clam with pinched mantle??

[Aquattro]

It's speculated that the piched mantle is caused by a parasite and the FW dip kills it. It works, so I don't ask too many questions.

[ABreefkpr]

[christyf5]

Wow! 30 minutes?? I'm scared to do the squamosa tho. There is a giant hole where the hinge should be. Maybe I'll do a bit more research there. Does everyone do them this long??

Also, what about the pH of the RODI, you have to add anything to get it up to 8.4??

Thanks everybody!

Christy

[Aquattro]

Christy, the clams are able to seal themselves in their shell and tissue doesn't actually contact the water. Therefore pH isn't important. I heard Dick Perrin (Tropicorium) once forgot some clams in a FW bath overnight and they were fine. Consider other local bivavles that are out of water for the duration of low tide. They keep their own water during these periods. If you search thru the tridacna forum on RC, you'll find many references to these dips.

[christyf5]

So how the heck does the bacteria get killed if its hanging out on the mantle and the mantle is in the shell then?? Does it just hang out on the shell surface??

As well I don't want to dip the squamosa. I think a rush of FW will just kill it. For all I know it could be causing the problem. Could it be a carrier of the bacteria and not exhibit any symptoms?


C

[Aquattro]

Not bacteria, but a parasite along the outer edge of the shell. That's why it is affected by the FW while the clam is safe inside the shell.

[christyf5]

OK, thanks Brad!!

[christyf5]

Well I did the dip last night and the mantle looks better albeit still a bit pinchy. I looked in the treatment cup this morning and found 3 black mean looking copepods that look like this:



(No my camera isn't that good, I found it in a thread on reefland.com) I also found about 20 smaller copepods that aren't really very easy to see other than the fact that they are a beige color on a white background. I think I may take them in to work and check them out on the dissecting scope.

Jon and Brad, did your clam mantles still look pinched after the FW dip and than go back to normal after a few days or were they perfect after the dip?

Christy

Before:


After:

[Stretch]

Oh yeah vast improvement give it a couple days it it will be awesome looking again

[Aquattro]

Christy, it varied, but after a full day they looked better.