Need Clam Help
 

Ok so I just got back home after being away for a week and while I was away I lost my baby Maxima . My 3" Squamosa appears to have pinched mantle (I Think) and is not opening up as much as it was. What causes this and how do I fix it? As you can tell I am totally new to clams.

clam help
 

what are your water parameters, what type of lighting do you have, what fish do you have, are the clams in the rock work or on the sand bed?

Water params are normal and the latest can be seen http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...t=66349&page=5
The fish are clowns PB/Kole/Purple Tangs, Coral Beauty, McKoskers Wrasse, Cleaner Wrasse, LMB. My lights are 250W 14k Phoenix and the clam is on the sandbed. I think the Maxima may not have been up high enough plus he was very small but the squamossa seemed very happy last week. I will be doing a WC tomorrow and we shall see if he is any happier.

clam help
 

personally not a fan of kalk it causes more problems than good in my opinion and alkalinity could very well be a factor , could you post a pic of the clam also and is there any crabs and can you see if there are any nips on the mantle , angels are known to be clam nipers

Look closely for pyramid snails. I lost one of my baby max's before I clued into the snails.

clam help
 

forgot to mention those i just went throught those as well but luckily never suffered any losses i only had a few and very quickly went out and got a canary wrasse and haven't seen any since , keep that in mind if you do find pyramid snails this is a very helpfull fish

Pinched mantle is a condition caused by protozoans. It will be fatal if left unchecked. If what you have IS pinched mantle, you need to do a FW dip on the clam. It has been many years since I last dealt with PM so I don't remember how long of a dip is required. I'll try looking it up and posting back but in the meantime that is something you can look up too.

Coral Beautys are known to nip at clams... that would be the only reason I do not have one in my tank!

Photos?

I forgot to follow up with the promised article.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume...6_4/clams.html

Suggests 20 to 30 minutes in RO water. (Note, RO, not RO/DI).