Is my clam slowly dying?

[Dburr1014]

Clams need to be up top and adult clams won‘t attach with their foot.

A quick sure fire way to kill a clam is by having it fall down every time.

I agree clams falling down is a good way to kill them.
Why do you say an adult won't attach to the rock? If you give it the exact flow they like and lighting and it's completly happy, it will attach. If one thing it doesn't like, it will try to shift itself.
Gluing is like gluing a newborn in its crib to prevent it from falling out. lol

Since we are posting pics...

 

[Miami Reef]

Ugly photo, but theres 6 clams all together in this crevice.

Will this work when they get bigger? I think I saw wild clams look similar to this proximity of each other? PS, that back shell is of a derasa. It is not living and I glued it as a guard.

@Tamberav

I did make some clam hammocks out of epoxy today.

 

[minus9]

Ugly photo, but theres 6 clams all together in this crevice.

Will this work when they get bigger? I think I saw wild clams look similar to this proximity of each other? PS, that back shell is of a derasa. It is not living and I glued it as a guard.

@Tamberav

I did make some clam hammocks out of epoxy today.

As long as they have free range of movement of their shells they should be fine. I would probably move a couple just to give them room to grow though. Maximas get big (about 12"), but don't grow at the rate of derasa. Just make sure you see new shell growth and your clam is happy.

 

[mrpontiac80]

So I’ve had my crocea for about 6 months I guess and it has turned itself 90° Once or twice. It sits on top of my rock and is almost dead center of the light and in the tank. I just found a spot in the rock that has a couple of bumps to help keep it in place. They definitely do move slightly when they want to. But I’m a novice with clams.

 

[JoJosReef]

Do any of you clam experts have good pictures of what new shell growth should look like? Would it look different on a crocea vs. maxima vs. derasa, for example?

 

[Dburr1014]

Do any of you clam experts have good pictures of what new shell growth should look like? Would it look different on a crocea vs. maxima vs. derasa, for example?

See how white it is near the mantle? That is new growth.

Google Search

www.google.com

 

[minus9]

New shell growth is stark white at the upper margins of the shell and is visible from the top and sides.

This pic shows the clam slowly dissolving the rock with its mild acid, which is the white area at the base.
The mantle is retracted because I was getting it to respond to my movement to show the new growth.

 

[ekandler]

Update on my situation, tried to make a little cradle for it out of rock putty but it ended up being happy anyway. Seems fine now… it’s much more open than it was before.

 

[JoJosReef]

Update on my situation, tried to make a little cradle for it out of rock putty but it ended up being happy anyway. Seems fine now… it’s much more open than it was before.

That's a beauty!

 

[Miami Reef]

Update on my situation, tried to make a little cradle for it out of rock putty but it ended up being happy anyway. Seems fine now… it’s much more open than it was before.

It’s so cute!!

 

[ekandler]

Some more glamour shots ha

 

[OrionN]

Great looking clams. It just need time to settle in and needs more light. Your clam seem happy, hopefully he is putting our new shell growth for you. They (Crocea, Maxima and Noae) do need a lot more light then LPS IME. Higher and balance full spectrum light will bring out the color of the clam.
I guess I am not into the blue light reef.

 

[ekandler]

Hey guys. Unfortunately I have a final update. This was the clam a few days ago. Was told by a few that it was already gone, so I removed him.

Nothing changed from my glamour shots to now, so i don’t know what could have happened.

 

[ekandler]

I’d like to keep clams in the future. If anyone has any suggestions on what could have caused this, please let me know so I can fix it next time.

 

[OrionN]

It is difficult to tell from picture of the mantle if a clam is doing well. Only way is to see if he is growing. For that we need to look at shell growth.
Clam that have normal mantle extension one day and dead a day or two later are clam that starved to death. It needs more light. Clam, like all animal has energy budget. If it get enough energy from light and any minor amount of food and not sick, then it will grow (if it get everything else from the water like calcium alkalinity and trace element). Sick clams will show symptoms of illness.
If it does not get enough light it will look normal from above but will loose tissue reserve inside the shell where we cannot see it. When its reserves run out it just up and died.
This is most likely happened with your clam. Brightly color Maxima will need a lot of light to grow well. These clam live under full Sun at the tide line. Sometime they are exposed to air at extreme low tide. No shadow above them except clouds and shadow of fish swim above them.
Give the 200-300 pars of blue light will not be enough for them to do well. Some may live and loose a lot of color, barely living “paycheck to paycheck” kind of existent. Color imparted by the blue light, but not the splendor of a healthy vibrant growing clam. Their Zooxanthellae population can adapted and selected to make the best use of whatever light source they get but given them narrow spectrum light we will select a monoculture of symbiotic organism that will decrease their vitality and resiliency, instead of select for a heterogeneous culture of zooxanthellae population when you expose them to a wide spectrum light. In nature homogenous is always bad while heterogeneous is the way and the population survive through hard time.

Sorry for the long post. IMO the great majority of “clam that looks heathy and died overnight” are just starved. In these cases there never any evidence of shell growth just like in this case.

 

[ekandler]

It is difficult to tell from picture of the mantle if a clam is doing well. Only way is to see if he is growing. For that we need to look at shell growth.
Clam that have normal mantle extension one day and dead a day or two later are clam that starved to death. It needs more light. Clam, like all animal has energy budget. If it get enough energy from light and any minor amount of food and not sick, then it will grow (if it get everything else from the water like calcium alkalinity and trace element). Sick clams will show symptoms of illness.
If it does not get enough light it will look normal from above but will loose tissue reserve inside the shell where we cannot see it. When its reserves run out it just up and died.
This is most likely happened with your clam. Brightly color Maxima will need a lot of light to grow well. These clam live under full Sun at the tide line. Sometime they are exposed to air at extreme low tide. No shadow above them except clouds and shadow of fish swim above them.
Give the 200-300 pars of blue light will not be enough for them to do well. Some may live and loose a lot of color, barely living “paycheck to paycheck” kind of existent. Color imparted by the blue light, but not the splendor of a healthy vibrant growing clam. Their Zooxanthellae population can adapted and selected to make the best use of whatever light source they get but given them narrow spectrum light we will select a monoculture of symbiotic organism that will decrease their vitality and resiliency, instead of select for a heterogeneous culture of zooxanthellae population when you expose them to a wide spectrum light. In nature homogenous is always bad while heterogeneous is the way and the population survive through hard time.

Sorry for the long post. IMO the great majority of “clam that looks heathy and died overnight” are just starved. In these cases there never any evidence of shell growth just like in this case.

Thank you for the insight. I really appreciate it. From that, seems like I didn’t give it enough light. I turned up my lights specifically for the clam but seems I didn’t turn it up enough. I was concerned about the health of my other corals going too high, so maybe in the future I should avoid Maximas at least if not clams all together (assuming there are other lower light clams). In my fully mixed reef, I’m not sure I can satisfy its lighting needs without sacrifice some of my existing colonies.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I’d like to keep clams in the future. If anyone has any suggestions on what could have caused this, please let me know so I can fix it next time.

As mentioned above, strong light, I would say 350+ PAR, but it can take much higher PAR.

And check your clam, I check my clam shell 4 or 5 times a day, every day. Silly I know, but it makes me feel so good to see that pearly white line.

 

[Dburr1014]

I’d like to keep clams in the future. If anyone has any suggestions on what could have caused this, please let me know so I can fix it next time.

1) don't glue a clam. 100% keep any glue away.
2) 100% full spectrum lights. Windex lighting won't cut it.
3) yes they can take more lighting but if you offer the full spectrum lights and some nice indirect flow, 250 MINIMUM par is okay. I'm stressing minimum... Absolute minimum. More would be better 100%.
My clam, after almost 4 years, still doesn't have 350 par.
When I got it. March 2019.


2 months ago.

 

[minus9]

Just to make this clear for anyone new to clams or not sure about lighting requirements, it's virtually impossible for you to provide too much light for clams in our tanks. It's true that there can be light shock in some cases where the clam has been kept in poor/subpar lighting for too long, but you can easily raise the lighting in a matter of a few days and the clam will adapt. My general rule for crocea, maxima and noae is, 350+ micro moles (if not more) for at least 8hrs of full spectrum daylight. Squamosa, derasa, gigas and hippopus should get 250+ micro moles for the same duration. The bigger clams can adapt to lower light, but only if they are putting on new shell growth, which is the biggest indicator for a healthy clam. If it's not putting on new shell growth, it needs more light. It's that simple. All species that we keep in aquariums are found in very shallow water, with the intensity reaching 2000+ micro moles during that time. As @OrionN mentioned, these clams are completely exposed during low tide and those numbers go even higher. The larger clams are also found in deeper water, but not as deep as you think.
If you're considering getting a clam, make sure you have the room for it and that you can provide enough light for the clam (and that the surrounding corals will be fine or thrive in those conditions). I can't emphasize it enough, but people need to do research before buying these (and other) animals before putting them in their tanks. If you're going to spend the money on these animals and not do research for their care, then you're just wasting your money and their lives. We need to take some personal responsibility here and make a concerted effort in learning about their (and other reef creature's care) care requirements before bringing them home to our little slice of the reef. Apologies (not really) for sounding a little militant, but clams have a special place in my heart and I want hobbyist to be successful keeping them. My first piece of advice is always, buy James Fatherree's new book on clams before you buy a clam or want to learn more about their care. $36 is nothing compared to the wasted money on a beautiful clam that's only going to live a short life because you (the hobbyist) didn't want to do the research required for their care. Okay, I'll step off my soapbox for now. Happy reefing and I hope everyone can experience these beautiful animals, they're simply amazing.

 

[JoJosReef]

Just to make this clear for anyone new to clams or not sure about lighting requirements, it's virtually impossible for you to provide too much light for clams in our tanks. It's true that there can be light shock in some cases where the clam has been kept in poor/subpar lighting for too long, but you can easily raise the lighting in a matter of a few days and the clam will adapt. My general rule for crocea, maxima and noae is, 350+ micro moles (if not more) for at least 8hrs of full spectrum daylight. Squamosa, derasa, gigas and hippopus should get 250+ micro moles for the same duration. The bigger clams can adapt to lower light, but only if they are putting on new shell growth, which is the biggest indicator for a healthy clam. If it's not putting on new shell growth, it needs more light. It's that simple. All species that we keep in aquariums are found in very shallow water, with the intensity reaching 2000+ micro moles during that time. As @OrionN mentioned, these clams are completely exposed during low tide and those numbers go even higher. The larger clams are also found in deeper water, but not as deep as you think.
If you're considering getting a clam, make sure you have the room for it and that you can provide enough light for the clam (and that the surrounding corals will be fine or thrive in those conditions). I can't emphasize it enough, but people need to do research before buying these (and other) animals before putting them in their tanks. If you're going to spend the money on these animals and not do research for their care, then you're just wasting your money and their lives. We need to take some personal responsibility here and make a concerted effort in learning about their (and other reef creature's care) care requirements before bringing them home to our little slice of the reef. Apologies (not really) for sounding a little militant, but clams have a special place in my heart and I want hobbyist to be successful keeping them. My first piece of advice is always, buy James Fatherree's new book on clams before you buy a clam or want to learn more about their care. $36 is nothing compared to the wasted money on a beautiful clam that's only going to live a short life because you (the hobbyist) didn't want to do the research required for their care. Okay, I'll step off my soapbox for now. Happy reefing and I hope everyone can experience these beautiful animals, they're simply amazing.

Would be nice if vendors and LFS added a bit of influence here too, even if just a sign next to clams for sale or disclaimer on every checkout page with clams. Onus is on us, of course, but would be nice when you see a great sale (bought my crocea for $65 on sale from $150) for a reminder/notice to stop and think, "am I ready for this?".