LA DD Clams Going Downhill?
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happyhourhero
Burner of the Tips
I went 0/3 with dd clams.
Fourstars
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Thanks for posting. I almost broke down and ordered my claims from LA but after reading this I thing I’ll Research other sources. I keep looking for a member looking to sell, but not many come up.
Good clams are difficult to get right now. In the past I've help set up then later imported clams from farms in a few countries, but fewer are being grown on a well organized basis now. Wild Maximas that are 4+ inches are generally doomed in the home aquarium due to having an internal parasite endemic in their population and being shipped dry from distant islands thus stressing the clam allowing the parasite to take over. Cultured is the only way to go. Unfortunately sizes are smaller, about 1.5 inches. Ideally I'd like 2.5-3 inches, but they take a long time to get to that size and the officials growing them what to sell them quickly.
These cultured Maximas and now are in Tonga, I hope to get them in 2 weeks. In Tonga and also Palau, clams are cultured in large government run facilities. They are then sold to local exporters to ship worldwide. This can lead to the exporter being forced to buy sizes and colors out of the acceptable range because they have to buy a particular quantity or an entire batch without regard to specific sizes or colors. Hobbyists tend to want blue colors predominately and thus the importer likely will not be able to sell the undesirable ones that don't have bright color or are too small, thus raising the overall price of all in the shipment. For the importer, as myself, the risk is high. I have to commint to taking at least 100 clams, I don't know the actual size or color until they arrive. I've been told most will be blue and about 1.5 inches , but I know some will be smaller and some not as desirable colors. Then we have to consider if there might be some mortality, generally these cultured clams ship well if not overheated so its a good time of the year for shipping. There are permits to pay for, freight and other misc. fees, and this all goes into making up the price, plus some profit must be added. So, this gives you a small perspective into what goes on behind the scenes. I get messages and emails almost daily inquiring why I don't have more clams available, it's complicated
These cultured Maximas and now are in Tonga, I hope to get them in 2 weeks. In Tonga and also Palau, clams are cultured in large government run facilities. They are then sold to local exporters to ship worldwide. This can lead to the exporter being forced to buy sizes and colors out of the acceptable range because they have to buy a particular quantity or an entire batch without regard to specific sizes or colors. Hobbyists tend to want blue colors predominately and thus the importer likely will not be able to sell the undesirable ones that don't have bright color or are too small, thus raising the overall price of all in the shipment. For the importer, as myself, the risk is high. I have to commint to taking at least 100 clams, I don't know the actual size or color until they arrive. I've been told most will be blue and about 1.5 inches , but I know some will be smaller and some not as desirable colors. Then we have to consider if there might be some mortality, generally these cultured clams ship well if not overheated so its a good time of the year for shipping. There are permits to pay for, freight and other misc. fees, and this all goes into making up the price, plus some profit must be added. So, this gives you a small perspective into what goes on behind the scenes. I get messages and emails almost daily inquiring why I don't have more clams available, it's complicated
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OP
OP
I am OK with paying a fair price for them... I know that I cannot afford to be cheap. I just want them to live... more than a day would be nice. There is no excuse for going 0 for 3 on AQ clams that did not even make it 72 hours. 
It seems like an easy problem to fix with wild clams... ship them in water... I would pay more for that.
Do you happen to know what parasite it is? If so, I could treat new wild clams for it when I get them.
It seems like an easy problem to fix with wild clams... ship them in water... I would pay more for that.
Do you happen to know what parasite it is? If so, I could treat new wild clams for it when I get them.
lakereef
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IMO clams from live aquaria are all diseased. I didn't qt long enough and ended up wiping out my entire collection from the new ones introduced. I wont be ordering clams from them ever again.
Skynyrd Fish
Valuable Member
I got a great tiger maxima with turquoise hints from Aqua SD. Been rocking in my tank for six weeks. With these smaller clams I would move them up on the rock work for more light after a week. I have a six bulb ATI my 1.75" maxima is about 9" off the bottom and loves it. I am happy with Aqua SD and there shipping is top notch.
I am OK with paying a fair price for them... I know that I cannot afford to be cheap. I just want them to live... more than a day would be nice. There is no excuse for going 0 for 3 on AQ clams that did not even make it 72 hours.
It seems like an easy problem to fix with wild clams... ship them in water... I would pay more for that.
Do you happen to know what parasite it is? If so, I could treat new wild clams for it when I get them.
I don't know from testing myself, but the guys in French Polynesia have studied it and say its Perkinsus. They tried various versions of freshwater dips but that does not appear to solve the problem. Years ago when we first started collecting the wild clams there we got them from different remote islands and carefully hand collected each one. They were amazing in color and lived well. Then, as fish collection from there became more lucrative, the clam collection was turned over to local divers collecting them as a food commodity. They collected from less remote areas unifected by the parasite and shipped them as a food commodity, as they are sold in vast numbers there. (The wild populations of Maxima clams are in the hudredsof millions there, thus making culture efforts not so appealing except to us here). At this time I started seeing increasing mortality to the point of unsustainability and I stopped importing any wild clams severral years ago. However, the dedication and organization to culturing clams has been very spotty and now they are only available limited times of the year and from only a few locations worldwide. Wild clams are still collected and shipped, but I wouldnt buy them. If you see a Maxima clam bigger than 4 inches for sure its wild. Legally 4.5 inches is the smallest they can collect.
OP
OP
Thank you for the info. Can they heal/defeat Perkinsus, or is it always with them?
The only way that I can keep wild Maximas clams alive in the long term is to isolate them and give them 1000+ PAR of 6500k halides until they grow .5 to 1 inch... and this can take a year, or more. They seem to do Ok after this. This is a really small sample size, but nearly nobody can isolate them or give them this much daylight.
The only way that I can keep wild Maximas clams alive in the long term is to isolate them and give them 1000+ PAR of 6500k halides until they grow .5 to 1 inch... and this can take a year, or more. They seem to do Ok after this. This is a really small sample size, but nearly nobody can isolate them or give them this much daylight.
As far as quality of clams from different various vendors, I would have no comment on that. We all get them from diffrrent sources. I think LA gets some from ORA that bought a farm in the Mrashall Islands many years ago. But, I don't know or keep track of all the vendors nor issues related to their supply. My advice though, I would avoid any wild collected Maximas--which means any larger sizes are most likely wild because it takes too long and would be too expensive to culture them to a large size, most large wild ones likely are coming in from French Polynesia, and I explained the issues there.
FWIW I ordered two small DD gold maximas recently. They had good extension on arrival but the next day they were full receded from the shell. I looked at their shells after removing them and didn't notice any white fresh growth, so IME they were in bad shape prior to shipment as every healthy clam I am seen have had at least a little white growth.
In the past I imported 1000 or more clams at a time. My partner in Tahiti and I would go to very remote islands in French Polynesia. The colors of the clams were metallic and intense and they lived well. He now collects fish exclusively and exports just a few clams he gets from local divers that now collect the clams from closer islands. After many years of me prodding him, he finally has some that he is culturing and I hope later this year to offer those for sale. You can check my YouTube channel and see the videos when we use to have 1000+ clams at a time years ago.
OP
OP
How do you illuminate them when you have them? Natural sunlight?
While its said that most nutrition comes to the clam from the products of photosynthesis, in the past when we sold huge numbers of clams and interacted daily with hobbyists dealing with those clams, the overwhelming feedback was the clams always did better in tanks that were not so pristine, in other words "dirtier" tanks with a well fed fish population. They do utilize dissolved organics. Once you see the mantle retraction in most instances that clam will die, despite numerous descriptions online for freshwater dips, etc.
Having been to these many locations and collected many clams, I can tell you it is rather difficult to cut the embedded clam from rock without damaging the foot. A hammer and chisel are needed and you must be held in place to do it due to intense currents. At least in my rxperience in the remote islands of French Polynesia, I needed a wet suit and felt like I needed a dry suit, the water was cold and crystal clear, with intense flow, and clams were never found below about 4-5 feet of the surface, usually just a foot or less under the intense tropical sunlight. In some areas there were Maxima clams in every direction for as far as I could see with no more than a few inches between them, in other areas there was maybe just a few on each distant rock outcropping.
Having been to these many locations and collected many clams, I can tell you it is rather difficult to cut the embedded clam from rock without damaging the foot. A hammer and chisel are needed and you must be held in place to do it due to intense currents. At least in my rxperience in the remote islands of French Polynesia, I needed a wet suit and felt like I needed a dry suit, the water was cold and crystal clear, with intense flow, and clams were never found below about 4-5 feet of the surface, usually just a foot or less under the intense tropical sunlight. In some areas there were Maxima clams in every direction for as far as I could see with no more than a few inches between them, in other areas there was maybe just a few on each distant rock outcropping.
OP
OP
Tell these dudes that I would pay a few more franc to have them ship them in water.
Seriously, will they just not do this... even for more money?New clams from TL Reefs are doing well even though they had a mechanical failure with an airplane and needed an extra day to arrive. Nice to see some healthy clams... I can only imagine that the DD ones would be stinky in the bag if they had to be in there for an extra day.
Reef of Fillory
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My LA clam [derasa] died and was hollow within 2 days of receiving it from LA. I'll never buy a clam again from them, and it's spoiled my willingness to purchase any clams online. I'll stick to trying to find one locally.
rkpetersen
walked the sand with the crustaceans
I've had quite a few drop dead gorgeous clams from DD literally do just that, suddenly, without apparent cause. I'm not a clam expert by any means but my tanks are otherwise thriving. I couldn't figure out what was going on so I just stopped buying clams from them.
