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Losing clam

Tazmaniancowboy

Tazmaniancowboy

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Apparently I am losing my big clam. I noticed yesterday that it would not close and would not flinch when the lights turned off. The mantle seems to be separating from the shell and the flesh is sinking into the shell leaving behind some sort of membrane that is attracting the shrimp and fish in the tank. today I noticed a hole in the flesh and could see through to the sandbed below.

I now wonder if I should pull it or let everybody feast.

I hope this is not a start of the "meeting curse" LOL. I've had this guy for around 8 years and it grew from 4 inches to almost 12 inches not including the mantle. I was looking forward to everybody seeing this at my meeting in Aug, but I guess that might not happen :'( Oh well.

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J

john90009

NJRC Member
dang. i would remove it. if stuff starts feeding on it and acquires a taste for it they will go after other clams you put in there.
 
R

rodclement

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Clams were the one thing I got really upset about when they died! They took over a week and I watched it in desperation...it sucks...

If you can't move it to another tank I would pull it, if it is that big that is a lot of bio waste in your tank...

Sorry dude!

Rod
 
H

hurtback

you could always chop up the clam, freeze it, and use if for food later on. I would'nt leave the whole clam in the tank and expect whatever fish you have in there to eat it till its all gone---its dead, and the longer you leave something that big in the tank your only asking for problems
good luck
steve
 
Nickjr000

Nickjr000

That sucks!!!!! Even more so cause you grew it from 4", Sorry. I'd toss it though, as much as everyone enjoys eating it its polluting your tank. Too big to leave in. Buy another one and see if you can grow it faster and bigger this time ;)
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

man that stinks. If it makes you feel any better I am an expert at not keeping clams. I'm dumping my light one way or another for one of those icecap ones.
 
NikkiT

NikkiT

Hawkeye said:
man that stinks. If it makes you feel any better I am an expert at not keeping clams. I'm dumping my light one way or another for one of those icecap ones.
Click to expand...

+1. To date, we have killed one squammie and two maximas. . . and we've stopped, because we've never kept one for more than a month. We no longer attempt. You did much better than we could ever do.

So sorry for your loss.
 
C

Cagey

Sorry to hear about your long time friend. Definitely creates vacuum.
I went on to this thread to find out the prognosis on clams not closing. We picked up 2 clams at the Delval frag swap 2 weeks ago from one vendor. I noticed last night the mantle receding but the clam still seemed to respond. This morning the clam stays open and I can see the bottom thru it. After reading this..........

Hope things work out for ya
 
RichT

RichT

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
it's most likely full of bristle worms from the bottom attacking the foot as well. I'm afraid that clam is done. Sorry bud.
 
Tazmaniancowboy

Tazmaniancowboy

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I did lose the clam and it only took 2 days start to finish!. There were no bristle worms and it never had a foot believe it or not. It was always on my sandbed and whenever I picked it up there was nothing. I really do not know what happened, but it started on the top where a 1 inch section of the mantle separated from the shell.
 
Tazmaniancowboy

Tazmaniancowboy

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Ric I have a different species clam, does not grow like that beast did. I'm not up on my clams, so don't ask me what either one is! LOL I thought about getting another, but not sure....I actually have mixed feelings about the big one gone, While it was definitely a conversation piece, I like the open look of the tank now. That monster was getting too big and took up a lot of realestate and also broke some of the corals I had around it.

Hawk, I didn't think about it until Monday night and didn't feel like taking the 2 hr round trip to get it to Mike, Maybe next time.
 
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