from now on i stick to clam chowder
 

in the past three years i have purchased 3 maxima clams. the first year i had a beautiful blue maxima that lived for over a year perfectly fine thenits mantle turned brownish and withered away i tried feeding phyto and other things to it but to no avail it did not survive. it was a sad day. then when i built my 50 i purchased another small clam with a vibrant blue mantle and it seemed to do well but i was fighting hair algea and had a mishap with the rock i was scrubbing. neddless to say the unsuspecting clam had a sky is falling episode which ended up in a split personality. i had hoped it would heal but no i murdered the poor creature.

And yesterday i had to remove my third clam that suffered the fate the same as the first.. im not sure if it was that i dont have enough flow or that the 250w metal halide didnt give it enough sun. or what i keep doing wrong but my rule is three times your off my stock list. i refuse to be a serial killer of elegant clams or any other creature in my possesion. i will continue to research my mistakes and read how other have success. but for now i will stick to clam chowder and enjoy my clams from a bowl instead if within my reef tank.

that is all

How big were the clams that withered away?

Also, how old we're the tanks when you put the clams in?.....my general rule is, no clams until the tank is a year old....what fish did you have at the time?

first was 5" second was onl 2.5" but didnt die ofnaturalcauses unlessmy dropping a rock on it is natural. the third is 4"

first clam was put in from startup of my 90 until a year and a half later (thinking bad lighting was the cause. second was in my 50 6 months after startup. and the lastly over a year running in 50. fish in no was blennies clowns tangs and in 50 clowns wrasse gramma

Agreed no less than 1year and none under two inches.
Also consider the clam species. I have multiple clams and my favorite beginner is a hippoppus? They like it on bottom and no foot to bond to ground. They just use there weight to stay put

I think most people kill clams when they damage foot trying to move them

the foot was good on all 3 and where healthy clams when i got them. my water columns may be too clean lol when i do a water change my old water seems clearer than the new water all the time

I have no answers for you unfortunately. Clams over 2 inches, and especially over 4 inches, shouldn't need supplemental feeding. Your lighting sounds good and the tank is old enough, so not sure what could have happened. I have read that Maxima's are the most difficult, hence, I stick to Derasa's and Squamosa's.

I added 1" maxima to my brand new 90 3+ years ago, and moved it several times. It now resides back in the 180 and is almost 3". So you can add to a new tank, moving around is fine if care is taken to not damage the foot, and I've never directly fed it.
While these things can affect them, it's more likely parasites or some disease. We often read about mass die offs every now and then from unknown causes.
Did you ever look for those pesky little snails?

the anser my friend is blowing in the powerhead..lol seemed like a good thing to say.. i just need to take a break from clams i can no longer add one to my 90 due to my trigger so my 50 is all that i can add clams to at this time. and i read maxias are difficult as well. i will leave them to others who can keep them alive

i have never seen any tiny snails just those tiny stars. maybe in a year or so i will try again. but at this rate i feel i am depleting the clam population at alarming rates. some ppl can keep some corals like elegance corals and have them live forever. some cant no matter how hard they try. my duncancoral has bloomed huge in my 90 my dendos havent budged in size. and in my 90 i cant grow gsp if my life depended on it i kill them where others cant control the growth.

its amazing how yoo can have very simular setups and things grow different for different ppl.