Maxima clam dying...worm?

[Miami Reef]

I want to know why my Maxima clam is dying. Calcium around 460 and alk 8-9

Lighting is ai hydra 52 I placed it high up and it was doing well until 2-3 weeks after. I haven’t had it for a month and it’s dying now.

Nitrates at .05
Phosphates: .25 last time I checked.
No ammonia, or nitrites.

I have a derasa clam that’s doing very well.

I just checked it now and I see a worm on it. What is that?

Here is the worm and the clam:

Also, I fed the tank Reef-Roids once a week while he was alive.

 

[xjiang7]

I’m sorry but the clam seems to be a goner if not already dead. The worm may just be a scavenger

 

[Miami Reef]

How can I find out what killed it so I can prevent other things in my tank from dying? I have some soft and lps corals.

 

[sfin52]

where did you get it from. Some suppliers are better than others. @DSC reef and @Lovemyreef2015 can you folks help

 

[Miami Reef]

I got it from the lfs. I have no clue where he got it from. I bought a derasa clam from a different lfs and it’s good, but I know that derasa’s are easier.

 

[Softhammer]

That’s just the nature of the beast unfortunately. Most likely nothing you did either. Those tiny clams just have a miserable survival rate. I won’t touch them anymore, even for free. Squamosa, derasa, Gigas, and hipopus do ok when small but croceas and even more so maximas are just so delicate when less than 3-4”. Not to mention they are expensive as hell for something almost certain to die. Others will chime in and say theirs are fine but I challenge you to find anyone with a full grown clam that they got at that size. Few and far between.

 

[Miami Reef]

Ok. I feel a bit better that it wasn’t my fault. The owner at the lfs wanted to sell it for 120. I negotiated for 90 and got it at the end. I’m sad that I lost 90 bucks like that, and he had much bigger ones for over 200. As a beginner, I didn’t want to invest in such an expensive clam if it was my first one.

 

[Hemmdog]

Ok. I feel a bit better that it wasn’t my fault. The owner at the lfs wanted to sell it for 120. I negotiated for 90 and got it at the end. I’m sad that I lost 90 bucks like that, and he had much bigger ones for over 200. As a beginner, I didn’t want to invest in such an expensive clam if it was my first one.

Idk if I’d trust that LFS then, that’s about a $50 clam when it was alive. Sorry for your loss. The high phosphates and no nitrates may have been bad to. Reef roids is full of phosphates. Feed frozen mysis shrimp to your tank to increase nitrate to 5.

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m sorry. I made a typo. The nitrates are 5.00. I got mixed up.

I honestly don’t trust him either. I rarely ever buy from him because you have to negotiate for literally everything there.
I went there after a long time and I saw those maxima clams for the first time in my life and I couldn’t say no.

 

[xjiang7]

It depends a lot on how healthy the clam was before you brought it. If it doesn’t have new growth on the rim of the shell or doesn’t respond to shadow movement don’t buy it. Also, maxima needs a lot of light to survive.

 

[DSC reef]

There is a worm in the video that is concerning. It resembles an Oenonid worm which are predatory to clams and snails. In the video it doesn't appear to move like a bristleworm. The valve of your clam actually looks good with new growth, sorry for the loss. Clams that are cultured do not have the poor survival rate like always mentioned. Buying from a quality vendor like Pacific east would be a good choice. I'd avoid larger clams due to most likely being wild caught. The reason you don't find many people that have full grown maximas from small cultured 2" babies is because they grow very slow and also, not everyone with a clam is on reef to reef. Trust me, they are out there. A member posted not long ago and showed his nice blue maxima he grew from a tiny 2" and he got it from Petco. We grew quite few baby maximas from ORA that were 30 dollars each and growing very well until a divers den clam wiped out our collection. Feel free to look up Pacific east as DR. Mac has some good info on his baby clams and he knows a bit about survivability.

 

[hotashes]

I by no means would suggest I’m an expert by a long shot, especially only having started in the hobby beginning of April 2018. My tank is just over a year old and was set up ‘skip cycled’ using live rock. I got my first ever clam end of April 2018 and took my chances. It was a blue Maxima clam sized at 1”

After taking advice from the likes of @DSC reef & @jda I managed to learn enough to keep it alive. It’s still with me a year on (blue Maxima on left, Crocea on right)

As seen above I went on to add a Crocea which has also shown good growth.

Then I added a nice Derasa

Having kept these three variations happily in my 14 gallon nano

I decided recently to add another two Maxima clams, of which again are 1” in size

Cleaned them up thoroughly and removed the scoots as I found it easier to clean their shells due to finding flatworms on them. Being so tiny I knew it would go unnoticed once they grow bigger

Here they are today in my display tank

Happy reefing, and apologies for your loss OP.

A.

 

[DSC reef]

@hotashes look at that growth, that is awesome! I'm very happy to see your clams and system doing so well. Also, that plate coral has some nice color.

 

[Miami Reef]

@hotashes, I am envious of your clams! You’re making me want to buy another derasa...or 3! That’s beautiful coloration. Does it look kinda dull from the side for you? Mine doesn’t have that type of coloring.

 

[hotashes]

Hey thanks man, to be honest the blue edges always look bright. The brownish colour can be more dull between each Derasa, I think I got a luck one ;)

This is just blues.

A.

 

[Miami Reef]

Amazing!

Update with the maxima. The mouth was slightly open, and I was trying to remove it because I thought it was dead, and when I touched it, it’s mantle shut, meaning it’s alive.

Is there hope for it?

 

[Softhammer]

Probably not, out of dozens of clams that I have had, never has one made a comeback.

 

[DSC reef]

Amazing!

Update with the maxima. The mouth was slightly open, and I was trying to remove it because I thought it was dead, and when I touched it, it’s mantle shut, meaning it’s alive.

Is there hope for it?

Typically once gaping has set in, it's done for.

 

[Miami Reef]

I threw him out...

In other news...I went to the good lfs that I got my derasa clam from, intending to buy some CUC and maybe some corals, and I stopped by something that I couldn’t say no to.

They had 2 similar sized, but this one had a great reaction when I moved my hand under the light. I literally could not say no and I can’t stop looking at it. I’m hoping, praying that this guy stays living.

Question: I’m leaving it on the sand bed to light acclimate it. Will I eventually need to get him up the rocks? The tank is tall and I have a lot of LPS corals and anemones and I don’t want them stinging it. I do have a place or two that I can put him, but I won’t even be able to see the mantle because it’s high, unless I point him towards the side view of the tank.

I will post a full tank video for you to visualize and maybe help me find out where to place it.

Edit: the mantle looks retracted in the 2nd pic because I turned on the white lights for a second to get a better picture, and he didn’t like that sudden change.

 

[DSC reef]

That looks like a larger maxima, possibly wild caught. You will need to move him up as they require a lot of light. Mantles can be resistant to stings but not immune.