Can't keep a clam alive! About to give up.

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

IME when a clam dies in a couple of days, unless it's a very small 1" clam, it's generally something in the tank has a taste for clam even if you don't notice it, or the clam just wasn't very healthy to start with which seems to be more often than not and shipping or new tank stress does it in. What size were they? How did they end up going? That is extended fully then dead or progression of slowly closed? Did they have white growth around the shell when you bought them (most important).

tank is 300 gal and been up for 7 yrs. clams were 2.25-2.5" from Liveaquaria. they all were open normally for few days and then one morning you can see mantle shrinking losing grip and within a day or 2 mantle is all gone. clams were clean on the shell

 

[hart24601]

I have had bad luck with LA clams the past year or two. Did you notice when looking at the shell nice white new growth on the edge? The past two I got from divers den didn't have this much to my surprise.

 

[4FordFamily]

Larger clams tend to be hardier for those of us that aren’t experts 5-6” being my favorite size with the best luck.

Also, I don’t dose much, spottily dose calcium and alk. I have kept clams for years with success 2-3 at a time in my 180. They need a pretty established tank and don’t like pristine water. On the other hand, really dirty water isn’t appreciated, either.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

I have had bad luck with LA clams the past year or two. Did you notice when looking at the shell nice white new growth on the edge? The past two I got from divers den didn't have this much to my surprise.

Larger clams tend to be hardier for those of us that aren’t experts 5-6” being my favorite size with the best luck.

Also, I don’t dose much, spottily dose calcium and alk. I have kept clams for years with success 2-3 at a time in my 180. They need a pretty established tank and don’t like pristine water. On the other hand, really dirty water isn’t appreciated, either.

there was just a very small area of white around the shell where mantle overlaps and thats about it.
i think too clean water is the problem in my tank and i use sulfur denitrator and have to dose nitrates to keep it at 2 ppm and lanthanum to reduce phos to almost 0.

 

[hart24601]

It can be really tricky to ID what exactly does those little guys in. FWIW I have kept clams with just a hint of nitrate color on salifert test and hanna ultra low at 0ppb (of course there was phosphate from feeding the livestock several times a day). It generally should take more than a week for a clam to die of starvation via lights or nutrients unless there was no other livestock in the tank as clams can uptake urea from the water.

A fish might have also been picking on them, I have seen many clam safe fish like tangs get a taste for clam mantle, it's hit and miss sadly and really hard to tell because it might only happen a couple times a day. I had to record my tank to tell.

Sorry don't have more satisfying answers, sometimes you can plop one in and everything is great for years, other times it's a struggle to just get one.

 

[4FordFamily]

there was just a very small area of white around the shell where mantle overlaps and thats about it.
i think too clean water is the problem in my tank and i use sulfur denitrator and have to dose nitrates to keep it at 2 ppm and lanthanum to reduce phos to almost 0.

The chemistry is probably the culprit, I am pretty knowledgeable but certainly not a clam expert, however

 

[hart24601]

I wouldn't directly jump to the chemistry. Here was an old system of mine. 0ppb phosphate. 0ppm nirtate although I tried to dose to keep some color with salifert test. 7" tear drop, 6" Maximas, and a derasa hiding there.

 

[OriginalUserName]

I'm in the same boat. I'm on my second shot at keeping a clam. My parms and lighting etc. are all fine. I'm keeping SPS but stupid clams do well for a couple weeks and then kick off on me. This new one isn't dead yet but I'm pretty sure it was gaping this morning. I'll know when I get home.