Clam gaping terribly, what to do?!

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

My clam that I got a couple of months ago has been all merry and good till like a few hours ago. I came up to the tank and the shell was very wide open, but the skin was retracted and you could even see through one of the mouths to the sand bed. The only sign of trouble before this was that the clam wouldn’t attach to my rockwork. This is after a recent move, but before this it seemed pretty dang okay. I slowly manually shut the clam as it looked terrible, but I don’t know what to do.

params are as follows:

nitrate: 25
Magnesium: 1292
Alkalinity: 7.0
Calcium: 475

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Clam has started to open back up, still looking terrible:

 

[DeniseAndy]

Sorry, your clam is dead. They tend to go fast with little warning at times.
Best environment for clams is stable reef parameters, not too much flow, lots of light, nothing to bother them (shrimp, fish, snails, etc).

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Apex has shown perfectly stable params, I honestly don’t understand what could have happened. I only have 3 fish, 2 goby’s and a clownfish, and it is in a fairly low flow spot. Lighting is a little low at the bottom but that shouldn’t cause instant death.

It was literally fine at lunch 3 hours ago.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Clams are really sensitive creatures and they go so fast. Sometimes it seems all its good, but nope, dead next day or hours later.
May not have been anything you did directly.
Could have been something introduced like cuc? Check for pyramid snails on bottom of clam. If have any, wait at least 6 months before adding a new clam. May also have to rid the tank of snails to have them die off. Hate those guys.
Could have been just lack of nutrients from lights or water.
Could have been ill when you got it and it took a while to finally say done.
It is a baby, so they can be a bit harder to predict.

Sorry. Over the years I have lost clams very unexpectedly and had them take months and months to pass from pinched mantle. They are definitely delicate.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Clams are really sensitive creatures and they go so fast. Sometimes it seems all its good, but nope, dead next day or hours later.
May not have been anything you did directly.
Could have been something introduced like cuc? Check for pyramid snails on bottom of clam. If have any, wait at least 6 months before adding a new clam. May also have to rid the tank of snails to have them die off. Hate those guys.
Could have been just lack of nutrients from lights or water.
Could have been ill when you got it and it took a while to finally say done.
It is a baby, so they can be a bit harder to predict.

Sorry. Over the years I have lost clams very unexpectedly and had them take months and months to pass from pinched mantle. They are definitely delicate.

Thank you for your help. I don’t have any clean up crew in the tank other than a small population of weird half shelled snails that have been in the system for 2 years. I don’t see any pyramid snails. I also bought it directly from the breeder who has raised it since birth ( 2 years ) so I really just don’t understand.

 

[DeniseAndy]

So sorry. I have nothing to say, but it happens. I am sure there is a reason, but pin pointing it could prove impossible for us mere mortals.
I have raised clams from 3/4" to over 3" for them to die on me while on vacation. It is no fun, but part of reef life I guess.
Make sure you have good penetrating light next time and I hope it goes better. Make sure to keep up on Ca, Alk, Mg for growth.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

So sorry. I have nothing to say, but it happens. I am sure there is a reason, but pin pointing it could prove impossible for us mere mortals.
I have raised clams from 3/4" to over 3" for them to die on me while on vacation. It is no fun, but part of reef life I guess.
Make sure you have good penetrating light next time and I hope it goes better. Make sure to keep up on Ca, Alk, Mg for growth.

Thank you for all your help. Probably won’t be trying a clam again. I may do an icp test to see if anything is up.

 

[happyhourhero]

Any nassarius snails? Sometimes whelks are mixed in and can take out a clam. Should that one have been in the rocks?

 

[DeniseAndy]

It is very heartbreaking to see our animals die. Hardest part of this hobby.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Any nassarius snails? Sometimes whelks are mixed in and can take out a clam. Should that one have been in the rocks?

I have one. It is in the sand bed all of the time. The shell and little horn and size all look like a nassarius.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

It is very heartbreaking to see our animals die. Hardest part of this hobby.

Literally all the body’s of water I keep except for 2 have experienced a death in the last week, it is not a good time right now.

 

[MartinM]

Mysterious clam deaths are usually due to slow starvation over time. Likely PAR wasn’t enough. You listed some of your params but not the most important one for clams, which is PAR. Also, you should always see white shell (new growth) when the mantle retracts. If they’re not growing, they’re dying, even if they “look healthy”.