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Help with injured clam hitchhiker


aviator300

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The last thing i was expecting was a clam. When i received my live rock order today i noticed there were 2 smaller rocks that weren't solidly attached to the main rock so i grabbed my channel locks and twisted, pulled, ripped, and otherwise extracted these 2 smaller rocks from the main one. I then threw them into my rubble bin and forgot about them.

 

About an hour later, i was putting the bin away and saw that one of the rocks had opened. At that moment i knew what i had and put the 2 clams back into saltwater. The one that opens is about 2" in diameter and is encrusted with coraline and the other is twice as big but has shown no signs of life.

 

Under normal tank lighting, the smaller clam opens its shell slightly but slams it shut when i shine a flashlight into it. I'm sure they were injured when i pried them off the live rock and their "foot" was probably torn off as well.

 

Can anyone ID what species of clam i have here and for all i know, they might be oysters or even scallops.

Also, i need to know what to do with them and how i can maximize their chances of survival.

 

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These are mollusks that grow on Florida rock. Unfortunately the prognosis on a rough detachment is not a good one, especially a large clam. It most likely will not recover. Don't feel too bad though, usually Dan will chisel off these guys before sending his shipments as they have a poor survivability rate. You might get lucky, but if the clam gapes, it's done. Turn it though so that the opening is to the top, and you can put it on the sand bed, these are filter feeders, they dont care for high light like tridicnads.

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Thanks Kat. So far not gaping but closed and i put it in a small tank filled with SW, circulation, and heat. I will be watching it closely.

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I had three. I had two come in my live rock (one died in shipment) and I have 1 that came with ricordia I bought.

 

I haven't done anything special for them and they have been doing well for months.

 

The one that came with the ricordia wasn't attached to any rock (the ricordia was growing on it). In fact... I thought it was a rock for the longest time lol

 

These are mollusks that grow on Florida rock. Unfortunately the prognosis on a rough detachment is not a good one, especially a large clam. It most likely will not recover. Don't feel too bad though, usually Dan will chisel off these guys before sending his shipments as they have a poor survivability rate. You might get lucky, but if the clam gapes, it's done. Turn it though so that the opening is to the top, and you can put it on the sand bed, these are filter feeders, they dont care for high light like tridicnads.

 

Do you know why survivability is low?

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Do you know why survivability is low?

I'm not sure TBH. All mollusks on my shipments have lived, and I have really really large ones. My largest before my recently shipment was called Humpty. He lived for about 2 years.

 

This is from Dan's site

 

What do I do when I receive my live rock?

When you receive your live rock from us it will be in a bag in a insulated box. Remove the rock from the bag and the box. Each rock will be wrapped in moist paper towels. Remove the paper towels. Inspect the rock. Remove any thing on it that did not make the trip. Pay special attention to the large clams. We try to remove all the stuff that wont make the trip, but sometimes things can slide by us. If you are starting you tank from scratch you can just throw the rock directly into the tank. If you have a lot of fish and corals in your tank already, you should rinse off the rock with salt water. Scrubbing the rock with a soft brush and soaking it in salt water with an air stone or power head for a couple of days would be even better and is recommended. If you are worried about unwanted hitchhikers you can soak the rock in extra extra extra salty water for 5 to 10 minutes. This will kill the hitchhikers but it won't harm the rock. I would only do this if i saw something hiding in the rock that I did not want. Please call us if you need any help setting up your tank.

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Sounds like they just don't ship too well but if they make it....perhaps they survive well once in our tanks.

 

I guess I got lucky as mine is a big sucker and FL > Duluth, MN priority is 4 days transit... USPS says 3 days but they lie.

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Builder Anthony

They uasually multiply within a year so you find other hidden ones poping up.its cool to have a few differnt kinds.

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These are mollusks that grow on Florida rock. Unfortunately the prognosis on a rough detachment is not a good one, especially a large clam. It most likely will not recover. Don't feel too bad though, usually Dan will chisel off these guys before sending his shipments as they have a poor survivability rate. You might get lucky, but if the clam gapes, it's done. Turn it though so that the opening is to the top, and you can put it on the sand bed, these are filter feeders, they dont care for high light like tridicnads.

 

Spot on. These add bio-diversity to the tank.

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I guess mine is still alive. How can you tell if they have expired. The shell remains closed now but no foul smell from the tank nor high ammonia readings?

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I guess mine is still alive. How can you tell if they have expired. The shell remains closed now but no foul smell from the tank nor high ammonia readings?

 

If it's closed, and poking it doesn't open it, it's probably alive. The ability to keep the shell closed means muscles are engaged.

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