View Full Version : Clam death.
How the heck,{would rather use another word}, does a perfectly healthy clam go from that to retracted and almost dead the next morning.
My nicest maxima. $200 freaking dollars down the drain. Sheez. :twised:
No visible pests. None of my fish bothered them that I seen. The clam has been absolutely perfect since its purchase a few months ago.
lost a few clams over the years, they appear 100% in the evening to a putrid mess the next morning without explanation
lost a few clams over the years, they appear 100% in the evening to a putrid mess the next morning without explanation
Exactly.
The Guy
10-18-2014, 06:20 PM
I had a squamosa that was good for several months, then one day it was wide open and dead. I think it was being attacked from the bottom by ?? not sure though. Anyway it's a p*****f when it happens, so I stay away from them now. :boom:
toxic111
10-18-2014, 10:37 PM
I lost mine after it doing well & growing well for 3 years... it sucks big time..
I had an angel fish get the taste of clam and killed it in the matter of minutes. So I brought the angel to the lfs immediately afterwords!
Slyguy00
10-19-2014, 02:18 AM
They generally get attacked by snails and other pests on the foot of the clam. I had one that did the same thing, turned out there were a few little starfish and a snail that had made its way into the clam through the bottom and ate it from the inside. Pretty wierd.
Ryanerickson
10-19-2014, 02:28 AM
Certain wrasses will inialate clams also I lost 2 clams to a green wrasse
Clams are funny they don't give you much of sign saying I'm in trouble. If they are being attacked from the bottom you will usually see then open and closing quite often and kind of twitching from side to side and they will also stay closed when you would expect them to be basking in the light. They have to be treated almost like softies they like there Ammonia and Nitrates and probably Phosphates to boot. If you ask some that have a large clam like 12 inches or more or have many clams they probably have the cleanest water as in Phosphates and Nitrates. I met a guy in the LFS one day and he had a 280 Gal I believe and had nothing but Clams in it the whole tank everywhere, he showed me photos it was amazing but he did not skim did not use RO water and water changes where far and few and he still had to dose Ammonium and Nitrates to keep them alive and the more he dosed he said the more colourful they became and grew much faster. I know from the past if you have Bristle worms your Clams will usually die, they drill there way in from the bottom and eat the Clam from the inside. What a way to go.
Anyhow sorry to hear of your loss. Like I said I have lost some beauties in the past all to Bristle Worms once they get a taste the rest are doomed.
All the best.
Mike
They generally get attacked by snails and other pests on the foot of the clam. I had one that did the same thing, turned out there were a few little starfish and a snail that had made its way into the clam through the bottom and ate it from the inside. Pretty wierd.
I looked at the bottom on the first day. Nothing and I checked my others today with a mag glass.
Certain wrasses will inialate clams also I lost 2 clams to a green wrasse
I have a yellow coris and a leopard. Never seen them bothering my clams.
Clams are funny they don't give you much of sign saying I'm in trouble. If they are being attacked from the bottom you will usually see then open and closing quite often and kind of twitching from side to side and they will also stay closed when you would expect them to be basking in the light. They have to be treated almost like softies they like there Ammonia and Nitrates and probably Phosphates to boot. If you ask some that have a large clam like 12 inches or more or have many clams they probably have the cleanest water as in Phosphates and Nitrates. I met a guy in the LFS one day and he had a 280 Gal I believe and had nothing but Clams in it the whole tank everywhere, he showed me photos it was amazing but he did not skim did not use RO water and water changes where far and few and he still had to dose Ammonium and Nitrates to keep them alive and the more he dosed he said the more colourful they became and grew much faster. I know from the past if you have Bristle worms your Clams will usually die, they drill there way in from the bottom and eat the Clam from the inside. What a way to go.
Anyhow sorry to hear of your loss. Like I said I have lost some beauties in the past all to Bristle Worms once they get a taste the rest are doomed.
All the best.
Mike
That was one reason I had 6 besides their beauty. I once read somewhere that bristle worms will not harass clams through the foot unless the clam is already on the way out.
I had an angel fish get the taste of clam and killed it in the matter of minutes. So I brought the angel to the lfs immediately afterwords!
None I have bother them. Once reason I never added the coral beauty I wanted so much.
I lost mine after it doing well & growing well for 3 years... it sucks big time..
Sucks big time is putting it lightly.
I had a squamosa that was good for several months, then one day it was wide open and dead. I think it was being attacked from the bottom by ?? not sure though. Anyway it's a p*****f when it happens, so I stay away from them now. :boom:
Ya me to except for what I have left
asylumdown
10-19-2014, 05:00 PM
I know from the past if you have Bristle worms your Clams will usually die, they drill there way in from the bottom and eat the Clam from the inside. What a way to go.
Anyhow sorry to hear of your loss. Like I said I have lost some beauties in the past all to Bristle Worms once they get a taste the rest are doomed.
All the best.
Mike
FWIW, I've had my clam for nearly 4 years, first as a teeny tiny little baby clam in a 4 gallon pico, then as one of the first inverts in my big tank.
By weight, I'd say half the biomass in my tank is bristle worm. My clam is happy as a, well, clam.
reefwars
10-19-2014, 05:39 PM
FWIW, I've had my clam for nearly 4 years, first as a teeny tiny little baby clam in a 4 gallon pico, then as one of the first inverts in my big tank.
By weight, I'd say half the biomass in my tank is bristle worm. My clam is happy as a, well, clam.
Yeah I have a squammie now for a few years and it's been in a couple systems all of which have bristle worms and its still going strong .I'm sure they love a dying meal but they don't seem to do any harm to a healthy one.....not the typical worms I have anyways:)
asylumdown
10-19-2014, 06:23 PM
I suppose I should have caveated that statement. To my untrained eyes it looks like I have two different species of bristle worm in my tank. I even triggered a mass spawning of them cleaning the tank last weekend (not sure what I did but holy crap was it impressive). There's dozens of other species of 'bristle worm', so what might be true for the kinds in my tank might not be true of another species someone might have brought home on their rocks. Maybe there's a kind that likes to munch clams and I've just been lucky so far.
I was just saying what happened to my Clams and I had them for quite a while and one day noticed one was opening and closing a lot and I could inside and there was Bristle worms inside, when I pick it up there was bunch of little ones on the bottom. After that one died it was not long before the other 2 went the same way. If they ever get the taste look out I guess its just like with Angles.
asylumdown
10-19-2014, 07:19 PM
I was just saying what happened to my Clams and I had them for quite a while and one day noticed one was opening and closing a lot and I could inside and there was Bristle worms inside, when I pick it up there was bunch of little ones on the bottom. After that one died it was not long before the other 2 went the same way. If they ever get the taste look out I guess its just like with Angles.
If I pick up anything in my tank, there's several bristle worms underneath it. I suspect what you saw with the bristle worms inside the shell was them eating already dead or dying tissue, or just hiding in the cavity. If the clam was hanging on by a thread they could probably push it over the edge though.
There was a rash of clams spontaneously dying on people a while back if I remember correctly. People suspected a disease had made it in to the chain of custody most marine animals pass through. Had you added anything or another clam in the weeks leading up to their demise?
If I pick up anything in my tank, there's several bristle worms underneath it. I suspect what you saw with the bristle worms inside the shell was them eating already dead or dying tissue, or just hiding in the cavity. If the clam was hanging on by a thread they could probably push it over the edge though.
There was a rash of clams spontaneously dying on people a while back if I remember correctly. People suspected a disease had made it in to the chain of custody most marine animals pass through. Had you added anything or another clam in the weeks leading up to their demise?
Just the three I purchased from the BC seller. One I sold, the other two are fine.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii86/Flatlander_photos/DSC01965_zpsa957d11e.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/user/Flatlander_photos/media/DSC01965_zpsa957d11e.jpg.html)
This is the one lost. It was my nicest and most expensive after trading my ultra blue with a friend for my two blue crocea,s.
christyf5
10-20-2014, 03:57 PM
How was the shell growth? I find that to be an excellent indicator of their overall health. I keep an eye on mine and adjust my various parameters accordingly. Sometimes clams can give you an indicator of whats going on, other times its just one day they appear happy, the next day dead. I'll never get them figured out, especially the expensive ones. Sorry to hear, unexplained deaths always suck :(
Skimmerking
10-20-2014, 04:56 PM
ya Doug that sucks man. that nice squamosa i had remember the white speckles on it just went in like a 1.5 days. weird
Well its officially an epidemic now. BLAH
Skimmerking
10-21-2014, 06:55 PM
whats the count now
whats the count now
Three Mike....:sad:
whatcaneyedo
10-22-2014, 03:42 AM
I've given up on them for a while. I had a nice little collection of 5 clams ranging from 5 years to 2 years old that all died within a few months in 2010. Pyramidal snails... In 2011 once the snails disappeared I tried again, one after another over the course of a year I bought a squamosa (from a local's tank), derasa and Tahiti maxima. The derasa and the maxima died after about a year, and the squamosa lived for 3. I have not seen any of those snails since 2010... but something still isn't right. Meanwhile I've got other non-coral inverts (urchin, cucumber, abalone) that are pushing 7 years old. So I'm stumped.
How was the shell growth? I find that to be an excellent indicator of their overall health. I keep an eye on mine and adjust my various parameters accordingly. Sometimes clams can give you an indicator of whats going on, other times its just one day they appear happy, the next day dead. I'll never get them figured out, especially the expensive ones. Sorry to hear, unexplained deaths always suck :(
Hard to say on shell growth Christy. I have not owned them that long.
I've given up on them for a while. I had a nice little collection of 5 clams ranging from 5 years to 2 years old that all died within a few months in 2010. Pyramidal snails... In 2011 once the snails disappeared I tried again, one after another over the course of a year I bought a squamosa (from a local's tank), derasa and Tahiti maxima. The derasa and the maxima died after about a year, and the squamosa lived for 3. I have not seen any of those snails since 2010... but something still isn't right. Meanwhile I've got other non-coral inverts (urchin, cucumber, abalone) that are pushing 7 years old. So I'm stumped.
I checked with a mag glass for snails. None that I could see. Everything else is fine. Ya Im stumped also. So far my last maxima looks fine and my two croceas also.
asylumdown
10-22-2014, 07:12 PM
That sucks :( it might just be a disease. There's organism specific bacteria and viruses for every member of the tree of life. You'd never be able to test for it, but maybe your tank caught the clam equivalent of small pox?
Delphinus
10-23-2014, 02:47 AM
Sorry to hear Doug.
That's my biggest fear with clams, when one goes, it seems to start a chain reaction..
Skimmerking
10-23-2014, 02:54 PM
That sucks :( it might just be a disease. There's organism specific bacteria and viruses for every member of the tree of life. You'd never be able to test for it, but maybe your tank caught the clam equivalent of small pox?
ya Doug didnt you say that you swapped out clams with another reefer probably caught it from him/her
That sucks :( it might just be a disease. There's organism specific bacteria and viruses for every member of the tree of life. You'd never be able to test for it, but maybe your tank caught the clam equivalent of small pox?
That sounds like the best explanation.
Sorry to hear Doug.
That's my biggest fear with clams, when one goes, it seems to start a chain reaction..
Thanks Tony. I never thought it would happen like it did. Guess one never knows. Besides the loss, its also pretty expensive.
ya Doug didnt you say that you swapped out clams with another reefer probably caught it from him/her
I just traded my ultra blue for my 2 blue croceas,s back. He also bought one of the three I bought from the coast. His are all fine, plus he has others. And the three I did buy from the coast, my remaining one looks fine as is his.
HOWEVER, I have to research. I bought one from a dealer out east and it was sick a couple days later. Could it have started there I wonder?
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