Unhappy Clam?/Tridacna Health 9/9/09
Hey gang!
<Hello Carla>
Quick question, my t. crocea clam just detached itself from the rock it's been happily (or so it seemed) anchored to for over two years now. I had noticed the clam "rocking" itself on occasion, usually when stressed such as when the lights first come on in the afternoon (I'm on a reverse light cycle to help control temp. swings- the tank gets no natural light).
Otherwise seemed ok, good mantle extension, etc. Obviously it's unhappy about something though, or wouldn't have jumped ship like that! Didn't notice any byssal threads in the tank, attached to the clam, or the rock. I moved the clam back up to his perch on the rockwork, and redirected the powerhead that had been blowing behind that rockwork in case that was irritating him- his spot is also below the intake of the skimmer, but there are no discernable strong currents that I noticed when my hand was in the tank. Any other tips? Just keep an eye on 'em? It is just beginning to extend its mantle a bit- obviously clamped shut for a few minutes after moving it. I wonder if it is outgrowing the shelf/nook in the rockwork and was trying to find more room to grow? I have read that it's a good idea to leave the clam on the sand if they detach with a piece of rock below them in the sandbed to attach to, but this is a 29 gal. tank with PC lighting (60 watt 50/50, 60 watt 10000k?) so it needs a high placement in the tank.
<For sure.>
The bulbs are in need of replacement (a little over a year old, I believe)-
could the wavelength shift with aging bulbs be part of the problem?
<Possibly, as your lighting is close to borderline to start with. Anyway, wondering if you had
any feedback and I'll keep you posted on any new developments!
<I would replace the lamps and further observe. A link to a very informative clam article by James Fatheree, a regarded clam expert, will be good reading/learning for you. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-10/jf/index.php
Thanks!
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
*Carla

Re Unhappy Clam?/Tridacna Health 9/18/09
James and Crew,
<Carla>
Thanks for your advice!
<You're welcome.>
I moved the clam back to his original position in the rockwork, only to have him "jump ship" again by the next morning, so I perched him in a smaller piece of live rock that is a thickly encrusted shell of some kind, and has a nice hollow cup for him to sit in, where he seems quite happy and has attached, and is now at least 2" closer to the lights.
<Good, now leave it alone.>
When I turned this rock over to repurpose it for a clam perch, I discovered a tiny light-starved mushroom polyp growing on the underside (now the top)- this is growing next to the clam- will it irritate or injure the clam? If so, suggestions to relocate the polyp? Careful razor blade surgery? It's a quite smooth surface, so might work, and I'd obviously rather sacrifice the polyp than risk damage to the clam... but thought I'd leave the two for a bit to see if they can work things out, unless anyone has advice to the contrary... :-)
<Leave alone, not to worry until you need to.>
Several people have commented- "A piece of your clam fell off!", which of course led to minor panic on my part until I realized the were talking about the mushroom anemone, which has similar coloration to the clam, and is attached to the rock near the base of the clam. Funny...
<Yes.>
I also discovered the root cause of clam distress- stupid stupid stupid me neglected to plug in the canister filter after cleaning it (don't do vital maintenance tasks when distracted by company next time, I suppose). Ack!
Opened it up, and man was that stinky- sent my fiancé and his friend practically running out of the room. Discarded the media (except for the Chemi-pure, which I rinsed/soaked very very well- should this be discarded as well?
<Not if it is still functional. Water clarity will determine that. A good test to determine this is to put several stripes on a white paper with a yellow highlighter, then tape the paper on the side glass.
While looking at it from the opposite side glass, you should be able to see the yellow highlighting. If not, time to change the Chemi-Pure. I prefer to change the Chemi-Pure before this stage, say every three months with
an average stocked tank.>
Obviously has lost a lot of effectiveness, but it won't leach contaminants back into the water, correct?),
<Shouldn't.>
added carbon and floss to temporarily polish the tank (usually I just run Chemipure or sometimes Polyfilters as well, and mainly use the canister for increased water volume and circulation), and filled with new salt water, and within 24 hours everybody in the tank looked much happier- I'd wondered why the skimmer was suddenly producing double the usual amount of goop. Sigh... live and  learn, I suppose... bad tank owner!
<No, just the learning curve being experienced.>
Question about a new addition- bought a serpent star on Tuesday (and a 4 # hunk of gorgeous cured live rock with a pretty polyp on it... no one believes me when I tell them the rock was more expensive by several times than the starfish.. heh), and he's still hiding out in the live rock cave he retreated into when I released him.
<Far more active at night.>
There was quite a difference in salinity from the store tanks (1.028 in the bag) and mine, which is around 1.023... working to bring that up slowly with water changes and topping up with light salt mix instead of fresh water. I drip-acclimated him for just over 6 hours (even though the LFS guy said that I didn't need to drip-acclimate- sounded crazy to me and contrary to everything I'd read... did it anyway)
<LFS is wrong here.>
to help even out the dramatic shift in salinity etc, but know that these animals are quite sensitive.
<Sensitive to sudden pH/salinity changes, correct.>
It's definitely alive, and looks healthy, but sluggish. Patience?
<Yes.>
He was the most active guy in the store tank, climbing the walls with the lights on. I have my tank on a reverse-light cycle, and was hoping to watch his "nocturnal" scavenging activities... hopefully he just needs time to settle in and recover from the stress of acclimating to new tank conditions? Anything I can do to help him out?
<You are doing fine.>
Thanks for all the reassurance and advice that I've gotten from you guys over the years- what a great resource!
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Cheers,
*Carla

Clam with hitchhikers – 09/08/09
Hi
I hope everyone is well at the WetWeb!
<I am for sure!>
I recently purchased a 2.5 inch Maxima clam, with 2 large, and 3 smaller clove polyps on its shell. One of the large ones is at the very top, and the mantle of the clam expands around it to open, the others are further
down the shell, (and obviously reproducing).
The Clam seems ok - it opens fully, but I don't know if I should be removing these polyps or if that would be a worse stress on the clam than leaving it alone. If so, how would you recommend (Exacto-knife was my best guess...)
Thanks as always,
Karen
<A sharp blade, yes... not likely chemically toxic or physically harmful however. Bob Fenner>

Tridacna derasa quarantine: 7/13/2009
Hi Guys!
<Howdy!>
Please forgive me if the answer to my question lies in your immense FAQs, but I was unable to find it so I thought I would just ask.
<Sure thing.>
I have just purchased a *Tridacna derasa*. I'm very excited as you might imagine. But, I'm confused with the quarantine. The clam is approximately 3-1/2 inches. I know that it is always recommended to quarantine for 2 weeks at minimum.
<Yes>
But, I'm a little afraid that it might attach itself to the bare tank bottom and I won't be able to move it.
<A valid concern, but easily corrected by giving the clam something portable to attach to, such as a old shell or a small piece of rock. >
I'm also wondering if placement in the display tank would offer better water flow, nutrients, and lighting.
<It would>
Would you still recommend a 2 week quarantine?
<If it is your only clam and you are certain that it is not carrying any parasitic snails that will devour it, yes, you can go ahead and put it in your display. Do watch it closely, particularly after lights out for signs of snails. If you had existing clams, I would quarantine it for the two weeks.>
As always you guys are the best!
Thanks for responding.
<My pleasure.>
<MikeV>

Tridacnid HH    6/29/09
Dear Crew at WWM,
Thank you so much for all of the information you have here & the references, my husband & I have truly enjoyed learning about our beautiful tank inhabitants. Our original tank was last up 15 years ago so things have changed a lot since we started back in the hobby 6 months ago. We currently have a 125g tank, with spot on water parameters and all critters doing very well. My question is about a baby T. squamosa that I just purchased last week. Roughly 2" (5cm) long,
<Mmm, very small clams have a historically high incidental mortality>
beautiful caramel, honey, golden brown with turquoise spots--quite beautiful. Acclimated the baby, put it in quarantine, & introduced it to the tank--seems fine, mantle all the way over, reacts well to light, etc...as my hubby was feeding our plate corals & anemones, out of the inhalant siphon came a white worm looking 'thing'
<Might be a worm...>
about 1cm long 1/4cm wide. By the time I grabbed the camera to take a photo, it had disappeared. I have since spent hours trying to see this 'thing' since yesterday evening...can anyone help me with this description? I am horrified if there is a beastie in my baby or if it can reproduce and attach itself to any of our tank critters.
Many thanks in advance for your response, I truly do appreciate it.
Tracey
<There are organisms that live as space "parasites", commensals for the most part... So send along an image if/when you can. Bob Fenner>

Re: My baby squamosa clam, not HH  – 07/01/09 Dear Kind Crew, <Tracey> I wrote to you a couple of days ago with the query of a beastie being seen in my new baby squamosa. After spending hours watching the babe-camera in hand, I did move him up to the rock...Please find attached a photo & I would so appreciate if you could let me know if & what this moving 'appendage' is... <The whitish object to the lower right? The excurrent siphon> I await your comments--and thank you so much for the absolute invaluable advice you post--you're my favourite reference site! Best regards, Tracey <Do keep an "eye" on that urchin... can be problematical in poking clam mantles. Bob Fenner>

Coral and Clam Competing for Turf 5/5/09
WWM Crew:
<Josh Here>
I've been lucky enough to have the livestock in my reef tank flourish, but now I fear that I'm running into an issue where I have too many creatures competing for limited reef space. I've been able to somewhat successfully deal with this problem in the past, but now I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've attached a photo of my problem area. Obviously everything is attached to the rock, so I can't easily move anything. I'm most concerned about the clam getting stung, and I don't really care about the mushrooms or Zoanthids if they need to be removed.
<The clam may be getting close there... but they don’t seem quite as close as you make it sound. Anyway, it couldn’t hurt to separate them. While it certainly isn’t ideal for the clam to be in contact with the coral, do Google search some for some photographs of giant clams in the wild, (often surrounded by corals).>
Will the clam survive if I allow it to be smothered by the Zoas and Shrooms, and if not, what is the best way to remove the Zoas and Shrooms. I'm afraid that scraping them away with razor blade will release toxins into the water. Thanks in advance for your help.
<Should be fine to scrape, if this rock is like most live rock, it may be just as easy to scrape away a layer of live rock with the corals attached as to scrape the corals themselves.>
Sincerely,
Jesse
<Good luck with the coral relocation...
Josh Solomon>

Tridacnid Maxima Disease 02/09/09 *Sorry, forgot to attach images in previous email* Hello WWM, I have searched all of the five pages on Tridacnid disease and have not found an answer to my question, so I hope that someone will be able to help me. My Maxima clam has been fine for months since I have had him (purchased tank Sept 08, Maxima came with it, in tank at least 6 months before that). In the past few weeks a brown colored film seems to be growing on the shell. <I see this> I have tracked its progress, and it is spreading. The clams behavior seems fine, mantle looks ok, it fully extends during lighted hours, but this recent development worries me. Please take a look at the two attached pictures and tell me if you can identify it. Thanks in advance. Landon <Need much more resolution here to tell... Could be a simple algal growth... of not much consequence... Perhaps a Hydroid colony... a Bryozoan... IF concerned, IF this growth appears to be deleteriously affecting the Tridacnid, I would take the clam out, and scrub the area (underwater) in a bucket of water outside the system. Bob Fenner>

Clam Question... I'm not seeing the problem 11/17/2008 Hi. <Hi Eric, Mich here.> I seem to be having some sort of problem with my clam. I thought it was the fact that that an angel was nipping at it, but that having been solved by removing the fish, I still see these grayish, whitish spots on the mantle. <Mmm, I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to here. I'm not seeing anything that looks out of the ordinary consistently in your pictures.> It started in one place about six months ago and progressed across the mantle. <The picture ending in 126 appears to be your clearest photo and the one I am relying on most here, but I'm not seeing anything that looks abnormal to me. Working from the outside of the mantle inwards, I see bright blue spots on dark purple, then a lighter brownish-purple, and then more bright blue spots. My guess is perhaps you are concerned about this lighter brownish-purple section, but this looks like normal color variation to me. When clams are moved into new environments/lights the colors often appear different.> I've looked for worms at night and have not seem them or anything else for that matter. <Mmm, I guess I'm not surprised?> I'd would appreciate it if you could lend your expert eyes to the attached pictures and hopefully offer a diagnosis. <I do not see anything that appears concerning to me, If I've overlooked something please let me know.> Thanks, Eric <Welcome, Mich>

Re: Clam Question Clam Question... I'm not seeing the problem 11/20/2008 Thanks for the response. <Sorry, I'm not more help here.> I guess the pics don't provide enough color differentiation. <I'm just not seeing much, I'm sorry.> The spots are grayish white and it doesn't look natural. <Could be bleaching, which is the loss of the symbiotic algae known as zooxanthellae, is sometimes related to changes in lighting among other things. More here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_1/cav1i3/Clam_care/Clam_care.htm> However, since I removed the angel, the clam has started using calcium again, so maybe he'll be ok. <Let's hope.> Thanks again, Eric <Welcome, Mich>

Re: tridacnid byssal gland trauma 11/16/08
Sara-Have another question for you, just FYI, the clam I have previously inquired about is doing very well, so apparently I was just overreacting.
<Ah, cool>
My next question however, is one I can't find an answer to anywhere. What are the general guidelines for stocking levels of Tridacnids? I would like to have several in my tank (30 gal w/ 15 gal refugium) but don't want to have them over compete for nitrates, etc. Is there a rule? I kind of wanted to add a crocea and derasa in addition to the maxima I currently have. Let me know!
<Well, I honestly don't know of any real "rules" about it... but these animals are primarily photosynthetic. So they don't add to your "bioload" the same way fish do. Also, they grow at different rates (depending on the individual-- it's apparently a genetic thing). I imagine that how many you can keep in a tank depends on how fast they grow (since this will likely be the primary determining factor for how many nutrients they consume). If you can find some of the "slower growers" I think you could probably put as many in a tank as will comfortably fit. The problem is that you can't just look at a clam and know if it's a slow or fast grower. If I were you, I'd go to a LFS that's had some clams for awhile and ask them if they've noticed how fast or slow each of them has been growing. Explain that you're not necessarily looking for the fastest growing clam or else they'll like over-state the growth rates because they assume you want a fast growing one. In any case, I do think you could have 3 smaller (<6in fully extended) clams in the 30g tank. Even if they turn out to be super-fast growers, I'm sure you'd have no trouble placing (or even selling) it to someone else. The fast growers are more "in demand" as they say. Also note, if you're worried that your clams aren't getting enough nutrients, you can always just decrease the time you have the skimmer on. Also, please do pick up James Fatheree's book on ornamental clams... it's very good, and you seem to have the interest for it.>
Thanks,
Chad S
<De nada... hope this helps,
Sara M.>

Re: Squamosa death and Maxima Issues. 11/15/08 I went to the LFS today to verify everything. My salinity was a little higher due to the difference between my rinky dink plastic hydrometer and their refractometer but here are the parameters as of today... The tank is a 120 gallon with a 29 gallon fuge and ~30-40 gallons in the sump plus what is contained in the skimmer. KH=110ppm Ca=400 Nitrate=undetectable Nitrite=undetectable Phosphate=undetectable Salinity=1.027 ( I normally try to keep it around 1.025 or 1.026, I will be purchasing a refractometer soon) The only thing that I can figure is that the new Squamosa did not like the new flow pattern. The LFS guy said that trimming back the Montipora and the small movement of the powerhead changed the flow dynamics of the water. This could have caused the clam to exert what energy it had into moving <?> into a lower flow area and that led to it's demise? <Possibly> This sounds like it could be true but I wanted another opinion. He and I do not always see eye to eye when it comes to our views on husbandry practices. I have also down sized the picture of the maxima. <The Byssus doesn't look good> Another quick question, does Cyano bacteria grow in small patches... sort of like coralline. <Some species can, definitely> I thought I had some dark maroon coralline algae but pulled a rock out to trim some Acro and scratched at the maroon growth. It was not entirely soft but I could scratch some of it off. There is a small bit of Cyano started in the corner of the fuge, but it is the typical long stringiness. <Mmm, "comes" in a wide variety of shapes, colors...> I'm guessing this could be attributed to the skimmer issue I had ( will discuss in a second) and the maxima dying. I have done two ~15 gallon water changes in the past week and a half and plan to continue if this is a Cyano problem. I also swapped out my EV120 for my ASM G4. The EV120 injector was continually being infested by snail larva and not working correctly, so I ditched it but I fear that the multiple skimmer failures may have caught up with me. The growth in question is also in high flow areas of the tank, which I didn't think was characteristic of Cyano? <Again... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm and the linked files above... You'd do well to investigate RedOx potential as well.> Thanks again guys, Adam <Welcome. Bob Fenner>