

It looked great!! Quick to respond to light, no gaping (except that one time when I moved him to his spot - and even that was only for an hour or two.) He came with his foot attached to a bit of coral skeleton and seemed perfectly happy for the first 24hrs, moreso even than I expected. If he doesn't make it, I'll definitely order another one from vivid in the future, when I have the room for a bigger tank.

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thegambler26

It looked great!! Quick to respond to light, no gaping (except that one time when I moved him to his spot - and even that was only for an hour or two.) He came with his foot attached to a bit of coral skeleton and seemed perfectly happy for the first 24hrs, moreso even than I expected. If he doesn't make it, I'll definitely order another one from vivid in the future, when I have the room for a bigger tank.

good to know I've been checking their wysiwyg clams for a while.
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FishyFishy11

Here's the photo I purchased off of...as you can see the actual color turned out to be pretty darn true. He's turquoise from the top down and more of a true blue from the side.

 

10405477_709605572427292_805106660820637

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I say leave him alone. My clam will open up so wide some times, I swear you can see clear through it!. IDK why clams do that, but they do from time to time.

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My opinion is there is nothing wrong with your tank or light, you just got a clam that wasn't that healthy to begin with. A healthy clam would take about a month to gape and lose color. If it happens on under two weeks it's usually not your fault. There isn't much you can do. Feeding might help. I wouldn't do a water change your nitrates sound to low already.

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FishyFishy11

My opinion is there is nothing wrong with your tank or light, you just got a clam that wasn't that healthy to begin with. A healthy clam would take about a month to gape and lose color. If it happens on under two weeks it's usually not your fault. There isn't much you can do. Feeding might help. I wouldn't do a water change your nitrates sound to low already.

 

It seems a little better...still gaping, but he reacts each time I walk up to the tank. (I've got a window directly across the room from my tank so I block some light when I stand in front of it.)

 

Do you think it would be a good idea to add a little reef chili to the water? Zeph, what's your favorite food for clams?

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It seems a little better...still gaping, but he reacts each time I walk up to the tank. (I've got a window directly across the room from my tank so I block some light when I stand in front of it.) Do you think it would be a good idea to add a little reef chili to the water? Zeph, what's your favorite food for clams?
My very favorite clam food, and all experts will agree with me, is fish poop. Feeding clams is so near to useless, I don't know a single authority that does so. Except for Metrokat. I do feed mine though, because my tanks carry very low nutrients and I have problems keeping certain species, but my honest opinion is it doesn't help much at all. Look at Tetra, that raised a tiny 1 inch maxima without feeding. An accomplishment some would consider impossible.

 

Has the maxima attached to anything?

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FishyFishy11

Good to know. I think I'm basically overstocked fish-wise with 3 (Occy clown, Randall's goby, and green clown goby) in an 8 gallon, so poop is readily available ;)

 

It hasn't tried to attach to the rock yet. But it does have a tiny bit of its foot holding onto some coral skeleton that it arrived with. I just wedged the skeleton in a little dip on the rock and am hoping te rest of the foot will grab on.

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Good to know. I think I'm basically overstocked fish-wise with 3 (Occy clown, Randall's goby, and green clown goby) in an 8 gallon, so poop is readily available ;)

It hasn't tried to attach to the rock yet. But it does have a tiny bit of its foot holding onto some coral skeleton that it arrived with. I just wedged the skeleton in a little dip on the rock and am hoping te rest of the foot will grab on.

 

That sounds good. Make sure to feed the fish something heavy like mysis, and not just small foods like cyclops etc. and feed often. Also do yourself a favor and get a Red Sea nitrate test kit. This way you can truly know if you are over feeding or not. In such a small tank parameters can change fast.

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FishyFishy11

Thanks all for your advise and support but I'm sad to report that the clam didn't make it :( It took a turn for the worse last night and by morning it was shrived inside it's shell. Everything else in the tank seems to be doing fine.

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that sucks but it happens :( I lost a gorgeous maxima myself that was gaping shortly after I got it and it started to recover and was looking pretty good then just died one day out of nowhere.. don't let it scare you away from clams though.. I just prefer to pick mine out in person..

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