Derasa

[adamsfour]

Purchased a Derasa clam a few weeks ago. Been doing fine since I first put him in the tank. Pretty much stayed where I put him. This morning I noticed he was totally dead. Nothing left but the shell. This happen in less than 24 hours. Nothing in my tank had changed and Neither the fish or the rest of my corals look stressed. I have heard this is not unusually but certain caught me off guard. Any theory on what happened.

 

[NonstopSoda]

Parameters, light level, placement? and how old is the tank?

 

[adamsfour]

Tank is 10+ old lightning is 3 hydra 26 in a 100 gallon tank. Clam was on gravel in well lighted area.
Ca 425, Alk 10.2, mag 1275. Phosphate .1 and Nitrate 8.

 

[NonstopSoda]

everything looks good, do you know the par of the area the clam was in? I know that derasas are the most high light needing clam out of all the giga clams

 

[adamsfour]

Hmm that’s not my understanding. It was my understanding they are the most tolerate of variance in lighting. I certainly could be wrong.

 

[NonstopSoda]

Hmm that’s not my understanding. It was my understanding they are the most tolerate of variance in lighting. I certainly could be wrong.

oops! sorry I was thinking of Crocea, my bad

 

[NonstopSoda]

Unfortunately I cannot tell what has happened with this sudden clam death, It might have just suddenly passed for no reason or some type of temperature, salinity or parameter swing while not affecting the other inhabitants might have caused the clam to decline I do hope someone with more clam knowledge is able to come help figure out what happened. best of luck to you!

 

[adamsfour]

No problem. I had tried a clam is years and didn’t have much luck but it was on sale so I figure I give it a try. Only thing I can figured is some short term spike that stress it out but parameters measured normal this morning.

 

[Uncle99]

Somebody taste him?
That usually ends bad.
Possible?

That clam is tolerant of swings.

 

[adamsfour]

Unfortunately I cannot tell what has happened with this sudden clam death, It might have just suddenly passed for no reason or some type of temperature, salinity or parameter swing while not affecting the other inhabitants might have caused the clam to decline I do hope someone with more clam knowledge is able to come help figure out what happened. best of luck to you!

Thanks. Just one of those mystery of a reef tank.

 

[adamsfour]

Somebody taste him?
That usually ends bad.
Possible?

That clam is tolerant of swings.

Certainly possible

 

[gbroadbridge]

Purchased a Derasa clam a few weeks ago. Been doing fine since I first put him in the tank. Pretty much stayed where I put him. This morning I noticed he was totally dead. Nothing left but the shell. This happen in less than 24 hours. Nothing in my tank had changed and Neither the fish or the rest of my corals look stressed. I have heard this is not unusually but certain caught me off guard. Any theory on what happened.

You need to show pictures.

Clams don't just die overnight unless something attacked them.

 

[adamsfour]

Picture not required. Only thing left was empty shell. It’s like it left town without it’s jacket ha ha

 

[Uncle99]

Certainly possible

Had this happen.
But weird, it’s been a year and the other 6 remain untouched.
I’m assuming tasted, not really liked.
I think it was my copperband but no proof.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Picture not required. Only thing left was empty shell. It’s like it left town without it’s jacket ha ha

Okay but I meant before/after pics, not just after.

If it's completely gone it was eaten.
When clams die naturally there is a lot of flesh left behind which would be there for days.

 

[SaltyWalty]

Derasa clams are very hardy and pretty light tolerant, however, Clams can die for many reason. There are a lot of diseases that can be fatal in clams. Unfortunately there are a lot that are hard to diagnose and very little is know about them.
As well as many fish can develop a taste for clams even ones you wouldn’t expect. I’ve seen tangs, angles, butterfly fish, rabbits fish. Pretty much anything. While this might not be fatal it can cause stress and increase effects of diseases or other health issues
If it is the only clam in the tank I would wait a while before replacing it as anything it might have had can be transmitted to other clams.

 

[minus9]

I have a mega ton of bristle worms in my tank and have experienced random clam deaths, but none of them were stripped clean overnight, I would suspect a predator or fish was responsible here. What fish and inverts are in the tank?