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Is this Pinched Mantle Disease?


Snow_Phoenix

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Snow_Phoenix

I picked up this guy from the LFS on Sunday. He was actually lying sideways on the dirt, but didn't appear to be too bad. But I noticed that the edges of his mantle was pretty irregular for a clam (I've owned a pair of Croceas before), so now I'm worried. Can someone confirm if this is Pinched Mantle or something else? I know with PM you can do a FW dip as a cure, but if it is something else, can you enlighten me on how to help the clam heal?

 

roTkHEp.png

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  • 4 weeks later...

I picked up this guy from the LFS on Sunday. He was actually lying sideways on the dirt, but didn't appear to be too bad. But I noticed that the edges of his mantle was pretty irregular for a clam (I've owned a pair of Croceas before), so now I'm worried. Can someone confirm if this is Pinched Mantle or something else? I know with PM you can do a FW dip as a cure, but if it is something else, can you enlighten me on how to help the clam heal?

 

roTkHEp.png

I see this thread is 3 weeks old so I may be way late but actually carbon can be very helpful to clams that appear to have pinched mantle. How is the clam doing? It is a very pretty color.

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Snow_Phoenix

I see this thread is 3 weeks old so I may be way late but actually carbon can be very helpful to clams that appear to have pinched mantle. How is the clam doing? It is a very pretty color.

 

Hi vlangel, the clam is doing well except now there is another problem. I recently noticed it expelling some strings of brown mucus (zooxanthelle?) from certain areas of the mantle. These areas now lack the gold lines which were originally present on the mantle, and now has turned pure maroon with bright blue spots (pic doesn't do the clam justice). You can see it in the pic below - where there's a small pure maroon patch on the upper left corner of the mantle and middle-right of the mantle.

 

VR23auL.jpg

 

I noticed this occured after I placed the clam back into my tank - it was out of the tank in a huge basin without any light for a couple of days (long story short - check out this thread for the full explanation: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/363705-urgent-help-needed/?view=findpost&p=5092140 )

 

And when I re-mounted the scape and turned the lights on, the clam expelled the brown mucus. The expulsion only lasted for a few minutes though, and now the clam appears to be fine again. So I'm not sure what exactly is going on with this guy, but it certainly seems to be a mystery. :blink:

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HarryPotter

Hi vlangel, the clam is doing well except now there is another problem. I recently noticed it expelling some strings of brown mucus (zooxanthelle?) from certain areas of the mantle. These areas now lack the gold lines which were originally present on the mantle, and now has turned pure maroon with bright blue spots (pic doesn't do the clam justice). You can see it in the pic below - where there's a small pure maroon patch on the upper left corner of the mantle and middle-right of the mantle.

 

VR23auL.jpg

 

I noticed this occured after I placed the clam back into my tank - it was out of the tank in a huge basin without any light for a couple of days (long story short - check out this thread for the full explanation: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/363705-urgent-help-needed/?view=findpost&p=5092140 )

 

And when I re-mounted the scape and turned the lights on, the clam expelled the brown mucus. The expulsion only lasted for a few minutes though, and now the clam appears to be fine again. So I'm not sure what exactly is going on with this guy, but it certainly seems to be a mystery. :blink:

You didn't acclimate the clam to your light- that's probably why it is expelling stuff. You had it in the dark for a few days and then blasted it :(

 

My Squamosa came back from looking MUCH worse than that, so nothing to do but watch and wait.

 

(Oh and I assume you know to "burp" the clam to remove air bubbles?)

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Snow_Phoenix

You didn't acclimate the clam to your light- that's probably why it is expelling stuff. You had it in the dark for a few days and then blasted it :(

 

My Squamosa came back from looking MUCH worse than that, so nothing to do but watch and wait.

 

(Oh and I assume you know to "burp" the clam to remove air bubbles?)

 

Yes, I completely forgot to re-acclimate it. :(

 

What do you mean by 'burping', if I might ask? So far mine hasn't expelled any air bubbles. :unsure:

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HarryPotter

Yes, I completely forgot to re-acclimate it. :(

 

What do you mean by 'burping', if I might ask? So far mine hasn't expelled any air bubbles. :unsure:

Ahh so when you take the clam out of the bucket and put It into the tank air gets trapped in it usually and a clam cannot expel it. Bumping is basically picking up the clam and holding it at weird angles- sideways, Upside down, etc while giving a gentle shake.

 

This makes sure all air is out, and that the clam will not rot internally from the trapped O2

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Snow_Phoenix

Ahh so when you take the clam out of the bucket and put It into the tank air gets trapped in it usually and a clam cannot expel it. Bumping is basically picking up the clam and holding it at weird angles- sideways, Upside down, etc while giving a gentle shake.

 

This makes sure all air is out, and that the clam will not rot internally from the trapped O2

 

Oh ok. Well, the clam is technically attached to a large 6ish kg piece of shelf LR. So I did sort of shake the rock around a bit in the water to loosen the debri as I was scaping. Hope that was good enough, because the clam seems to be alright so far. :unsure:

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HarryPotter

Oh ok. Well, the clam is technically attached to a large 6ish kg piece of shelf LR. So I did sort of shake the rock around a bit in the water to loosen the debri as I was scaping. Hope that was good enough, because the clam seems to be alright so far. :unsure:

Yeah it looks good!

Lol I didn't consider the Maxima was attached to your rock because I keep all of my Maximas on Clam Hammocks from TheAlternativeReef. That way I (being the impulsive 17 year old I am) can move them around without bothering the foot. :)

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I am happy to see that the clam looks pretty good. If you don't run carbon try putting some in a filter bag and placing it in a high flow area. Also clams like some nitrates and phosphates so they do best in aquariums with fish. Hopefully as it absorbs the light in its mantle that maroon spot will turn back to what it used to look like. Clams give off a whitish slime from their mantle when they are healthy and taking in nutrients. Also look for a white rim where the mantle meets the shell. A healthy clam uses CA to build their shell so they should always have a white rim of new growth. Finally a healthy clam reacts by closing when you pass you hand over it. Those are tips to help you assess the health of your clam.

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Snow_Phoenix

 

Yeah it looks good!

Lol I didn't consider the Maxima was attached to your rock because I keep all of my Maximas on Clam Hammocks from TheAlternativeReef. That way I (being the impulsive 17 year old I am) can move them around without bothering the foot. :)

 

 

It's actually a Crocea, not a Maxima. I anchored it to my LR since I wanted it to be as close to the light as possible. :happy:

 

I am happy to see that the clam looks pretty good. If you don't run carbon try putting some in a filter bag and placing it in a high flow area. Also clams like some nitrates and phosphates so they do best in aquariums with fish. Hopefully as it absorbs the light in its mantle that maroon spot will turn back to what it used to look like. Clams give off a whitish slime from their mantle when they are healthy and taking in nutrients. Also look for a white rim where the mantle meets the shell. A healthy clam uses CA to build their shell so they should always have a white rim of new growth. Finally a healthy clam reacts by closing when you pass you hand over it. Those are tips to help you assess the health of your clam.

 

Thank you, vlangel. I was worried for a moment there if my clam was heading downhill. How about this - can I tie a pantyhose to the outlet pipe (the one feeding the sump) and fill that hose with activated carbon? That way water circulating through the pipe will run through the carbon regardless.

 

And I did slowly transfer a few of my fish into the tank last night. Good thing my jerk of a hermit has an incentive to keep pooping near the clam though, so there is definitely some NO3 and PO4 in the tank. Funny thing is that my SPS don't seem to mind the slight NO3 and PO4 levels.

 

Also, I just checked - my clam does have a whitish rim, and reacts by closing when I pass my hand over it. So I'm taking that as a good sign that it is doing fine. :)

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It's actually a Crocea, not a Maxima. I anchored it to my LR since I wanted it to be as close to the light as possible. :happy:

 

 

 

Thank you, vlangel. I was worried for a moment there if my clam was heading downhill. How about this - can I tie a pantyhose to the outlet pipe (the one feeding the sump) and fill that hose with activated carbon? That way water circulating through the pipe will run through the carbon regardless.

 

And I did slowly transfer a few of my fish into the tank last night. Good thing my jerk of a hermit has an incentive to keep pooping near the clam though, so there is definitely some NO3 and PO4 in the tank. Funny thing is that my SPS don't seem to mind the slight NO3 and PO4 levels.

 

Also, I just checked - my clam does have a whitish rim, and reacts by closing when I pass my hand over it. So I'm taking that as a good sign that it is doing fine. :)

Yes that should work fine for activated carbon. (Actually I think sps like a little nitrate and phosphate also but only in small doses). It sounds to me that your clam is doing fine.
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Snow_Phoenix

Yes that should work fine for activated carbon. (Actually I think sps like a little nitrate and phosphate also but only in small doses). It sounds to me that your clam is doing fine.

 

Ok, thank you. :)

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I also have a crocea that is anchored to a rock. Mine is at the top of my rockwork. They have among the highest need for light in the great clams so you have done right by trying to get it as close to the light as possible.

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Snow_Phoenix

I also have a crocea that is anchored to a rock. Mine is at the top of my rockwork. They have among the highest need for light in the great clams so you have done right by trying to get it as close to the light as possible.

 

Thank you. It was initially flopped over sideways on the sandbed at the LFS, and easily 2' away from the light source. I'd originally booked a pure blue, smaller Crocea, but the foot of the blue clam was anchored too firmly in the LFS's tank's LR piece and I didn't want to take the risk of having the worker rip it off the rock and killing the poor thing. So I opted for this guy. Hopefully he'll stay happy and stable for the years to come.

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Thank you. It was initially flopped over sideways on the sandbed at the LFS, and easily 2' away from the light source. I'd originally booked a pure blue, smaller Crocea, but the foot of the blue clam was anchored too firmly in the LFS's tank's LR piece and I didn't want to take the risk of having the worker rip it off the rock and killing the poor thing. So I opted for this guy. Hopefully he'll stay happy and stable for the years to come.

 

 

 

I think you can expect to enjoy him a long time. I have had mine 2 and a half years.

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Snow_Phoenix

I think you can expect to enjoy him a long time. I have had mine 2 and a half years.

 

Wow, that is a very long time! Congrats on your success! :bowdown:

 

This one is only 1.5 months. Still too early to tell. But I already like him. :wub:

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