Clam from DD in vey little water

[laga77]

Here is a photo of the Hippopus clam I received yesterday from DD. As you can see, there is barely enough water to cover the clam on the inside. It is oblivious that at some point in the journey, it was out of the water. I have just sent an email to them asking why they ship like this. I told myself I wasn't going to order clams from them because the last 2 did not make it. But I never see a Hippopus locally and the clam put the order into free shipping. I have other clams in my tank so keeping clams is not a problem for me. The clam has just started to open up so I really can't see how it is doing. I`ll post their reply when/if I get one.

 

[laga77]

Typical corporate response:

Thank you for your email to Live Aquaria. We sincerely apologize for the condition in which your clam shipped. We will be forwarding your picture and information to our aqua culture facility for review. We ask that you keep us updated on the health of the clam. Thank you for choosing Drs. Foster & Smith LiveAquaria for your live aquatic needs. You are a valued customer and we look forward to hearing from you in the future. Clam is opening up a little ,but looks like some gaping.

 

[laga77]

I received a phone call from LA last night telling me they would extend the warranty to 2/17. I told them this is not the first time this has happened to me and check my order history to confirm. Here is a photo from last night, it is hard to tell if there is some gaping at the upper left of shell. Hippo`s mantle does not go past the edge of shell like other clams.

 

[Tahoe61]

I have a Hippos from Live Aquaria and I love mine. Unfortunately your new clam does not look promising. The mantle always comes to the margins of the shell. See my thread below.



https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/h-hippopous-the-other-giant-clam.271526/

I am sure that LA will replace the clam.

 

[cody2cannon]

Are clams on the easier side to keep?

 

[laga77]

I have a Hippos from Live Aquaria and I love mine. Unfortunately your new clam does not look promising. The mantle always comes to the margins of the shell. See my thread below.



https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/h-hippopous-the-other-giant-clam.271526/

I am sure that LA will replace the clam.

Beautiful clams. I am glad it worked out for you. There are a few points that have gotten me mad dealing with LA/DD

1. This is not the first time I have received a clam like this as stated above. This company is killing a lot of clams.
2. Replacing and getting a credit for the price is two different things. I am going to fight for a replacement because they admitted not enough water.
3. Clams are not like fish when it comes to shipping. A fish will move to go with the water when the box is not upright. The way LA/DD ships clams, in small bags and with such small amounts of water, it is quite possible for the clam to become wedged in the bag and get stranded out of the water. I felt something had to be said... The clams I have now.

 

[lakereef]

I too have had many clams die from live aquaria and had similar experience to you getting a corporate response. I think they're moving so many that they don't care and it's sad.

Too little water is an easy fix but I think their clams are often sick. I would strongly recommend extended quarantining any clams you receive from them as I only put mine through 3 weeks qt and it ended up harboring disease that killed a dozen established clams some of which were 6"+ and had for over a year.

 

[laga77]

If you go to the other reef forum section on clams you will find a thread right under mine titled "live Aquaria clams". It deals with the same issues and post similar to mine. This should not have to be.

 

[laga77]

It is dead Got refund and I will never buy a clam from LA/DD again.

 

[Jason mack]

How awful .. !!! But I'm sure your posting on here will serve as a good warning for others .. !!

 

[Bdog4u2]

I've been buying from liveaquaria well over 10 years and have never had any fatalities. my coral beauty is over 10 years old that i got from them.

 

[lakereef]

I've been buying from liveaquaria well over 10 years and have never had any fatalities. my coral beauty is over 10 years old that i got from them.

How many clams have you gotten? Specially how many clams from divers den?

 

[Salty1962]

Their livestock and shipping practices have really gone down hill over the last year. I've ordered twice from them in the last year and both times the livestock was teetering on the verge of death, in my case fish. You'd think with all of the negative feedback about them they'd change but I haven't seen it yet. It's sad, their livestock was always some of the best.
Sorry for the lose of the clam, it looked like it would have been a nice one.

 

[Bdog4u2]

How many clams have you gotten? Specially how many clams from divers den?

2 clams from liveaquaria not DD. One of them i gave to a friend because it got to large and a Derasa that was about a inch when I got it and it's around 4 inches now

 

[laga77]

How awful .. !!! But I'm sure your posting on here will serve as a good warning for others .. !!

That was my intentions. The phone call from LA in response to the photo I sent them proves they know there is a problem.

I've been buying from liveaquaria well over 10 years and have never had any fatalities. my coral beauty is over 10 years old that i got from them.

Well about 2 years ago Petco bought LA/DD and the quality has gone to crap compared to how it was. Especially with clams. Along with the Hippo , I ordered a Balano NPS coral and a Rabbitfish. They are fine. A quick search on other forums will show that the frequency of bad clams from LA/DD has gone up along with more customer complaints about fish and corals.

 

[govolsguy31]

It is dead Got refund and I will never buy a clam from LA/DD again.

Man, that stinks. I can totally understand though. I had a derasa do the same exact thing from them a month back or so. I won't ever order from them again. I ordered 3 or 4 things from them. Derasa died quickly, yellow figi softy did the same (in just a few days), Blue Hippo tang came with bad case of ich. She's doing good now though, fortunately. I think she's the only thing that's made it from that single order. Never again.

 

[Bdog4u2]

I must be lucky I've ever got anything but excellent livestock from them. my last order was a leopard wrasse and after a week in the sand in his quarantine tank he was eating and within another week he was eating flakes. not all the blame can be put on liveaquaria he shippers are very rough with packages and some a$$holes are especially rough if it says fragile or live animals. my friend ho works for ups says some of the younger guys will punt the boxes into the truck when loading.

 

[3mm3]

Sorry about your clam.
I had no clue they sold out to Petco. I had purchased from them for over 10 years and never had an issue until my last order from them. Coral was dead on arrival.

 

[jason_mazzy]

I don't know about the shipping department BUT the ordering department and all the ladies that work there are amazing. I have even struck up what I might call an almost acquaintanceship with a few of them. Great people, friendly, willing to help.

 

[lakereef]

I don't know about the shipping department BUT the ordering department and all the ladies that work there are amazing. I have even struck up what I might call an almost acquaintanceship with a few of them. Great people, friendly, willing to help.

The ladies are the best! Just a shame the clams are so sick. Really wish they'd do something to correct as I'd love to buy some clams from them again but this thread tells me it's still a big problem.