Prophylactic FWD on wild caught maxima?

[Shark.Bait]

I’ve had a captive bred squamosa, deresa and maxima in my tank for several years and I was planning on getting a few wild caught maxima.

My plan is to QT them for a few months in a separate system as I’ve had random clam die offs in the past.

Is it worth prophylactic fresh water dips or antibiotic treatment given the low success rate of wild caught clams? Has anyone done this before?

I’m already quarantining so I want to give them the best shot at survival long term.

 

[Jordxn]

I’ve had a captive bred squamosa, deresa and maxima in my tank for several years and I was planning on getting a few wild caught maxima.

My plan is to QT them for a few months in a separate system as I’ve had random clam die offs in the past.

Is it worth prophylactic fresh water dips or antibiotic treatment given the low success rate of wild caught clams? Has anyone done this before?

I’m already quarantining so I want to give them the best shot at survival long term.

Wish the best of luck, a guy who has an on call fish vet and a 24/hr team of biologist who keep his aquaruim that his mansion was built around even had no success but are still trying. Might be worth following their story on ticktok.

 

[Shark.Bait]

Wish the best of luck, a guy who has an on call fish vet and a 24/hr team of biologist who keep his aquaruim that his mansion was built around even had no success but are still trying. Might be worth following their story on ticktok.

Yes I’m not exactly sure what’s going on there or where they are in their plan but it’s been interesting to follow.

 

[Jordxn]

Yes I’m not exactly sure what’s going on there or where they are in their plan but it’s been interesting to follow.

Still think it's crazy how they built the house around it, I know clams like nitrates to be on the higher side which is potentially where they are failing considering their filitration systems.

 

[rhitee93]

I'm not a calm expert, just an addict. (Put a 3rd one in my 120 last weekend...) Adding a new clam comes with disease risk as you know. Wild caught probably increases this. I'd say that keeping it in quarantine for a few months would greatly diminish the risk, but I don't know what I don't know.

A FWD seems to be the main preventative treatment, but it has limited scope/impact.

@OrionN Is the most active person on here that I look to for clam info.

 

[OrionN]

I am gun shy after loosing thousands of dollars in 2000 money of Clam. I QT all clams and anemones before they go into DT.
I f you QT them treating with FWD is not essential unless you diagnose the disease.
As I wrote in my writing , Dick Perrin, the owner of Tropicorium FWD all clams
I think if I don’t QT my clams, I would definitely FWD all my clams prior to put them to my DT.

 

[KrisReef]

I am gun shy after loosing thousands of dollars in 2000 money of Clam. I QT all clams and anemones before they go into DT.
I f you QT them treating with FWD is not essential unless you diagnose the disease.
As I wrote in my writing , Dick Perrin, the owner of Tropicorium FWD all clams
I think if I don’t QT my clams, I would definitely FWD all my clams prior to put them to my DT.

I learned from^^

I FW dip new clams because I don’t want to introduce PMS bacteria, if possible.

Edit: AI is so smart, it diagnosed my Pinched Mantle Disease as PMS!

 

[Shark.Bait]

I am gun shy after loosing thousands of dollars in 2000 money of Clam. I QT all clams and anemones before they go into DT.
I f you QT them treating with FWD is not essential unless you diagnose the disease.
As I wrote in my writing , Dick Perrin, the owner of Tropicorium FWD all clams
I think if I don’t QT my clams, I would definitely FWD all my clams prior to put them to my DT.

How long do you QT for? I’m thinking I will FWD and check for pyramid snails. Seems like there is not much more to do for potential treatments?

 

[dansyr]

I think @minus9 has been testing an oxaloacetate based dip / prophylaxis

 

[OrionN]

How long do you QT for? I’m thinking I will FWD and check for pyramid snails. Seems like there is not much more to do for potential treatments?

I QT until I know that the animal is well and growing

 

[hart24601]

I QT until I know that the animal is well and growing

This is what I would do too. I also lost my clam only system to disease, 100+ clams over a couple years, maybe 10k…

FWIW I wouldn’t stress the clam with a fwd at this point. I have not seen true pmd in many years and fwd don’t seem to do anything to the other pathogens that seem to be in the hobby.

QT until see growth and then be very careful about new additions.

 

[Shark.Bait]

This is what I would do too. I also lost my clam only system to disease, 100+ clams over a couple years, maybe 10k…

FWIW I wouldn’t stress the clam with a fwd at this point. I have not seen true pmd in many years and fwd don’t seem to do anything to the other pathogens that seem to be in the hobby.

QT until see growth and then be very careful about new additions.

Wow that’s terrible, must have been tough.

Have you ever tried antibiotic usage?

I wonder why it’s so difficult on a hobbyist level compared to something like clam mania who seems to keep them in closed systems without issue.

 

[minus9]

I am gun shy after loosing thousands of dollars in 2000 money of Clam. I QT all clams and anemones before they go into DT.
I f you QT them treating with FWD is not essential unless you diagnose the disease.
As I wrote in my writing , Dick Perrin, the owner of Tropicorium FWD all clams
I think if I don’t QT my clams, I would definitely FWD all my clams prior to put them to my DT.

We were "dipping" clams in fw when I worked there in the 90's. Dick famously left some clams in a dip for well over an hour one time and they were completely fine. One thing people forget is, these clams are exposed to air during low tide and it rains all the time in the tropics, so they experience plenty of fresh water in nature.

 

[hart24601]

Wow that’s terrible, must have been tough.

Have you ever tried antibiotic usage?

I wonder why it’s so difficult on a hobbyist level compared to something like clam mania who seems to keep them in closed systems without issue.

I did try a “cocktail” of antibiotics on a few clams without success.

I think it’s timeframe for hobby vs sellers. A few months tend to be just fine then the decline starts. I suspect sellers just have new stock. But that’s just a guess, no one seems to know.

 

[OrionN]

We were "dipping" clams in fw when I worked there in the 90's. Dick famously left some clams in a dip for well over an hour one time and they were completely fine. One thing people forget is, these clams are exposed to air during low tide and it rains all the time in the tropics, so they experience plenty of fresh water in nature.

I talk to him back then. That was how I ended up treating PMD with dipping in fresh water. I was loosing many thousands of dollars in clams. I had a 420 gal tank with a lot of most beautiful clams. I was never able to reacquired many of my most beautiful Crocea and Maxima clams.