Clam wont open all the way. Seems healthy

[blackz151]

About a month ago I got a 6" maxima clam from my LFS. When I got it from them it was wide open and looked beautiful. Now it only opens about 25%. It looks healthy though. It reacts to the light. When it closes it opens right back up. The first night I had it my clean up crew checked him out but left it alone since. No one seems to bother it. Ive checked for snails and I dont seem to see any. My water looks like:

Ammonia 0
NO 2 0
NO 3 0
Salt 1.024
Phos 0
Ph 8.1
Calc 425
ALK 9.9
Mag 1360

Lighting is 2 ai sols on 60% max with 4 hr ramp time.

The tank is a DB rimless 80 gal 48x24x16

I tried to take a pic the best I could

Is there anything else I can look for or do to try to get it to open more? I dont want to start moving it and end up hurtingit.

 

[Zorro]

I don't see anything wrong with your clam. It looks like its very healthy.

 

[3Twinklets]

Clams are ultra touchy and can die overnight for no apparent reason. They light light and clean water. They do not like to be annoyed by fish or anything else.They are filter feeders and like mild current. I believe half of the success is getting a healthy clam to begin with.

 

[blackz151]

I don't see anything wrong with your clam. It looks like its very healthy.

Thank You! I was just worried because it seem to be opened up allot more when we picked it up

 

[Reeferdude56]

I understand what you mean by how it doesn't seem fully open. Depending on the clam some will open there mantle more than others. Also it takes a while for a clam to become acclimated to a tank, this can take months. once it gets acclimated/is in a happy spot it should show more of the siphon part of the mantle.

 

[blackz151]

Clams are ultra touchy and can die overnight for no apparent reason. They light light and clean water. They do not like to be annoyed by fish or anything else.They are filter feeders and like mild current. I believe half of the success is getting a healthy clam to begin with.

It looked great when we got it. I dont think anyone really messes with it the sixline looks his way here an there. It may be not enough flow for the claim but maybe ill try to move him over a bit

 

[3Twinklets]

I wish I could tell you more.
I think it's a learning process.
A lot of us have tried and quite a few have succeeded.

 

[blackz151]

I wish I could tell you more.
I think it's a learning process.
A lot of us have tried and quite a few have succeeded.

Thank you for the help. It helps allot. I was worried there was a huge problem.

 

[blackz151]

I understand what you mean by how it doesn't seem fully open. Depending on the clam some will open there mantle more than others. Also it takes a while for a clam to become acclimated to a tank, this can take months. once it gets acclimated/is in a happy spot it should show more of the siphon part of the mantle.

Thank You for the info. It seems to be getting a little better. I just wanted to make sure it wasnt part of a bigger problem.

 

[3Twinklets]

Good luck [emoji5]️

 

[blackz151]

Good luck [emoji5]️

Thank you!

 

[deerhunter06]

Look for tiny white snails with pointy shells they are called pyrim snails they might be killing him at night.
I know u said u looked but they are nocturnal snails so I'd be looking then.

 

[blackz151]

Look for tiny white snails with pointy shells they are called pyrim snails they might be killing him at night.
I know u said u looked but they are nocturnal snails so I'd be looking then.

Will check again for sure

 

[hart24601]

Have you seen any new growth since you got it??

 

[MtlReef25]

Mine took about 2 weeks to get use to it's new home. It was closing everytime a fish got too close. now it's fully open but sometimes still closing when some fish are nipping around! Otherwise it's fully open!

 

[Sangheili]

Looks open and happy to me from the pics. Different species of Tridacnids open more/less then others (Derasa for example is wide open, whereas Maxima like yours don't open as much). Also a function of light SOMETIMES. Blasting a clam with more light then it is acclimated to can lead to them staying more shut in my experience - but please don't turn down your lights as a result of reading this lol.

In fact in many ways a clam that isn't fully open is a healthy clam. Holding their shell shut takes energy and effort which is why when you see sick and "gaping" clams, their shell is wide open despite their apparent need to close up and heal.

 

[blackz151]

Have you seen any new growth since you got it??

It has opened more but growth not much I dont think

 

[blackz151]

Mine took about 2 weeks to get use to it's new home. It was closing everytime a fish got too close. now it's fully open but sometimes still closing when some fish are nipping around! Otherwise it's fully open!

Yea it seems to be ok now when the fish swim by before it would close all the time

 

[blackz151]

Looks open and happy to me from the pics. Different species of Tridacnids open more/less then others (Derasa for example is wide open, whereas Maxima like yours don't open as much). Also a function of light SOMETIMES. Blasting a clam with more light then it is acclimated to can lead to them staying more shut in my experience - but please don't turn down your lights as a result of reading this lol.

In fact in many ways a clam that isn't fully open is a healthy clam. Holding their shell shut takes energy and effort which is why when you see sick and "gaping" clams, their shell is wide open despite their apparent need to close up and heal.

Thank You for the great info.

I have one other question if you don't mind. The other thing I've noticed is it doesn't attach to the rock. I have also personally seem it fall off the rock by it self nothing around it. Then when I pick it up to put it back upright you can see the "foot" retract a bit. Is there anything I can do to help with that. I just dont want it falling over and dying when I'am at work or something

 

[hart24601]

If it's really 6" I wouldn't expect it to attach. They are pretty heavy by that point and I have never had a maxima above 5" attach to anything. I would put it either on flat rock or sandbed where it won't fall over. A large and heavy clam falling from rockwork is enough to do some real damage to it.

I would be concerned about the lack of new growth. Possible that it's growing really slowly so it just takes a long time to notice, but in my experience growth is the only way to tell if a clam is doing ok. They can look absolutely fantastic for 2 months, but die the next day - generally if not a fast infection the only thing you will notice is the lack of new growth. Likewise I have seen really strange mantle extension and shells on clams that look terrible, but they were growing and doing just fine.