deacon hemp Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 I just bought a 2in. derasa clam four days ago and it looks like the mantle has been either rolled up in a few spots or maybe nibbled at but i cannot tell.I also have a smaller gold maxima right beside it untouched?I do have a peppermint shrimp and a blue leg hermit could it be one of these. Link to comment
Paul G Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Just a few thoughts How well did you acclimate it to your water and what strength lighting was it under before ? Both my clams (Maximas) showed a little area of drawn in mantle for a few weeks. Although my newest addition of 7 weeks now, remained like this until a few days ago - I found what I believe to be a Pyramidellid snail on the shell which I have since removed, (how I didn't see it when I checked before putting it in the tank I don't know) the clams looking happier now and has for the first time attached its foot. Don't know about the Pep as I've never had one, i've got red legs though that don't bother the clams at all. HTH BTW how old is the tank and what are water parameters like? Link to comment
deacon hemp Posted October 5, 2002 Author Share Posted October 5, 2002 Thanks for the reply.I did not acclimate it for as long as i probably should have,maybe 1/2 hour.The tank it was in was maybe a 90 gal with lots of vho and halide i dont know wattage.My tank is almost 4 months old,My cal was 450 before the clams and now 380,alk 10,amm.,nitrit,nitrate all 0.I also have been dosing dt's once every 2 days and bio sea cal,stront,trace,once a week with wc.I also just got rid of a goby. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted October 5, 2002 Share Posted October 5, 2002 It is very possible that it has just retracted the majority of the mantle into the clam, especially since it wasn't acclimated for a long time. A change in water parameters is a big deal for a T. clam; these guys are pretty sensitive. I don't think your pepp would have bothered it, and I BELIEVE snails usually bore into the shell, like a drill (at least the ones that I have seen). Oh, never mind, I'm looking at your post and now I see that it says you bought it 4 days ago... Acclamation shouldn't be a problem at this point... Has it ever fully expanded in your tank, or is it just remaining withdrawn? Link to comment
tinyreef Posted October 5, 2002 Share Posted October 5, 2002 shrimp may go after clams. skunk cleaners may even go after clams but since you already had a maxima in the tank i'd agree with printer that it probably ain't the shrimp. look for lacerations as the tell-tale signs. some snails do go right after the clam's mantle feeding off its fluids like a tick. :x some of these parasites can be really small (size of a fat period " . "). you'd have to pick them off one by one. or it could be that the derasa simply adjusting to your lights. besides the wattage you should note the distance from the light, to get a comparison. light acclimation is almost as important as water acclimation. if it is the light the clam should adjust itself within a week or so, one sign is immediate discoloration. you have the maxima as a gauge or test control. Link to comment
deacon hemp Posted October 5, 2002 Author Share Posted October 5, 2002 THanx tinyreef and printer for the info,on day one the clam opened up within an hour.Its not that he's not opening, it acually looks like damaged area.I got the maxima the day after acclimated it the same way and it took longer to fully open but it has no damage at all,their sitting beside each other. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted October 7, 2002 Share Posted October 7, 2002 Tinyreef... I know that they attatch to the clam, but will the snails actually remove peices of the mantle?? I haven't seen this, not to say that it doesn't happen by any means!! I know that the predatory snails that look like little grains of rice attach to the mantle but i thought they just sucked stuff out of it....? I've actually never had a predatory snail problem with clams... so let me know what you think/have experianced!! Link to comment
tinyreef Posted October 7, 2002 Share Posted October 7, 2002 sorry, if i was confusing. you're right they suck their blood! :x or whatever clams use for blood. clam ticks! :x i've heard one person say some are commensal rather than parasitic but i think they irritate anyway. that's enough to cause the clams to close. imagine an itch you have no way of scraching! ARGH! i think knop has a good picture of a feeding parasitic snail in his clam book. i believe it shows a long siphon/snout for the snail. there are boring snails (digging-like, not a opinion ) that go right thru the shell. i've never seen those actually but i would think they're even more devastating than the little (also) parasitic ones. Link to comment
barry631 Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 You might check his shell where the mantles come out as there might be something there that is irritating him. Sometime some aglae will grow there and irritate them. Just a thought. Barry Link to comment
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