Clam death.

[Skim]

Clams are funny they don't give you much of sign saying I'm in trouble. If they are being attacked from the bottom you will usually see then open and closing quite often and kind of twitching from side to side and they will also stay closed when you would expect them to be basking in the light. They have to be treated almost like softies they like there Ammonia and Nitrates and probably Phosphates to boot. If you ask some that have a large clam like 12 inches or more or have many clams they probably have the cleanest water as in Phosphates and Nitrates. I met a guy in the LFS one day and he had a 280 Gal I believe and had nothing but Clams in it the whole tank everywhere, he showed me photos it was amazing but he did not skim did not use RO water and water changes where far and few and he still had to dose Ammonium and Nitrates to keep them alive and the more he dosed he said the more colourful they became and grew much faster. I know from the past if you have Bristle worms your Clams will usually die, they drill there way in from the bottom and eat the Clam from the inside. What a way to go.
Anyhow sorry to hear of your loss. Like I said I have lost some beauties in the past all to Bristle Worms once they get a taste the rest are doomed.

All the best.

Mike

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Slyguy00

They generally get attacked by snails and other pests on the foot of the clam. I had one that did the same thing, turned out there were a few little starfish and a snail that had made its way into the clam through the bottom and ate it from the inside. Pretty wierd.

I looked at the bottom on the first day. Nothing and I checked my others today with a mag glass.

Originally Posted by Ryanerickson

Certain wrasses will inialate clams also I lost 2 clams to a green wrasse

I have a yellow coris and a leopard. Never seen them bothering my clams.

Originally Posted by Skim

Clams are funny they don't give you much of sign saying I'm in trouble. If they are being attacked from the bottom you will usually see then open and closing quite often and kind of twitching from side to side and they will also stay closed when you would expect them to be basking in the light. They have to be treated almost like softies they like there Ammonia and Nitrates and probably Phosphates to boot. If you ask some that have a large clam like 12 inches or more or have many clams they probably have the cleanest water as in Phosphates and Nitrates. I met a guy in the LFS one day and he had a 280 Gal I believe and had nothing but Clams in it the whole tank everywhere, he showed me photos it was amazing but he did not skim did not use RO water and water changes where far and few and he still had to dose Ammonium and Nitrates to keep them alive and the more he dosed he said the more colourful they became and grew much faster. I know from the past if you have Bristle worms your Clams will usually die, they drill there way in from the bottom and eat the Clam from the inside. What a way to go.
Anyhow sorry to hear of your loss. Like I said I have lost some beauties in the past all to Bristle Worms once they get a taste the rest are doomed.

All the best.

Mike

That was one reason I had 6 besides their beauty. I once read somewhere that bristle worms will not harass clams through the foot unless the clam is already on the way out.

[christyf5]

How was the shell growth? I find that to be an excellent indicator of their overall health. I keep an eye on mine and adjust my various parameters accordingly. Sometimes clams can give you an indicator of whats going on, other times its just one day they appear happy, the next day dead. I'll never get them figured out, especially the expensive ones. Sorry to hear, unexplained deaths always suck

[Skimmerking]

ya Doug that sucks man. that nice squamosa i had remember the white speckles on it just went in like a 1.5 days. weird

[Doug]

Well its officially an epidemic now. BLAH

[Skimmerking]

whats the count now

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Skimmer King

whats the count now

Three Mike....

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by Skim

I know from the past if you have Bristle worms your Clams will usually die, they drill there way in from the bottom and eat the Clam from the inside. What a way to go.
Anyhow sorry to hear of your loss. Like I said I have lost some beauties in the past all to Bristle Worms once they get a taste the rest are doomed.

All the best.

Mike

FWIW, I've had my clam for nearly 4 years, first as a teeny tiny little baby clam in a 4 gallon pico, then as one of the first inverts in my big tank.

By weight, I'd say half the biomass in my tank is bristle worm. My clam is happy as a, well, clam.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

FWIW, I've had my clam for nearly 4 years, first as a teeny tiny little baby clam in a 4 gallon pico, then as one of the first inverts in my big tank.

By weight, I'd say half the biomass in my tank is bristle worm. My clam is happy as a, well, clam.

Yeah I have a squammie now for a few years and it's been in a couple systems all of which have bristle worms and its still going strong .I'm sure they love a dying meal but they don't seem to do any harm to a healthy one.....not the typical worms I have anyways

[asylumdown]

I suppose I should have caveated that statement. To my untrained eyes it looks like I have two different species of bristle worm in my tank. I even triggered a mass spawning of them cleaning the tank last weekend (not sure what I did but holy crap was it impressive). There's dozens of other species of 'bristle worm', so what might be true for the kinds in my tank might not be true of another species someone might have brought home on their rocks. Maybe there's a kind that likes to munch clams and I've just been lucky so far.