HELP!! 15 year old Squamosa clam is dying :(

Wardog33 · Feb 12, 2018

Is there some sort of contagious disease that can be transferred from clam to clam? Our large clam looks like it's dying. We recently lost three other small squamosas in the same manner.

The smaller three started out in an established nano. Did great for over a year. Recently set up a new tank and moved the existing clams, coral and live rock over once it cycled. (Not all at once.) The first small clam died after a week or so, so we moved the remaining two to our 125 established reef, thinking maybe things were too "new." About a week after that move, both declined rapidly and died. Now the big one is doing the same thing.

I examined the all three smaller clams for pyramid snails and didn't see anything. Any other ideas on what could be causing this? Are they're any emergency measures we can take? It happened so fast with the others. I really don't want to loose her!!!

P.S. The big clam has been in the 125 established reef it's whole life. Husband says water parameters are perfect. And that anemone has been on the shell for a few months without bothering it.

jsker · Feb 12, 2018

#reefsquad

hybridazn · Feb 12, 2018

that's heartbreaking. I'm not an expert on clams but hopefully @skinz78 sees this tag and will respond

Wardog33 · Feb 13, 2018

I just got a comment in one of my Facebook groups that it could be pinched mantel disease??

We turned it over yesterday and no signs of pyramid snails.

hybridazn · Feb 13, 2018

Wardog33 said:
I just got a comment in one of my Facebook groups that it could be pinched mantel disease??

We turned it over yesterday and no signs of pyramid snails.

That's beyond pinched mantle at this point. What's crazy about clams is that something could affect them and it takes months to kill the clam. Did your tanks ever go thru a massive alk swing or nutrient spike in the last 6 months to a year?

Wardog33 · Feb 13, 2018

We've been doing more water changes after a neglectful summer. The tank and livestock have never looked better!

I'm convinced that it was something contagious since it killed 4 clams in total, all the same way.

Rick.45cal · Feb 13, 2018

I’ve never had one recover once the mantel retracts into the shell. I’ve lost groups of clams to some unknown factor. Never fun. Sorry for your experience!

hybridazn · Feb 13, 2018

Wardog33 said:
We've been doing more water changes after a neglectful summer. The tank and livestock have never looked better!

I'm convinced that it was something contagious since it killed 4 clams in total, all the same way.

Since you stated you neglected the tank during the summer I'm thinking it was due to that than something else. Clams never show signs of stress right away, and when they do it's usually too late

Larry L · Feb 13, 2018

It looks like it started as pinched mantle, which is caused by a type of protozoan. It might have been present in your tank at low levels, and the clams were healthy enough to keep it at bay (until something happened and they weren't), or it might have gotten introduced by something recently.

It spreads really fast - I got it a while ago and didn't understand what it was, and it killed three clams before I figured out what was going on. If you catch it early enough, freshwater dips can help a lot, and if you have multiple clams you might want to separate them all into different quarantine tanks (or at minimum separate out the obviously affected ones).

You could try a freshwater dip but at this point it looks so stressed that I'm not sure even that would help. :-(

Cnidoblast · Feb 13, 2018

Looks like Perkinsus
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_4/clams.html

campaign000 · Feb 14, 2018

It's weird!
But as I can see the big squamosa is not big enough considering it's 15 years old and there's no sign of growing shell. So maybe the big squamosa was not in its good health, and vulnerable to disease.

DSC reef · Feb 14, 2018

Protozoans can be spread and will wipe out clams rather quickly. If the large clam was doing well in the established 125 I'm thinking something could've been introduced from the others. Unfortunately the large clam is to far gone for any emergency measures as the gaping is severe. We've been there, it's tough to loose a clam you've had for many years.