Big derasa clam..bit the dust

[t blackwell]

I am just running this by the experts on clams. I had a nice large derasa clam that I put in my 50 cube. I got this clam about 8 weeks ago. I ordered a small squamosa but they (aquarium creations online) didnt have one they liked the look of..so he sent me a derasa..and I mean a nice..huge pretty derasa..6 inches..I once had a small one in my large 230 tank and it did fine for a couple months and then declined..this one I was watching carefully..it looked so nice and healthy..water in that tank is very stable..good parameters...no issues... I did notice the clam kind of maneuvering its position in the sand occasionally..but it seemed very happy. one time I noticed on the bottom of the side a crab or snail on the shell..but I assumed he was eating something off the shell..he was down close to the foot area. all of a sudden ..like within a one day period..the clam quickly declined..and the next day it was dead..all paramters have been recently tested and nothing stands out..I want to learn from my mistakes...so I would love to hear from the clam people..I am really bummed I lost this thing..It was so nice and I got this huge one for the price of a small one.

 

[SPR1968]

Well I am not a clam expert and hopefully one will show up, but the exact same thing happened to mine. Crabs around the foot, shell etc then overnight it was gone and being eaten by the hords of hermit crabs the next mourning, very gruesome!

I seem to remember reading afterwards that they can eat into/through the foot area, or dig through it to get inside and kill it.

 

[t blackwell]

ha! I knew it...so I lost my awesome clam because of a stupid hermit crab! now I must slaughter all the crabs! lol im kidding..but I wish I had known that crabs would do that to clams..I would have gone ahead and tried to put it somewhere it would be harder for them to get to. I loved that clam..sheesh..so what are you supposed to do to limit this..is it a certain kind..I do have a halloween hermit and a electric blue hermit..as well as some typical blue legs...

 

[Scotty Buttons]

What kind of snails were on the shell? Did you inspect it for pyramid snails? @DSC reef

 

[DesertReefT4r]

It is very possible that being a large clam is was wild collected. It is very very common for the foot to be damaged in the collection process. This will cause the clam to slowly die due to the damage and most likely bacterial infection. Another possibility is that clams need to fed, they are heavy plankton filter feeders and providing a food source is a must. In smaller tanks this can be problematic due to the smaller water volume. Clams will quickly filter out all plankton and starve or over feeding is easy causing water quality issues.

 

[saltyhog]

It is very possible that being a large clam is was wild collected. It is very very common for the foot to be damaged in the collection process. This will cause the clam to slowly die due to the damage and most likely bacterial infection. Another possibility is that clams need to fed, they are heavy plankton filter feeders and providing a food source is a must. In smaller tanks this can be problematic due to the smaller water volume. Clams will quickly filter out all plankton and starve or over feeding is easy causing water quality issues.

I'll have to disagree here. Most clams do not need to be fed but only need good lighting and stable water parameters.

 

[Phil D.]

I kept my Maxima in a 28g JBJ for 5 years before moving him to my E-260. Sounds like it may have been pyramid snail. Here's my clam.

 

[hart24601]

Did you ever see new shell near the mantle?


If it wasn't doing well when you got it 8 weeks isn't unheard of for it to die off, it might have been nothing you did or the system. Generally most "reef safe" hermits are no issue for clams until they die and then they eat it. Clams a lot of time look totally fine and then die overnight but they might have been sick for a couple months.

Not very satisfying of answer I know, but a lot of times with clams we just don't know exactly what happened.