Sad Day

[Braun036]

Hello everyone well bad news I just caught my brissel star and hermit crabs eating my clam.  I am very sad about this.  It is 4 in the morning and I went out with a flash light and I saw two hermits eating the mantle and the Brissel stars arms were up side the clam pulling its insides out.   My question is this common behavior for these animals to attack clams. Or could they sense/smell that the clam was dying and that is why they started to eat it. I have noticed that the brissel Star and hermit crabs have been hanging out by the clam for the past couple days but I didn’t think they were bothering it

[Braun036]

This is the first thing I have lost in my tank and I am so upset I could cry. I work on this tank everyday I do water test every day with Hanna checkers all my water  parameters  are damn near perfect. I don’t know why these bastard ass animals destroyed such a beautiful clam.  

[Dell]

Sorry about your clam but the critters eating your clam were just eating an animal that was dying or already dead. Bristle stars and hermits are opportunistic eaters, Blue legged hermits can be a pain and eat some corals but bristle stars and other hermits won't usually eat a living creature. Your clam was already dead and probably dying for a couple of days and the critters were just waiting - they were just doing what they do. Clams are tricky - I'm sorry for your loss.

 

 

[Braun036]

Okay I was hoping that was the case actually. Even thought I am not sure were I went wrong with the clam.  It looked totally fine on Saturday  then Monday it looked a little off and I just thought that the turbo snail crawling by it and kinda on it just made it mad. Then in the middle of the night I catch stuff eating it omg I am so upset 

[Tamberav]

i am sorry for the loss... the clam was added to a very young tank. Clams are filter feeders and would do best in a mature stable reef. 

 

You can test and test but there are many things you can not test for and that is why you want to let the tank mature. 

 

I sold my clams when I moved and would love to have more but I am waiting for my new setup to age to increase success. 

 

[Braun036]

I have a question about this dead clam it seems like everything in my tank meaning my clean up crew are enjoying eating my dead clam. I will be honest it really pisses me off to see. Should I remove the clam or do I like they just eat it up. 

[Tamberav]

I would probably remove it at this point as it has been in there a long time and I wouldn't want it to start polluting the water. 

[Braun036]

Okay that is what I was thinking.  I will have to pull a bunch of stuff off of it. 

[Braun036]

I am just leaving the LFS I just wanted to double check all my numbers and not surprised but nothing changed. Everything has been very stable so I don’t understand what went wrong. I am not sure when the turbo snail ran over it and flipped the clam if that is what happened. This is the first thing I have lost so if you can’t tell I am pretty mad about it 

[Braun036]

Calcium is at 420

alkalinity is it 10.7

phosphates at 0 

nitrites 0 

ammonia 0 

nitrates at 5 

salinity 1.025

 magnesium 1350

PH 8.3 

[Tamberav]

17 minutes ago, Braun036 said:

I am just leaving the LFS I just wanted to double check all my numbers and not surprised but nothing changed. Everything has been very stable so I don’t understand what went wrong. I am not sure when the turbo snail ran over it and flipped the clam if that is what happened. This is the first thing I have lost so if you can’t tell I am pretty mad about it 

 

Something you can't test for. They don't make hobby test kits for everything in your tank. A mature tank will be beneficial to the clam since it is a filter feeder. A common reason for death is starvation. 

 

It sucks but if you check out the threads... you will see a lot of people asking why their clam died

 

What light do you use? The clam is on the bottom and you have moderate light corals. 

[Braun036]

I have a AI Prime 

[Braun036]

[OPtasia]

The smaller clams are harder to keep than the larger ones. I've had a few in the distant past and it's been the topic of conversation between myself and my nearest LFS. IMHO, most nano tanks aren't set up to handle clams for a few reasons: They're too small to support them, they don't usually come with strong enough lighting and little clams are much harder to keep than larger clams.

 

Personally, I wouldn't try for another clam unless I had 40+ gallons and a well seasoned tank with lots of healthy, happy micro-flora and fauna to support the clam. We're talking over a year's worth of tank setup WITH live rock and live corals. After that, you'll need a bright light setup akin to high light SPS coral care. The older the clam is, the more it uses photosynthesis to feed. The younger it is, the more it depends on filter feeding to survive. Little clams under 3" or so are going to need to be target fed daily or more with a small amount of combination of phytoplankton, aminos and marine snow. A little tip: If you're able to grow live non-photosynthetic sponge in your tank successfully, take it as a good sign that your tank is mature enough for a clam.

 

Picking out a healthy clam is also sometimes tricky, as clams don't give out many signs of stress before they die. A healthy clam will have it's mantle open fully and will retract instantly when a shadow moves over it. Wave your hand over the clam in your LFS and see if it retracts, then re-extends after a few seconds. Look along the scutes of the clam shell for signs of clam-eating snails or nudibranchs. Look for signs of byssal gland damage at the base of the clam and that the clam shuts itself tightly and securely with no sign of gaping or loose shell. Also, avoid clams with gaping open valves showing exposed gill plates. It's often (but not always) a sign of a stressed clam. It's better to leave a gaping clam for a few days and check it out later. If it's still gaping open, you might have a clam with an internal parasite. 

 

IME, derasa clams do better than maximas, but they can also grow large. I've kept one of each and the derasa lived the longest of the two. I haven't kept a T. squamosa and i've never seen a large T. gigas in person, but i'd like to. Anything big enough to clamp down on a scuba diver has got to be an impressive site in person.

[Braun036]

Wow thank you for the info I really appreciate it. Are you saying that the AI prime is not a strong enough light 

[TheBig053]

@OPtasia is spot on about smaller clams being difficult and needing much more attention. I keep a smallish (3.5-4”) Derasa in my EVO 13.5 under two AI Prime HDs. I would think a single prime, turned up high enough, with the clam directly underneath, would be sufficient. My tank was 11 months old before I added the clam. The Derasa is growing quickly which is nice to see its healthy, but also a bummer because it means I’ll have to rehome it sooner. 

[OPtasia]

It's hard to say given I don't know the PAR values under that light. I do know that Tridacnid clams prefer light levels comparable to keeping SPS corals, so you'll be wanting a PAR value from your lights of 250+.  That's pretty bright light and your clam will have to be acclimated to it, so start them out for the first week at the bottom of the tank or in some indirect light, then gradually move them to where you think you want them. 

[TheBig053]

2 hours ago, OPtasia said:

It's hard to say given I don't know the PAR values under that light. I do know that Tridacnid clams prefer light levels comparable to keeping SPS corals, so you'll be wanting a PAR value from your lights of 250+.  That's pretty bright light and your clam will have to be acclimated to it, so start them out for the first week at the bottom of the tank or in some indirect light, then gradually move them to where you think you want them. 

I just borrowed my local clubs PAR meter  and my Derasa is under about ~190 PAR.

[OPtasia]

Yeah? Not terrible but not ideal either. It might survive under that but it won't thrive as nicely as it would with more intense light. It wouldn't have to be that much more intense if you had any reef real estate a little further up and directly under the lights.

[TheBig053]

32 minutes ago, OPtasia said:

Yeah? Not terrible but not ideal either. It might survive under that but it won't thrive as nicely as it would with more intense light. It wouldn't have to be that much more intense if you had any reef real estate a little further up and directly under the lights.

Seems to be doing pretty well. All this new growth in the last 3-4 weeks. 

 

[RayWhisperer]

T. derasa are among the least light demanding of all the tridacnids. Considering they occur at depths of up to 60’+, I would consider par in the 200 range to be adequate. There are always variations to consider. Color being one. As clams go, the more blue, it seems the more light is needed. Quite the opposite of rules of thumb regarding corals. Plus, each individual is different. However, that’s more trial and error, which I don’t like to attempt with clams. Only move them when they are clearly showing signs of needing it.

 

However, looking at yours, it certainly seems to be stretching that mantle. That’s a pretty clear indication of the animal attempting to reach for more light. That may be a optical illusion, due to the angle, or even a stray blast of current. However, it’s a pretty good rule to say, you shouldn’t be able to see the underside of a clams mantle. Unless, of course, you are trying to look up it’s skirt.

[Ladytank]

Wouldn't a water test tell you if something was dead or dying in the tank? Sorry for your loss.

[TheBig053]

8 hours ago, RayWhisperer said:

T. derasa are among the least light demanding of all the tridacnids. Considering they occur at depths of up to 60’+, I would consider par in the 200 range to be adequate. There are always variations to consider. Color being one. As clams go, the more blue, it seems the more light is needed. Quite the opposite of rules of thumb regarding corals. Plus, each individual is different. However, that’s more trial and error, which I don’t like to attempt with clams. Only move them when they are clearly showing signs of needing it.

 

However, looking at yours, it certainly seems to be stretching that mantle. That’s a pretty clear indication of the animal attempting to reach for more light. That may be a optical illusion, due to the angle, or even a stray blast of current. However, it’s a pretty good rule to say, you shouldn’t be able to see the underside of a clams mantle. Unless, of course, you are trying to look up it’s skirt.

Pretty sure thats just caused by flow. When the pump intensity lowers during the program, the mantle will lay down. The other side of the mantle lays flat at all times. I originally placed it in a spot that was fairly protected from the flow and it moved itself out into the open/higher flow area. Hasn’t seemed to bother it, so I just left it.