Emergency: Derasa Clam Detached Hinge

[GlassMunky]

Forgot to update this thread, but we ordered the bike inner tube and glued it to him not long after the suggestion was made. It took him a couple weeks to get used to it, and he repositioned himself about 90* clockwise, but for the last few weeks now he’s been back to his normal self being fully inflated all day long. I also noticed when we were attaching the prosthetic that he seemed to have gotten a small tear in his mantle, I believe from closing on it, which has also fully healed now, so I’m taking that as another good sign that he’s on the mend.
I’ll try and locate the photos we took during the process and then update with those as well as pics of him now.

thanks to all who helped!

 

[reefsponge]

Forgot to update this thread, but we ordered the bike inner tube and glued it to him not long after the suggestion was made. It took him a couple weeks to get used to it, and he repositioned himself about 90* clockwise, but for the last few weeks now he’s been back to his normal self being fully inflated all day long. I also noticed when we were attaching the prosthetic that he seemed to have gotten a small tear in his mantle, I believe from closing on it, which has also fully healed now, so I’m taking that as another good sign that he’s on the mend.
I’ll try and locate the photos we took during the process and then update with those as well as pics of him now.

thanks to all who helped!

I’m just curious how your clam is doing and if you had this on a bare bottom tank? I’m hopeful that all is well.

 

[P-Dub]

Forgot to update this thread, but we ordered the bike inner tube and glued it to him not long after the suggestion was made. It took him a couple weeks to get used to it, and he repositioned himself about 90* clockwise, but for the last few weeks now he’s been back to his normal self being fully inflated all day long. I also noticed when we were attaching the prosthetic that he seemed to have gotten a small tear in his mantle, I believe from closing on it, which has also fully healed now, so I’m taking that as another good sign that he’s on the mend.
I’ll try and locate the photos we took during the process and then update with those as well as pics of him now.

thanks to all who helped!

@GlassMunky Did you locate any of the photos? Would be helpful to share the photos and the process you employed for others that may have to deal with this in the future. And, I'm curious as all get up as well.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I wish I had known about this back when my derasa damaged its hinge and eventually died. It was before I even knew about Reef 2 Reef. Glad your guy is doing okay.

 

[ChangNoi]

This is what I did. My friend Fadi helped and did the video:

 

[DHill6]

This is what I did. My friend Fadi helped and did the video:

Wow! Is the clam doing well?

 

[Robert Binz]

Any updates

 

[jayteerq]

dang it’s been years but mine just split as well. Wondering if this saved your clam?

 

[exnisstech]

dang it’s been years but mine just split as well. Wondering if this saved your clam?

My derasa succumbed to a broken hinge. I did some research and found a few people that tried repairing the hing with different materials but I did not find any that were successful long term.

 

[jayteerq]

dang it’s been years but mine just split as well. Wondering if this saved your clam?

My derasa succumbed to a broken hinge. I did some research and found a few people that tried repairing the hing with different materials but I did not find any that were successful long term.

dang I’m sorry to hear. I’m devastated as my clam is fairly big. It seems to be in the beginning stage so will continue to monitor it. Maybe I’ll try a prosthetic hinge just to have records for people in the future.

 

[exnisstech]

dang I’m sorry to hear. I’m devastated as my clam is fairly big. It seems to be in the beginning stage so will continue to monitor it. Maybe I’ll try a prosthetic hinge just to have records for people in the future.

Ya I was pretty bummed. Mine was my first success with a clam after getting a par meter and figuring out why I had been failing. It started as a little 2 incher and was probably 6-7" when it passed.

 

[spsick]

Mine is still kicking a year after a broken hinge. Glued a frag plug to each half and connected them with a rubber band. He has some wanderlust and hasn’t grown but he hasn’t died either.

 

[jayteerq]

Mine is still kicking a year after a broken hinge. Glued a frag plug to each half and connected them with a rubber band. He has some wanderlust and hasn’t grown but he hasn’t died either.

Would love it if you could share a picture of this prosthetic procedure lol

 

[minus9]

My friend repaired his derasa and it's still going strong.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Oh man, my clam just did the same. Seems happy as can be, but is lop sided and the hinge is disjointed.

I’ll try to remember to take some pictures as I prepare a replacement hinge using some frag plugs and rubber band.

Wish me luck! This guy is going on 10 years old!

 

[ihavecrabs]

Oh man, my clam just did the same. Seems happy as can be, but is lop sided and the hinge is disjointed.

I’ll try to remember to take some pictures as I prepare a replacement hinge using some frag plugs and rubber band.

Wish me luck! This guy is going on 10 years old!

Tank lights were off so bare with the photos with poor lighting..

I used what I had available to me to do the initial repair to see if the clam will recover.

1. Stems of Frag Plugs
2. Rubber bands (smaller ones worked way better than the thick ones)
3. Gel Super Glue

 

[ihavecrabs]

Tank lights were off so bare with the photos with poor lighting..

I used what I had available to me to do the initial repair to see if the clam will recover.

1. Stems of Frag Plugs
2. Rubber bands (smaller ones worked way better than the thick ones)
3. Gel Super Glue

5 minutes later and the clam is starting to open. Will report back this afternoon with more..

 

[spsick]

I would recommend taking this one off as that part of the clam opens and the hinge is more in the middle and right side.

Great job!

 

[ihavecrabs]

I would recommend taking this one off as that part of the clam opens and the hinge is more in the middle and right side.

Great job!

Good to know.. thank you!

 

[Stephers]

Just to add a datapoint: My Derasa's hinge detached 6 months ago and I did the frag plug/rubber band procedure and he's still alive and seemingly happy. I've had to replace the rubberbands 2 or 3 times. They degrade and break eventually and the clam gets lopsided again and a new band fixes it. Rubberband does need to be fairly tight.