Clam troubles

[whatcaneyedo]

I've been running filtersocks steady for the past 5 years and I still daily see the little snails on my glass. +/-2000gph goes down my overflow through a 100 micron sock.

But then again it could also have been a pathogen that my most recent addition (the squamosa) brought in that killed my clams.

[The Grizz]

It is definatley a clamademic!!!

As Doug and I feared the clam I got from him did not make it last night, thought it was turning around but then late last night to all just went to mush.

And now to top that off the other big clam that I got from Doug almost a year ago is dieing too.

I dont care what anyone says bristol worms KILL!! I have been checking all the remaining clams for the last week to see if there are any of those snails anywhere and NONE. BUT there where BW's I pulled 2 off both my larger clams, the one from Doug and the one from Rick.

Now a perfectly healthy clam is dieing and I DO attibute it all to BW's at least for the ones that have been in my tank for more then 3 months


PS DOUG CLEAR YOUR INBOX DUDE

[reefwars]

should have gotten a pic of the worms, there are alot of types of bristle worms some are harmless and have been found with bellies of algae some have been seen killing fish........if your clam is in the sand it wouldnt be surprising to pull a clam out and find some bristle worms as they are nocturnal and hide in the sand and rock throughout the day

is anyone watching these clams through out the night and early morning??

i also find it hard to believe that everyone is having bristle morn hunger attacks at the same time on the same species when they have alot of extra food around anyways.


has anyone been having clam troubles before winter???

[reefwars]

another idea would be for if anyones dies to diesect it and see whats going on inside.....whether its being eaten or some other explanation

[Delphinus]

You'll need a strong stomach. I do this for all my clams that I remove but you need to be a biologist or pathologist to really understand what you're seeing.

Greg I do sympathize but you are jumping to the wrong conclusion. Bristle worms (and for pity's sake, EVERYONE - PLEASE STOP CALLING THEM BRISTOL WORMS, for crying out loud! Geez! Sorry I just can't take it anymore!! BRISTLE WORMS!!! As in, the bristles like that on a broom. Bristol is a city in England!!) are scavengers.

Any scavenger will move in and possibly deal the final blow to a dieing animal. But does that make them the cause of death?

I'm sorry but I'm compelled to share one key learning in almost 15 years of keeping tridacnid clams: they don't turn around once past a point. They simply don't have the auto-immune response that other organisms might have. If you or I were tired or distressed and our immune response was compromised, we'd probably get the sniffles or a head cold. A clam on the other hand ... well that's just basically it. They CAN turnaround from some things but for the most part by the time you have realized something is amiss, it's usually well past the point of no return.

I don't mean to be mean here but you have to consider a few things. 1) You've added a lot of clams in the past 6 to 12 months from many different sources. If a pathogenic agent was introduced along the way there is no way to trace it back conclusively. 2) As I've stated MANY times before .... clam ailments are HUGELY contagious. I feel like a broken record but I'll say it again. Clam ailments are HUGELY contagious! All it takes is one clam that is compromised and your entire stock is at risk. It could have been something that affected one clam 6 to 8 months ago and the recent losses are simply the cascading-forward effects from that. 3) Clams are also hugely sensitive to, well, everything. Temperature, pH, Ca, Alk, heck even Mg levels, if any of these are not rock solid stable the clams are among the first to show it. Simply moving from one tank to another can be enough to kill them.

My point being basically that longevity of clams is dependent hugely on luck. It sucks but it's the reality. Sometimes a clam just dies. Every few years the clustering of clam deaths causes this kind of thread on the board because it's just human nature to want to pinpoint a single cause that we can all blame but the reality is it's probably a combination of rotten luck, coincidence, and the fact that we hobbyists don't tend to employ the strictest of cross-contamination-protocols.

[pelle31]

^^+1. Gotta agree with that post. My Clams are doing great and have no problems with the BRISTLE worms that I have in my tank with the clams. Then again I haven't added any either and nor will I for awhile.

[The Grizz]

Then how do you explain how a perfectly healthy clam in the morning and for the last 6 month in my tank and how ever long in Dougs tank can be dead in less then 8 hrs? I have been checking all my clams an hr after the lights go out for creepy crawlies and last night there were 2 BRISTLE worms going for the bottom of my 2 biggest clams, not to mention NEITHER are on the sand bed. I got to all 4 of them before they could get into the clam but still one died. And again I said WTF!!

[kien]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

and for pity's sake, EVERYONE - PLEASE STOP CALLING THEM BRISTOL WORMS, for crying out loud! Geez! Sorry I just can't take it anymore!! BRISTLE WORMS!!!

Um, hey Tony, hope you're having a great weekend buddy.

Just an FYI, this may be the Bristol worm that people are talking about? Nasty little buggers.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by The Grizz

Then how do you explain how a perfectly healthy clam in the morning and for the last 6 month in my tank and how ever long in Dougs tank can be dead in less then 8 hrs? I have been checking all my clams an hr after the lights go out for creepy crawlies and last night there were 2 BRISTLE worms going for the bottom of my 2 biggest clams, not to mention NEITHER are on the sand bed. I got to all 4 of them before they could get into the clam but still one died. And again I said WTF!!

i think what tony is saying is one of your new additions has brought in "the cold" and now they all are sick.....the healthy ones are either gonna fight it to a certain point and just die...... or possibly make it

to keep some bristle worms off try putting your clam on a shelf from eggcrate untill you figure out whats going on good luck buddy sorry to hear about all the clams .....

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by kien

Um, hey Tony, hope you're having a great weekend buddy.

Just an FYI, this may be the Bristol worm that people are talking about? Nasty little buggers.

Talk about creeper child in the front .

It is definatley a clamademic!!!

Y'all crazy...
I could take a couple of fresh samples into the lab and try and culture them for some tests if Doug or you is willing to drop them off @ my house Tuesday night or Wed. morning?

I can't promise you anything but I would sure love to try?