How many Pyram snails does it take to kill a healthy clam?

Poriferabob · Sep 22, 2020

My 4.5" Teardrop that I've had for about a month and a half just up and died the other day. Seemingly out of nowhere. It had been looking fantastic every day all the way up until its death. Upon inspecting it post mortem, I did find 25 pyram snails. I was always under the impression that it would take a lot more pyrams to kill a healthy clam of this size though. I understand they reproduce rapidly, but would 25 snails actually kill my clam?

Shirak · Sep 22, 2020

Maybe it got an infection from the damage caused?

Poriferabob · Sep 22, 2020

Shirak said:
Maybe it got an infection from the damage caused?

I suppose that's possible. But as stated, It was showing absolutely no obvious signs of stress or ailment what so ever. Whatever did it In, did it quickly.

outerbank · Sep 22, 2020

That's probably enough to kill the clam. So sorry for your loss. We all hate losing clams and corals. IMO, an isolated Qtank is invaluable when keeping clams. Otherwise, the battles with pyramid snails and PMD are much more difficult and exhausting.

PicassoClown04 · Sep 22, 2020

Sorry for your loss!!! Been dealing with clams for a long time. Especially back when there were no captive bred clams, they often had these snails and would go from perfect to an empty shell over night and it was always heartbreaking. I don’t know how many it takes but 25 is definitely a lot

vetteguy53081 · Sep 22, 2020

A dozen or more- Clam is in trouble already

OrionN · Sep 23, 2020

Clams often looking fine and the up and die. They don’t show there stress. As the snail suck the life juice out of him we just use up his reserve and died.
a healthy clam have to be growing with new white shell in addition to expanded mantels
was your clam growing?

OrionN · Sep 23, 2020

outerbank said:
That's probably enough to kill the clam. So sorry for your loss. We all hate losing clams and corals. IMO, an isolated Qtank is invaluable when keeping clams. Otherwise, the battles with pyramid snails and PMD are much more difficult and exhausting.

I agree. I don’t QT my fish but QT clams, anemones and corals.

minus9 · Sep 23, 2020

Also, once the snails make it inside the clam, it's game over. Like @Orion mentioned, shell growth is what needs to be monitored. If there's no new growth, then you need to take a closer look. T. noae are wild collected, so I would QT them and cleared of pests before adding to the display.

Poriferabob · Sep 27, 2020

OrionN said:
Clams often looking fine and the up and die. They don’t show there stress. As the snail suck the life juice out of him we just use up his reserve and died.
a healthy clam have to be growing with new white shell in addition to expanded mantels
was your clam growing?

There were some signs of new growth on the Tear drop and it truly appeared to be in a good state the entire time until its death. What's strange is that the other two, smaller Maximas that I purchased along with this Teardrop both died as well. First one, then the other. No snails that I could find on them.
Just for the record, I currently have a Gigas and a Hippopus that have been in the system for over a year (and within 6" of the teardrop and maximas) and I also have two Squamies (further away from the other clams). So I'm not just a clam noob.

OrionN · Sep 27, 2020

We certainly don't know everything there is to know about clam's disease. That is why I QT my clams really well. That lesson I learned after loosing thousands of dollars worth of clams in the early 2000 with PMD. I keep a 40 gal full reef so that I can QT clams, anemones and corals. The thing is I don't really QT fish.
Never have a fish disease breakout that I cannot handle in the DT. Not that I dont have fish death from disease, just not anything approach even close to tank wipe out.

xjiang7 · Sep 28, 2020

Poriferabob said:
There were some signs of new growth on the Tear drop and it truly appeared to be in a good state the entire time until its death. What's strange is that the other two, smaller Maximas that I purchased along with this Teardrop both died as well. First one, then the other. No snails that I could find on them.
Just for the record, I currently have a Gigas and a Hippopus that have been in the system for over a year (and within 6" of the teardrop and maximas) and I also have two Squamies (further away from the other clams). So I'm not just a clam noob.

I have seen something similar. One of my tanks has a super healthy gigas, a super healthy derasa, and a super healthy hippopus. The thing is each time I put a maxima in it they die within a month, not PMD not snails, they just seemed to open less and less. It was not due to low light too. After I installed a UV sterilizer I have been able to keep the maximas alive

Poriferabob · Oct 3, 2020

xjiang7 said:
I have seen something similar. One of my tanks has a super healthy gigas, a super healthy derasa, and a super healthy hippopus. The thing is each time I put a maxima in it they die within a month, not PMD not snails, they just seemed to open less and less. It was not due to low light too. After I installed a UV sterilizer I have been able to keep the maximas alive

Interesting. I run a large UV on my system as well. Maybe time to change the bulb.
But same thing with me. I cannot keep Maximas for some reason.

xjiang7 · Oct 3, 2020

Poriferabob said:
Interesting. I run a large UV on my system as well. Maybe time to change the bulb.
But same thing with me. I cannot keep Maximas for some reason.

I suspect is some pathogens that inflict maxima and causing most damage but can coexist with other clams like derasa. If you can keep your tank a clam free period with UV and give it another shot. This method works for one of my two tanks a maxima I put in after is already starts growing

Poriferabob · Oct 6, 2020

xjiang7 said:
I suspect is some pathogens that inflict maxima and causing most damage but can coexist with other clams like derasa. If you can keep your tank a clam free period with UV and give it another shot. This method works for one of my two tanks a maxima I put in after is already starts growing

So you're thinking the other clams that don't fall victim to the pathogens may still serve as hosts to them. In other words, a tank would have to be completely clam-free in order to eradicate the pathogens?
If that's the case. Then I would think that once a clam is exposed to this pathogen, it could never safely be placed in the same system as a maxima without taking a huge risk.

xjiang7 · Oct 6, 2020

Poriferabob said:
So you're thinking the other clams that don't fall victim to the pathogens may still serve as hosts to them. In other words, a tank would have to be completely clam-free in order to eradicate the pathogens?
If that's the case. Then I would think that once a clam is exposed to this pathogen, it could never safely be placed in the same system as a maxima without taking a huge risk.

Yeah that’s my suspicion. Apparently derasa, hippo, and gigas are not affected in any manner but when I put in a maxima it sickens and dies quick