Clam issue...

[Mussin]

Picked up this maxima clam last sunday at a frag swap. It's prly 6-8" blue maxima. Problem is it has only opened up about 1/2". It reacts to light/shadows, it's attached to the bottom, just won't open up. The guy I got it from said it's an ora clam. I don't think i have any fish that would bother it. Any ideas?

 

[Mussin]

My livestock is as follows. . Yellow tang, kole tang, pair of clowns, green clown goby, pj cardnial, and a starry blenny.

This is in a 120 with a 4' reefbreeder led light. I've kept clams brfore with good success untill my flame angle got a taste for them.

 

[kuruptko]

Picked up this maxima clam last sunday at a frag swap. It's prly 6-8" blue maxima. Problem is it has only opened up about 1/2". It reacts to light/shadows, it's attached to the bottom, just won't open up. The guy I got it from said it's an ora clam. I don't think i have any fish that would bother it. Any ideas?

Mine did the same thing when it was on the sand but I moved into a rock and he started opening up tried moving into a rock on top

 

[Mussin]

How do I unattach the foot? Don't want to hurt it.

 

[ocboat]

What lighting was it under before you got it? They can take a lot of light but it may need to acclimate to your lights if it was under weaker lighting.

 

[DSC reef]

Is the foot attached to glass below the sand Bed? It looks like it's starting to gape, the mantle is retracted pretty good. Make sure the blenny isn't harassing it.

 

[Mussin]

Yea the foot is attached to the glass, I haven't noticed the blenny messing with him.. I think it's the lighting. He said he runs aqua mars fixtures blues only at 100% . What would be the best way to acclimate it to my lighting?

 

[DSC reef]

The foot should be easy to remove from the glass with a sharp blade or algae scraper, you shouldn't need to remove the byssal threads from the clam. Make sure you move it up to a spot where it won't fall and not to strong of flow. I'd say midway in the tank for now and see how it does.

 

[FoxyFace]

Did you check to see if the clam is in fact grabbing the glass? I don't want to be Negative Nancy but it looks far gone to me. I would check the bottom for snails.

 

[Mussin]

Well I tried to move it and it is anchored to something.. dang I'm having bad luck with clams...

 

[Sarah24!]

If they are attached I do not suggest moving it. I always attached mine to a rock so if I had to move him up or down, I’d just move the rock. Mine sits below the middle but not on the bottom and does Great under my current marine orbit pros. If the mantle is wide open he is not doing well. However if he is closed up he could be adjusting still. Instead of trying to move him, try to turn your lights up or down and see what happens.

 

[DSC reef]

Well I tried to move it and it is anchored to something.. dang I'm having bad luck with clams...

It's easy to move it, just move the sand and expose the threads attached to the glass. You do not need to cut the threads from the clam, just scrape them from the glass. A clam that big should have suffecient light so I stand by my previous suggestion.

 

[hart24601]

Ime fish are many issues with clams even if you don’t see it. I would find a cover for the clam, link clear container to put over it (white holes for flow). See if it opens. If it does then have a fish issue.

FYI I have had tangs get a taste for clam.

 

[FoxyFace]

Mussin, I'm sure, as you know, sometimes in this hobby you fail a few times before you get a success. I've had that experience with fish, coral, clams, etc. I was complaining about killing livestock to a life long reefer once. He told me, it's part of the hobby. I truly believe that. There are fish I have tried three times , maybe more, before having a success. The stress most of these critters are under by the time we put them in our tanks is huge! Hang in there!

 

[jda]

I just use a sharp knife or razor... lift the calm up gently from one end about 1/16th inch and slide the blade under there to gently saw. If the clam is healthy, you cannot really hurt it. If it dies from doing this correctly, it was doomed anyway.

That looks like a tahitian to me. I have never seen an ORA clam at 6 inches and if it got that size in captivity, I would expect to see more scutes since it was not grinding them down like in the rock work in the wild. ...even their AQ ones have good sized scutes since they were farmed and not really wild. I am not saying that it is not ORA... just that typical ORA clues do not add up.

I would treat everything that you know with a grain of skepticism, get it mounted to a rock and get it as much light as you can with an acclimation period. Personally, I would try and get this clam 750+ PAR until it grew 1/2" or so and I knew that it was healthy, then it would get 400-500 constantly.