Durasa clam problem

[ryan quave]

I had this guy for over 2 years good growth and extension ect about 6in long. About a month ago i noticed it not looking right and laying on its side in the sand. When I picked it up the shell was lose and i noticed a hole next to the foot in the muscle. I thought for sure it was going to die in the next few days but it's still looks fine and has good extension. It can still colse the top part of it shell very tight but the bottom doesn't colse 100%

Any ideas or should i just leave it and see what happens?

 

[DeniseAndy]

My derasa tore itself right down the middle when it closed suddenly. It was much larger though. Must have been weakened, but I had had it for over 3 years. Maybe it is tank diet makes them weaker then they normally are.

Really all you can do is see how it goes. Mine could not recover, I hope yours does.

 

[DSC reef]

Can you post a pic?

 

[jda]

I would like to see a pic as well.

Are there any pests clinging to the bottom? Any pyramid snails?

 

[ryan quave]

Il snap a pic tomorrow bit it looks like he allways has maybe his growth has slowed down bit. Do they grow slower as they age? None that I see i cheaked his underside and didn't see any thing on it and Haven't added any thing wet for colse to a year. There was a tiny bristle worm under it. Should i move it off the sand?

 

[DSC reef]

Growth typically shouldn't slow down on a healthy clam.

 

[Tahoe61]

When the clam is closed do the margins of the shell line up?
I had a Derasa for a couple years that broke it's reactor muscle and slowly declined and died within approx 2 weeks.

 

[jda]

They do slow down for me when they start to get really big... like 12-13 legit shell inches. They can get really big. They do not slow down at 6" for me.

However, most of the time, people have them crammed into small spaces and light might start to get filtered when they get large. My old 13-15" Deresa had about a 24x24 area with no overhanging coral to steal some of the light.

While I have not found Derasa to need a lot of light, they certainly appreciate it. I could see a scenario where one was healthy and just grew slower as the amount of light decreased as it got larger and closer to overhanging coral that takes some light away from them.