Gaping clam

[christyf5]

I have like zippola experience with this. The mantle is still fully extended, exhalant siphon is doing its thing. The clam is still reactive to changes in light (ie. my hand passing over it) it does sort of close the tissue around the siphon when fish pass by but then opens it again. I have had clams before but I don't remember them showing off their innards at any point like this one. Maybe this one just doesn't have any inhibitions :wink:

I just bought the clam on Saturday, I was just wondering if its still acclimating to my tank or if this is a sign of something more serious.

Any advice would be appreciated :biggrin:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b365/christyf5/crocea2.jpg

[Ruth]

I don't know Christy - I have 6 clams and have never had one gap that bad. In that picture the mantle does not appear to be fully extended but that could be just the picture or it was retracting for some reason. You might try and move it to another location that is getting lots of light and very low flow and see if that helps. OTOH maybe it's just proud of it's stuff and wants to show off. Beautiful colours BTW.

[AndyL]

wow... gorgeous clam christy!

I'm useless on clam knowledge though (I can tell you they don't like temps >35C though)!

Andy

[michika]

Some clams naturally have large gaps. I've had a clam before that had a huge gap, very similar to your picture. A large gap didn't seem to indicate anything negative when my clam also gapped.

For additional reading I would suggest clamsdirect.com, that board might be a bit better suited to answering your question.

Good Luck!

[Willow]

nice clam :twised:

[hockey nut]

HI Christy,

Some maxima/crocea tend to have a bigger opening IMO. I just bought a clam today and noticed some of them in the storre where gaping as well. They all looked fine and have been in the store tank for awhile with little change, but defenately keep an eye on it.

Cheers.

[Stab_Master_Arson]

Your gaping clam should learn some restraint. I don't know much about clams other then they're tastey. It does look rather neat though.I Hope if there is something wrong it will work itself out.

Cheers.

[S-B]

my clam did that for the first week or two .closed some after that and has been fine since , that was 8 month ago . could be stress from the move .
also ,if your clams not happy where it's sitting , it will move on it's own to a better spot .

[muck]

Wow Christy your clam looks great! :wink:
Very nice coloration!!

[Scavenger]

That clam looks great!

Clams are like spark plugs. They all run best at a differant gap.

[OCDP]

clam sure does have some sick colours. mantle doesn't appear to be fully extended though??? could just be the shot.

you surely do learn something new every day.. great looking clam. love the colours.

[christyf5]

It was gaping. Its on its way out today :cry:

[Ruth]

Oh that's sad. It had such beautiful colours too. I had a clam that died on me about a month ago. The funny thing was that it was injured about 4 months before that and just never fully opened or extended it's mantle. It did seem to be getting better and then BAM - dead. Other than that I have had good luck (knocks on hairy wooden head) with my clams.

[christyf5]

Ok, so it didn't croak :biggrin:

I read this great thread on RC and introduced my clam to some bondage:wink: Heres the link:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81032&highlight=gaping


Really when you think about it, it seems quite obvious but I certainly wouldn't have thought of doing something like that. I was just resigned to turning the lights out and waking up to two half shells the next morning.

Instead I now I have this:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b365/christyf5/DSCN4982.jpg

Everything appears normal but I'm too chicken to remove the string until the 2 weeks are up or the mantle protrudes between the shells more. And since we're on day 3 here, its got a ways to go. I can only hope this works! :biggrin:

[Delphinus]

Wow what a turnaround. Hope the trend continues.

[EmilyB]

:eek: And just to lengthen my message to the required ten characters...

[Ruth]

Christy did your clam make it or have you untied it yet?

[christyf5]

No a hermit crab knocked it over and had snacks on some vital innards :cry: I really had high hopes for that string method and I think it would have worked better if not for getting knocked over.

4 of the 5 hermits are now living in the sump. One more to catch. They're probably plotting how to destroy my pump impellers next :rolleyes: