Why are all of my clams dying???

[doch]

OK... seriously frustrated.... wait... no, MAD!!! I had a Squamosa die a couple of weeks ago, then I come home from work this wek to find a dead Maxima, then go out today, come back and I have a dead Crocea. WTF??? All of my parameters are good... (Phosphates - 0.02 Nitrates - less than 5 Calc 400 Alk 8 Mag 1250, no amonia, no nitrates) On the 2 squamosas in the sand (one still living) I found bristle worms, but no pyramid snails. Can't tell about the Max and Croc, because up until they dies they were stuck solid onto the rocks. I do have a Niger Trigger, and a Flame angel, but I'v never noticed them nipping at all. Any thoughts or tips? Before I came home today I bought 2 more clams... I don't want to lose them.... please help!! Thanks!

BTW I've heard that a lot of people in Edmonton are losing clams lately... not too sure on the validity of this, but there it is.

[Dez]

Not sure Johnny, all of mine seem to be okay. You can always bring your 2 new clams over for me to babysit. Your Frags are ready anyway. Clams are a strange thing. Sometimes you just never know what's wrong. They don't nessesarily like pristine water conditions.

[coreyskylar]

One of mine is opening less and less everyday, if that helps.

[Borderjumper]

I'm going thru exactly the same thing.. I've lost four so far. The clam will appear fine and happy one day, then the next morning the shell is gapped so far open it's tearing the syphon hole. then dead that evening. I would think that if it were a disease or a pathogen that they would all die at once.. Not one every 4 days or so. A few have been in my tank for years. I bought new clams last month.. Lost one new one and three established ones.. I moved the remaining three to my frag tank to see if they do better in there.

I've noticed my cleaner shrimp around them lately, maybe they are eating them at night from the bottom?? I just have no clue. like you, water is good and everything else is ok.. 3 tangs in the tank, a regal,yellow, and naso. the mantels don't look picked on.. They just spread apart at the hinge.

[Borderjumper]

On the bright side.. I have a nice collection of empty $80 clam shells:sad:

[doch]

Thanks for the offer Dez! But no thanks. Lol. Borderjumper... I can't bare to keep the shells... Turf them all imediately. I just hope my other squamosa doesn't die... I LOVE it... Bright blue! I think all the clams may be coming up to Fort Mac with me on Sunday... Hopethey do better there!

[whatcaneyedo]

What a coincidence. This has been a horrible year for me too. I've lost 4 clams as well: a squamosa, crocea and two maxima. I've been looking but I cannot find any parasitic snails either. The squamosa was my most recent addition and it wasn't too long after that it and some of the others started showing some bad signs. Loss of color, poor mantle extension or pinched areas. I gave many of them fresh water dips and in some cases it seemed to help but for others they were already too far gone. Two of the clams I had for about 5 years... What I have left is a 5 year old crocea, 3 year old derasa and a 2 year old maxima. I believe the squamosa brought something into my tank with it. I really need to start quarantining better.

[Delphinus]

Unfortunately ... this is hugely common. One of the worst things for a clam is to be in the same tank as another dead clam. If one goes on you, you have to get it out right away otherwise it kicks off a chain reaction. Basically you have to cull them before they're actually dead if you think they're past the point of no return. It sucks. I've lost 5 or 6 in the last 3 months myself and they were all >5 years in my care so I've been seriously hit hard by the losses myself ... I know your frustration.

[Cameron]

I just lost a clam today that Ive had for a couple years....

Go to move him and I notice a strange worm....not quite a bristle worm either.....****

[The Grizz]

Same here 4 clams this year as well.

[cwatkins]

Some kind of conspiracy?

[hound96]

i've lost 6 this year one was today and now to top it off my 9" squamosa is gaping all to hell if i lose him thats it the tank is up for sale

[Borderjumper]

i've lost 6 this year one was today and now to top it off my 9" squamosa is gaping all to hell if i lose him thats it the tank is up for sale
I feel your pain.. One of mine was that big too.. Is it gapping so big it looks like the flesh is tearing? That's the way mine went.

Curious.. How many of us loosing clams recently added new ones? I added new from the shipment of blue squammys that went around last month.

[Cameron]

Some kind of conspiracy?

No it's a 'CLAMspiracy"

[Delphinus]

I lost my 12" squamosa a couple weeks ago. That was not a pleasant thing to clean out. I'm keeping those shells.

FWIW I haven't added any new livestock in months and the last few clams I bought were easily 6 months ago.

[hound96]

i added 2 derassas 1 hippo 1 ultra maxima and my big guy i have a habit of addin when i lose but i'm done now if i lose any more i have to quit its cost too much

[doch]

%&#@! One of my new additions (crocea) is looking like crap.... I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't make the night. My first one wasn't gone very long at all before I pulled it from the tank. The second was within the last couple of days (I was out of town, so II'm not really sure) and the third was tonight (one day after I got home and noticed the 2nd dead one.... maybe the 'corpse' of the 2nd one is in the tank somewhere and causing this??? Times like this I wish I had a second tank here.... I could hold them in there until I can get them all up to Fort Mac.

BTW, I have added recently... also on the blue squammy shipment.

[zion-aquatics]

where the clams close to each other? i dont know if this has anything to do with it but i at my work in our 265 display i had two hippous clams and 2 crocea that where happy and healthy for years , then we started renos on the coral tanks so we moved the remainder of the corals in to the display so i had to move the clams closer to each other , a month later they where all dead

[chris121277]

My guess is that you have something in there that is eating them, maybe some kind of hitch hiker crab?

[whatcaneyedo]

In my case I believe it was an infection of some sort. Protozoan or bacterial I suppose... My squamosa was always off and on. I think I gave it 3 fresh water dips over the 2 years that I had it. It would start to show signs of pinch mantle so I'd dip it. Then it would look alight for a little while before it started again. I think whatever was bothering it, that it brought in, transferred to the other clams. The dips may have cured it but then it could have easily contracted the problem again from one of the others. I never dipped all of my clams at once or completely separated them. The next clam I get will be quarantined for at least a month before it goes into my system and I'll be quarantining problematic clams from now on as well.

April: My big gold teardrop maxima of 5 years looks like crap on a Monday and was dead on a Friday.
September: The little Squamosa finally dies, after looking not right all summer... normally when a clam doesn't look healthy its dead within a week so this was really weird. The very next day one of my 5 year old croceas is dead in the morning. The previous night it looked absolutely fine, the same way it had looked for the past 5 years.
October: My 2 year old blue maxima dies after looking dull (poor coloration) for at least a month.
All four of these clams were fresh water dipped at some point while I owned them, some of them more than once. The dipping seemed to cure the problem for a while but then I believe they just re-contracted whatever was infecting them from the other clams.

I've ruled out crabs in my case. My system has been subjected to several interceptor treatments and I own a snowflake moray plus a fu-manchu lionfish. So its not a very crab friendly environment.

[ref leppard]

What a coincidence. This has been a horrible year for me too. I've lost 4 clams as well: a squamosa, crocea and two maxima. I've been looking but I cannot find any parasitic snails either. The squamosa was my most recent addition and it wasn't too long after that it and some of the others started showing some bad signs. Loss of color, poor mantle extension or pinched areas. I gave many of them fresh water dips and in some cases it seemed to help but for others they were already too far gone. Two of the clams I had for about 5 years... What I have left is a 5 year old crocea, 3 year old derasa and a 2 year old maxima. I believe the squamosa brought something into my tank with it. I really need to start quarantining better.

I b0ught 2 blue squammys last month too...week later one by one 3 other clams drop dead.I hope that is the end of it . The 2 sqammys and crocea are left. No more new clams for a while!

[ALang]

I feel all your pain. I've had my 10" maxima die on me this fall.
I still have 2 croceas left.
They seem fine. Keeping fingers crossed.

[doch]

Well, it's official... The new Crocea didn't make it. My remaining 2 clams will be coming up to fort Mac on Sunday. Freshwater dip for both and into a totally separate tank. Man I hope this works. How long of a dip should I give? Just fresh water, no coral dip or anything?

[whatcaneyedo]

Giant Clams in the Sea and the Aquarium by Fatherree recommends 30 minutes in freshwater that matches the temperature and pH of your tank.

[doch]

Thank you!

[PoonTang]

Just a quick question from a clam newbie. Are you feeding your clams, perhaps when you get a lot of big clams in a tank there just isnt enough food for them? I dont know, ive had a squammy for a few months and even with a few pyramid snails it seems to be doing nicely.

[whatcaneyedo]

I don't do any supplemental feeding to directly feed my clams. Everything I've read states that it is unnecessary especially considering my high bioload.

[TimT]

Is anyone dosing Iodine to their systems? Clams and corals need it to detoxify radical oxygen produced by Zooxanthellae. Iodine is rapidly depleted in a reef system.

Has anyone checked for copper in their water?

If your Ca drops below 380 your chance of issues becomes huge.

Phosphates over .16mg/l and they begin to have issues as well.

[ALang]

I thought that weekly small water changes would take care of iodine?
I really hate to add chemicals to the tank that I cannot measure, how does one know if we add enough? How much should we be adding?
I am looking forward to antoher clam this next little while, and I really want to make sure that the fella will be OK in my tank.

[doch]

Yes, I dose Iodine... I don't test for it, but I does the 'beginner amount' that is stated on the bottle... this on top of my weekly water changes. I do feed phyto on occasion... maybe a bottle every month or so... just kind of when I happen to remember to pick it up. I also dose KZ sponge power. ALang, I'm waiting on the same shipment, and in the same boat! I'm thinking that my tank in Fort Mac will be a better clam tank anyways. I can actually see past the penant on the top to see the clams glow. In Edmonton my fixture is so big I can't see anything from the top except during water changes.

[daniella3d]

I guess it,s like antibiotics... you have to continue the fresh water dip even if it looks better because it probably looks ok but it's not yet fully healed, and of course like you said, they must all be treated together so that what ever infection is not returning. I don,t think 3 fresh water dip over 1 year is enough to cure pinched mantle.

If the fresh water dip improved it temporary it is sign that it was working on what ever was affecting the clam, not just enough to cure it.



It would start to show signs of pinch mantle so I'd dip it. Then it would look alight for a little while before it started again.

The dipping seemed to cure the problem for a while but then I believe they just re-contracted whatever was infecting them from the other clams.

[doch]

Well, it's official... my 2 remaining clams are now in my other tank in Fort Mac (where I work). I gave them each a 25 minute freshwater dip last night (I couldn't quite muster the cajones to do a full 30 minutes) and now my fingers are crossed. Hopefully all works out OK.

[ALang]

Good luck, doch, and pls keep us posted as some of us are interested in the outcome for the same reasons. Merry Christmas!

[doch]

Well, for those keeping track, it's not looking very good. Looks the the new maxima is not going to make it. When I left yesterday it looked pretty mad. Also, my (favorite clam) blue squammy hasn't opened up in 2 or 3 days. I'm not very happy about this.

This all said though, there are other potential factors. The tank in Fort Mac is brand new (about a month since I swapped everything form my 6G to the new 28G) and I'm having troubles dialing in the flow and such. I ordered a new return pump and a Vortech 10W, so hopefully they will help.

***FINGERS CROSSED***

[coreyskylar]

I just lost one yesterday.
Hope yours gets better.

[daniella3d]

How is your bioload helping your clam? clams eat phytoplankton, not fish waste.

I don't do any supplemental feeding to directly feed my clams. Everything I've read states that it is unnecessary especially considering my high bioload.

[whatcaneyedo]

How is your bioload helping your clam? clams eat phytoplankton, not fish waste.

Yes they do. Does this little game we play ever get boring to you?

Fatherree explains in his book how clams can feed on a variety of things such as phytoplankton, dissolved organic matter, detritus, nitrogen and phosphorus aka. fish waste. I'm not going to copy the whole thing out for you but here is a good paragraph:

"Want a second opinion about feeding? How about Delbeek & Sprung (1994), "...the effort required to feed these items is not worth it in our opinion. Tridacnid clams have been grown successfully in both culture systems and home aquaria for many years without supplemental feedings." And you can get a third opinion from Knop (1996), "Altogether the food requirements of clams is so small that a special feeding scheme for them is superfluous if the tank is populated with a fair number of fish, especially if corals are regularly fed, In such a case a special food destined for the clams would even unbalance the whole system." And here's a forth opinion from Calfo (2001), "Many clams have been maintained years in aquaria without any deliberate feeding, but rather dependent upon light and dissolved compounds." If you're new to the hobby you might not know who the heck these guys are, but I assure you that you'll eventually become familiar with them if you read much. So, there you go."

p176 Giant Clams in the Sea and the Aquarium the biology, identification, and aquarium husbandry of tridacnid clams by James Fatherree. 2006

[The Grizz]

That is some good info there Russel, I always wondered about the feeding habits of clam for the simple reason there is really nothing on the market that I have fornd that is clam specific.

[fishytime]

I always wondered about the feeding habits of clam for the simple reason there is really nothing on the market that I have fornd that is clam specific.

Tropic marine makes a product called "UltraClam".....and although its called "Sponge Power", the KZ product is designed also with filter feeders in mind:biggrin:

[The Grizz]

Tropic marine makes a product called "UltraClam".....and although its called "Sponge Power", the KZ product is designed also with filter feeders in mind:biggrin:
I have some of that stuff :lol:

[daniella3d]

Fauna marin Ultraclam and sponge power are 2 different thing. Sponge Power is made by zeovit and it's liquid and Fauna Marin Ultraclam is in powder.

I feed my clam DT live phytoplankton. Glad to known they can eat fish waste, as I had read they don't absorb anything else than phyto. That was for crocea clam.

Tropic marine makes a product called "UltraClam".....and although its called "Sponge Power", the KZ product is designed also with filter feeders in mind:biggrin:

[whatcaneyedo]

I just lost my other 5 year old crocea today. It actually belonged to a friend for 1-2 years before I got it so I guess it was probably more like 7 years old. It didn't show any signs of a problem until last night when I saw it spawning. I've had clams spawn before and not die so I wasn't too concerned. Its been about 3 months since I've had a clam die... I only have two left now. A little 3"maxima and a 5" derasa.

[doch]

Well, I'm back in town again (and by in town I mean one of my towns) and both of my remaining clams are open, and happy looking!! Whoohoo!!! I sure am glad that I didn't toss the Maxima before I went out of town last weekend. I was VERY close to doing it. So far so good.

[Nebthet]

Clam deaths seem to be something going on a lot this time of year. I have been hit myself with 2 clam deaths over the last two weeks. Neither of them have had pyramid snails and freshwater dips didn`t help.
It actually looked like something was deteriourating the clam from the foot up. There was no gaping or pinching in the mantle at all, until the day they died where the clam refused to even open and you could see there was something wrong with it.
I had checked all my parameters to see if there was anything in the tank and every thing came out normal.
ammon, nitrite, phosphates = 0
ph = 8.4
alk = 8dkh
salinity = 1.026
nitrates = .05

It sucks, so now I am watching my two remaining clams to see what happens with them.

[cwatkins]

Very strange. Next thing you know hundreds of birds will fall out of the sky and die... Oh wait... Nevermind...

[Funky_Fish14]

Sorry I dont have time to read the full thread, however:


BTW I've heard that a lot of people in Edmonton are losing clams lately... not too sure on the validity of this, but there it is.

I have personally heard of (first hand, like from the one who lost them) 3 other instances of multiple clam loss in the last couple weeks, and seen a few go down in a store.

I wonder if city water parameters are connected? I know it caused multiple clam deaths simultaneously in two of the cases for sure.

Cheers,

Chris