HPS Light for Clam QT?

[josephxsxn]

Wanted to give people an updated photo for folks to get a feel for how I am doing this and tools I started using to clean them up. Beyond the obvious heater, 2x 5000k 150w (20w used) led flood lights, submersible pump going into a filter sock. For top off tracking I am just using a blue piece of tape, when it's at the bottom I add RO to the top. Also have a toothbrush, polymer based gun picks (won't rust), water pick, and a lamp with magnification lens in it.

Set the clams on their sides, I was reading somewhere this will annoy them into releasing. Two of them did seem a bit loser today.

 

[josephxsxn]

Removed the clams today from the shells they were on.. Very stressful feeling but its done now, hopefully I did no harm. One of the three was very slimy around the byssal/foot opening were the other two were not. Also found two more snails hiding away that would not have been found without removing them from the shells.

 

[josephxsxn]

Had not found any of the snails for a few cleanings but tonight I found another such a pain to defeat. I didn't want to have to break the scuttles but starting to think I have no choice to be able to clean them thoroughly.

 

[OrionN]

I just break the scutes. If you clams are doing well and growing they have more in mo time. You really look at the mantle, not the scutes anyway.

 

[josephxsxn]

Founds more snails to day.. Broke all the scutes this morning too, was trying to keep them becuase I view it as part of the beauty of the clams but oviously its not enabling me to get rid of these snails.. At this point I am suspecting that my clams will all be dying in QT.. The gold one seems like it doesnt like to close anymore unless very stressed, and the two blues have bleaching starting up (lighting in the mantle.) I am pretty dispointed in both myself and the vendor (https://pacificeastaquaculture.com/) who was toted as the go to for clams. I never expected this to take weeks to try and resolve, never realized how lucky I was on my last clam to never have any of these..

 

[GlassMunky]

Founds more snails to day.. Broke all the scutes this morning too, was trying to keep them becuase I view it as part of the beauty of the clams but oviously its not enabling me to get rid of these snails.. At this point I am suspecting that my clams will all be dying in QT.. The gold one seems like it doesnt like to close anymore unless very stressed, and the two blues have bleaching starting up (lighting in the mantle.) I am pretty dispointed in both myself and the vendor (https://pacificeastaquaculture.com/) who was toted as the go to for clams. I never expected this to take weeks to try and resolve, never realized how lucky I was on my last clam to never have any of these..

Why not just actually tag them and see what they have to say?
@PacificEastAquaculture

 

[josephxsxn]

Why not just actually tag them and see what they have to say?
@PacificEastAquaculture

I have reached out to them before and was given directions when I received the clams, its pretty much expected from the documents they provide that they will have these snails.. More in shock that its been over a month and still no luck after cleaning them repeatdly.. Now that could very well be on me as I am no expert in clams and have never cleaned or QTed them before. Just frustrated at this point and sad to believe they are going to die on me after all this trying.

The only thing easy to change at this point is the lighting on the QT, I have a A360X I can put over this take to replace the Floods. But from the feedback here the floods should be acceptable as I have a par meter and they are in adequate 300+ par.

 

[Vwluv10338]

That’s disappointing. I got my last clam from them 15 years ago since I only live about 1.5 hours away. I never qt back then and under my MH my blue maxima grew like crazy. I miss it and now clams are way more expensive. My tanks now is too new and dry rock sucks so I’m still waiting before I stop in there for a new clam.

 

[GlassMunky]

I have reached out to them before and was given directions when I received the clams, its pretty much expected from the documents they provide that they will have these snails.. More in shock that its been over a month and still no luck after cleaning them repeatdly.. Now that could very well be on me as I am no expert in clams and have never cleaned or QTed them before. Just frustrated at this point and sad to believe they are going to die on me after all this trying.

The only thing easy to change at this point is the lighting on the QT, I have a A360X I can put over this take to replace the Floods. But from the feedback here the floods should be acceptable as I have a par meter and they are in adequate 300+ par.

I dunno.... there’s tons of vendors out there who sell clams that aren’t infested with pests. I know I wouldn’t happy, and wouldn’t do return business if that’s just what they expect you to deal with and are ok with it.
that’s like knowingly selling acros with AEFW....

 

[josephxsxn]

@GlassMunky here I scanned the arrival document. To be clear I understand that most of the animals we get in this hobby are going to be sick or have some problems.. I'm not trying to blame this vendor.. as I've said before I am also no expert. but if these clams don't make it I will likely try the ORA clams from algae barn.

Bullet #4 is effectively covering this scenario in my opinion. Where it talks about naturally occurring predators and pests that while they do attempt to clean off can make it through the process and are my responsibility to get rid of.


--Edit removed the image as I realized it had a copyright on it and dont want to create any problems; I respect peoples copyrights and work-

 

[GlassMunky]

@GlassMunky here I scanned the arrival document. To be clear I understand that most of the animals we get in this hobby are going to be sick or have some problems.. I'm not trying to blame this vendor.. as I've said before I am also no expert. but if these clams don't make it I will likely try the ORA clams from algae barn.

Bullet #4 is effectively covering this scenario in my opinion. Where it talks about naturally occurring predators and pests that while they do attempt to clean off can make it through the process and are my responsibility to get rid of.


--Edit removed the image as I realized it had a copyright on it and dont want to create any problems; I respect peoples copyrights and work-

Yea again, from everything you’ve posted, I’d find a different more reputable vendor. That’s crazy ness.
personally I’d stick to aquaculture clams as you know for sure they are pest free.

 

[josephxsxn]

I’d stick to aquaculture clams as you know for sure they are pest free.

These are listed as cultured clams. My understanding of clam culturing is they are still grown out in the oceans, but perhaps thats incorrect. 100% with you on aquaculture first.

 

[GlassMunky]

These are listed as cultured clams. My understanding of clam culturing is they are still grown out in the oceans, but perhaps thats incorrect. 100% with you on aquaculture first.

Mariculture and Aquaculture are different.

pacific east farms their clams in the ocean so they can come with any and all pests.
people like ORA, Aquaculture them in grow out tanks and are never in the ocean.

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

We have 3 farms that we work with to obtain clams. Two are land based systems and the third combines ocean culture and land based systems. Even cultured clams can have naturally occuring pests. Each clam is cleaned upon arrival and before shipping. We recommend inspecting, cleaning, and QT. We handle and sell many thousands of clams and do everything possible to offer quality animals.

Some informational videos I've posted over the years

 

[outerbank]

Pyramid Snails are one of the worst pests to deal with. Assume they are present on all mariculture and wild clams or any clams mixed with the above. I quarantine my clams for at least a month. I try to have them PS free for at least three weeks before I add them to the tank. The problem is it is so easy to miss a few eggs or tiny PS before adding them to the display tank. Make sure to keep observing the clams after you add them to the display tank and pull from tank and thoroughly inspect every 2 weeks or so for several months before feeling you have removed them all. But never forget to always keep an eye on them for PS. These dang snails seem to always come out of nowhere. If the clam has no PS, it should grow fast. If growing slows, then start suspecting PS and start checking the clams. IME, PS seem most active around midnight to 2 AM, which is 2-4 hours after my lights turn off.

It would be great if someone such as a marine biologist, hobbiest, etc. would study PS. It would be so helpful to know how long egg gestation takes, what size the snails need to be to reproduce, age of reproduction, lifespan, etc This would be very helpful information. I wish I had the time

 

[josephxsxn]

Thanks for the support folks, Not giving up yet just have that dread feeling coming.

Cleaning them again this morning and found 3 more.. gosh one was so tiny I wouldn't have seen it without magnification. A big lesson learned here for me is that in the future the first 2 things I'll do to new clams is 1) remove from its rock so you can clean around the foot, 2) remove all scutes so when you scrub it with a brush your really getting it clean.

 

[josephxsxn]

Found 4 more in the last week, but they are all very small compared to any found before. Hopefully we are getting close to breaking the lifecycle! Was trying to think up ways to make it simpler to identify them and one idea was to switch to black sand for this to provide contrast. I feel like the blue one is starting to regain some color so I am hopeful that eventually the blue and teal will get out of QT. The Gold I am a bit more worried about as it seems like it hangs open alot more and looks light inside.

 

[josephxsxn]

The last 2 Saturdays of cleanings have produced no snails! I really feel like I should wait another week and have a 3rd no snails check before moving them to the display but I feel they are looking very poor and it would be good for them to get into a better more stable and mature environment. The Gold clam that I was concerned about eventually passed, leaving me with only the teal and blue currently.

 

[outerbank]

The last 2 Saturdays of cleanings have produced no snails! I really feel like I should wait another week and have a 3rd no snails check before moving them to the display but I feel they are looking very poor and it would be good for them to get into a better more stable and mature environment. The Gold clam that I was concerned about eventually passed, leaving me with only the teal and blue currently.

Great. If I would place them in the display tank. I would keep them on the shell. Take them out once a week for a couple weeks to clean, including the shell they are attached too. Then check one more time in about 2 weeks. It doesn't hurt to check once every so often in the future to make sure no snails appear.

 

[josephxsxn]

Wanted to thank everyone for thier help here. As of this morning the 2 survivors have been moved into my frag tank were I can give them more observation before going into the display tank. Here is a photo of them just starting to open up in thier new home.