EMERGENCY: Squamosa Clam Keeps Staying Closed for Past 36 Hours

[Macbalacano]

Assure the following are met:

temperature not to exceed 80
Alk not to exceed 9
Ph not to exceed 8.3
Salinity not to exceed 1.025
Nitrate not to exceed.06
No crab with clam housing
Moderate water flow
Good lighting- not overly bright
CA not to exceed 450

Thanks! Everything seems to be in order currently in the tank as per this list, with the exception possibly of lighting as I do not have a PAR meter to verify...

 

[Macbalacano]

My unhappy clam thread...

Need some help with an unhappy "Dermosa" clam

I've had this 6" "Dermosa" clam for about 4 months with no issues. A couple months b4 that I implemented incremental AWC, and the tank had never looked better. In preparation for moving to a new tank, I decided to make sure my parameters were in sync with the tanks and decided to check...

www.reef2reef.com

It has stayed mostly closed for a month and a half. Mantle growth not looking good.

Moved it to new tank yesterday. Today it was half open and fluffier.

I could never figure out what was bothering it.

Funny thing is that the new tank parameters are almost the same as the old with the exception of Phosphate. I have my AWC add fresh ASW to old tank and move old tank water to new tank. Old tank is being decommissioned on Sunday.

Thanks for sharing this! I'm glad to hear your clam is doing better. It makes me feel better that yours went through a month of this and it stayed alive!

Hoping your clam goes back to normal moving forward in the new tank

 

[arking_mark]

Thanks for sharing this! I'm glad to hear your clam is doing better. It makes me feel better that yours went through a month of this and it stayed alive!

Hoping your clam goes back to normal moving forward in the new tank

I'm hoping it likes the new tank and recovers.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks! Everything seems to be in order currently in the tank as per this list, with the exception possibly of lighting as I do not have a PAR meter to verify...

What test kits are you using ?

 

[Uncle99]

Think he’s being bothered.
Wrasse?
Can be problematic with clams but not all.

 

[Macbalacano]

What test kits are you using ?

• Salinity (using calibrated refractometer)
• Alkalinity (Hanna)
• Calcium (Salifert)
• Magnesium (Salifert)]
• pH (Salifert)
• Nitrates (Salifert)
• Phosphates (Hanna ULR)

 

[Macbalacano]

Think he’s being bothered.
Wrasse?
Can be problematic with clams but not all.

I thought that could be possible too, but have never ever seen the wrasses touch the clam.

The only things that annoy it are the shrimps sometimes walk over it during feeding time or snails cleaning its shell occasionally. But it would always go back to normal right after.

 

[arking_mark]

• Salinity (using calibrated refractometer)
• Alkalinity (Hanna)
• Calcium (Salifert)
• Magnesium (Salifert)]
• pH (Salifert)
• Nitrates (Salifert)
• Phosphates (Hanna ULR)

Word of warning on refractometers. Based on my experiences with a red sea and brs models, I don't trust them at all. I have since moved to conductivity meters. Highly recommend.

 

[bsagea]

Nice clam!

Wow 30 of them! What happened?

No idea honestly! I refer to it as the clam plague. Day after day I would lose one until all were gone except for a blue squamosa. All fine one day, sunk in the next. Never found a predator - guessing it was some bacteria that affected them. The squamosa seemed unbothered by whatever it was. A couple weeks later,
I unfortunately knocked him off the rock he had attached to and tore his bysal. He was gone (2) days later.

 

[Macbalacano]

No idea honestly! I refer to it as the clam plague. Day after day I would lose one until all were gone except for a blue squamosa. All fine one day, sunk in the next. Never found a predator - guessing it was some bacteria that affected them. The squamosa seemed unbothered by whatever it was. A couple weeks later,
I unfortunately knocked him off the rock he had attached to and tore his bysal. He was gone (2) days later.

Ah wow, such gorgeous clams! I'm sorry to hear about all these losses. It breaks my heart as a fellow clam lover

I'd love to have more clams too if they weren't so finicky. I think they're one of the coolest animals in a reef!

 

[bsagea]

Ah wow, such gorgeous clams! I'm sorry to hear about all these losses. It breaks my heart as a fellow clam lover

I'd love to have more clams too if they weren't so finicky. I think they're one of the coolest animals in a reef!

It was devestating for me! At first, I had lost several clams to a fireworm. My tankmaster finally got him out and I had my clams anywhere from 6 mos to 4 1/2 years when the plague hit. It was awhile before I tried several again and lost those to a polyclad flatworm! I think clams are one of the most beautiful and intriguing marine animals out there! Sometimes I guess it's just not meant to be!

 

[anthonygf]

Assure the following are met:

temperature not to exceed 80
Alk not to exceed 9
Ph not to exceed 8.3
Salinity not to exceed 1.025
Nitrate not to exceed.06
No crab with clam housing
Moderate water flow
Good lighting- not overly bright
CA not to exceed 450

No crab with clam housing: Just curious, what do you mean by this? I have also gotten rid of all my crabs.
And, Nitrate not to exceed.06; I have a squamosa for close to 2 years now and my nitrates for a long time were in the 15 to 25 range and is still fine, Just now started getting it lower to around 10. Not saying you are wrong, just hope my squamy will not perish.

 

[vetteguy53081]

No crab with clam housing: Just curious, what do you mean by this? I have also gotten rid of all my crabs.
And, Nitrate not to exceed.06; I have a squamosa for close to 2 years now and my nitrates for a long time were in the 15 to 25 range and is still fine, Just now started getting it lower to around 10. Not saying you are wrong, just hope my squamy will not perish.

There is a little cavity where you can peek into shell and occasionally a shrimp or crab resides within. Shrimp is ok, crab is not
If you google, you will see crab in clam pics and warnings

 

[anthonygf]

There is a little cavity where you can peek into shell and occasionally a shrimp or crab resides within. Shrimp is ok, crab is not
If you google, you will see crab in clam pics and warnings

Wow. Did not know that. Thanks.

 

[jeffrey750750]

I can tell you that feeding ReefRoids can definitely suffocate a clam though I'm sure others will say that's impossible! I fed ReefRoids and my (2) blue squamosas immediately closed up and never recovered. I don't feed that in my tank with my clams anymore. I'm sure they will say there's no connection, but I had my (2) blue squamosas for 6 months and had no issue with them until I put ReefRoids in that tank. I don't put that in with my clams anymore.

Interesting read, I lost 7 clams in the matter of two week months ago and was feeding the tank reef roids. Couldn't ever figure out what happened. I lost the most loved animals in my tank and im afraid to try again.

 

[bsagea]

Interesting read, I lost 7 clams in the matter of two week months ago and was feeding the tank reef roids. Couldn't ever figure out what happened. I lost the most loved animals in my tank and im afraid to try again.

So sorry for your losses! I never had any issue with my blue squamosas until I put ReefRoids in my tank. They closed up and never really opened again. Lost both of them within a week and that's the only explanation though I'm sure there are others out there that would highly disagree!

 

[Macbalacano]

So sorry for your losses! I never had any issue with my blue squamosas until I put ReefRoids in my tank. They closed up and never really opened again. Lost both of them within a week and that's the only explanation though I'm sure there are others out there that would highly disagree!

Thanks for also sharing your experience! So interesting, I've been reading so much about clams for months on this forum and others, and I have never seen a connection be made about the kind of food that we feed our tanks and the health of clams.

This is really the reason I want to keep documenting this and encouraging others to share their experience so that others in the community can learn. I find information about clams really lacking compared to other animals in this hobby.

 

[Macbalacano]

Update: It has been 8 days since my post and the clam is back to being completely open for the past couple of days since my last update.

Here are my new observations:

• As per my last update, I had rotated the clam 90 degrees. I noticed that there is a montipora that is slightly shading half of the clam. It seems happy in the spot, so i'm not sure if its happy because it is getting slightly less light?
  
  
• I fed LRS Nano yesterday evening and the clam was not happy immediately after the feeding for a few hours. I wonder if similar to Reef-Roids, if there is something in the food that the is 'choking' or 'suffocating' the clam? I do not have any issues with feeding the tank anything else, but LRS Nano and Reef-Roids definitely results in a negative response!

Please keep sharing your experiences and thoughts

 

[Macbalacano]

Update: It has been 12 days since my post and the clam is back to being completely open for the past days since my update. I think we're in the clear! Thanks everyone for your help and support!

 

[ocboat]

That's great news.