Getting new clam tips

vlangel · Feb 23, 2014

skinz78 said:
I don't agree with some of the stuff being said about pinched mantle treatment above. A FWD is only a last resort for treatment and when doing so it may cause more stress making matters worse...

Here is a write up that I did on PMD.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/clams/98140-pinched-mantle-disease-id-treatment-options.html

I agree with this too, using a powerhead is even more stress on the clam and seldom works.

Here is a write up that I did on clam removal.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/cl...uarantine-new-clams-how-remove-them-rock.html

I think it was what you wrote that I read when I was looking for a remedy for my clam, so thank you. I did just what you said- looked for something to cause stress (which I decided was the crabs) removed them and ran carbon. Clam looks great now.

MondoBongo · Feb 24, 2014

skinz78 said:
I don't agree with some of the stuff being said about pinched mantle treatment above. A FWD is only a last resort for treatment and when doing so it may cause more stress making matters worse...

Here is a write up that I did on PMD.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/clams/98140-pinched-mantle-disease-id-treatment-options.html

But it is dormant just like our fish have the Ich dormant inside them too

this is completely untrue for fish. ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) has a well defined and understood life cycle. it is not always present, and i would highly suspect the same for the protozoan allegedly causing some cases of PMD.

skinz78 · Feb 24, 2014

It has been proven that the protozoan is present in most clams and is dormant until the clam is stressed by something else. Barry Neigut the former owner of Clams Direct organized a hobbyist paid for study that was done on PMD and they proved that it was caused by the protozoan and stress.

MondoBongo · Feb 24, 2014

do you have a link to the study? has there been any other corroboration of the study by independent researchers, or is this anecdotal evidence?

your claims about ich always being present have been definitively disproved by scientific data on the life cycle of the particular protozoa. total misinformation.

skinz78 · Feb 24, 2014

Did you read this? The link to the study is found within.

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/clams/98140-pinched-mantle-disease-id-treatment-options.html

skinz78 · Feb 24, 2014

I may be wrong about Ich, I'm not sure. Fish don't really interest me much. But I do know my clams...

MondoBongo · Feb 24, 2014

thanks for the link, i missed it in your post the first time around.

i don't see anything in there though that explicitly states that it is always present. they mention that there may be asymptotic carriers of the Perkinsus olseni, but i didn't construe anything in the article to specifically state anything the length or duration of its life cycle.

interestingly though they do seem to call out its resistance to fresh water, which is making me rethink my initial response.

Marine reef hobbyists are advised to place their clams in a freshwater bath for 30 minutes (some species do better than others) if they demonstrate the symptoms of Pinched Mantle Syndrome(Barry Neigut, pers. comm.). It has been demonstrated that free prezoosporangia (hypnospores) are still viable after 6 hours in distilled water (Goggin, Sewell & Lester, 1990). The tissue-bound form of the parasite may also be protected within the host and capable of surviving chemotherapeutics that may either kill the clam, weaken the innate immune system, or pose a potential toxic threat to humans (Calvo & Burreson, 1994; Krantz, 1994).

here is a little more detail on their (and similar) lifecycle:

http://www.terrapub.co.jp/onlineproceedings/fs/nu/pdf/nu2010269.pdf

general ich information:
Aquarium Fish: News From The Warfront With Cryptocaryon Irritans, Part Two Of Five ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
FA164/FA164: Cryptocaryon irritans Infections (Marine White Spot Disease) in Fish
Aquarium Fish: News from the Warfront with Cryptocaryon irritans: Part One of Five ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

skinz78 · Feb 24, 2014

LOL I'll be the first to admit that I know nothing about fish disease but on the other hand I've been a major clam nut for 15+ years now....

I know PMD waaaayyyy too well and I know what works to fix it. I recently had a clam with PMD come in and I honestly thought it was a goner. All I did was put it in my frag tank with a TLF media reactor filled with carbon and a Maxi Jet 600 on it running full bore.

This is the clam today in my DT.

I've done everything from daily FWD to dosing Myricin 2 to running carbon when trying to treat clams with PMD. Carbon is truly a miracle worker for curing PMD, and a FWD is only a last resort that can potentially kill the clam in the process.

billrob71 · Feb 24, 2014

Hey all reading your posts, the article that skinz has put out there goes back a ways, and for those that don't know Barry he was one of the most informative reference for clam knowledge. Barry sold some of the most impressive clams under the the name of Clams Direct and imported clams directly.

Pinched mantel being a pain is something most have to deal with from time to time keeping clams I've been told it is cause by a protozoa and was told best way to help it is by running loads of carbon, and a fresh water dip being the last thing if the clam is showing extreme case of stress. I will say that I do fresh water dip new clams for a short time to make sure no unwanted nasty critters are hiding.

As far as removing the clam (NEVER) try and blow it loose from a rock, substrate or glass, the byssus gland, if damaged is a short trip to death for a clam. The threads that attach the clam to a rock or the glass or what ever can be cut to remove the clam with no effects on the clam at all. Cut as far away from the gland and it will come off. If the clam is tight on a rock gently tilt the clam to access the threads and then again cut them as close to the attaching rock or glass.