EMERGENCY!!! Crocea Clam in Trouble!!

[jtshack]

OMG!! I don't know what happened, but when I looked in my tank this morning, the smallest of my three crocea clams was laying on the sand bed. He'd been pushed (I'm assuming) from his little rock and his foot was still stuck on the LR. Can a clam live once their foot is pulled off like that? This is Charlie...my little guy from Vietnam...HELP! What do I do?


:help: :help: :help: :help:

 

[flyingarmy]

Don't freak..he'll be ok. If it is completely seperated just take it and place him level and he should attach itself back to the rock. Clams have a tendancy to jump at times or get knocked off by a big invert. How long was it at the current location?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Yeah, he was just unhappy with the spot. That clump is the byssal threads, and his foot is suresly still intact. Just put him in a good spot with lots of light and medium to low flow, and a solid base and you should be fine.

 

[jtshack]

Maybe a month and a half? All that's on the rock is a chunk of flesh...this is not the clam I got from you, it's his little bubba that sits kind of in front of him. I've had this one the longest... He's responding to light and I have him kind of propped up on the rock right now...do I need to do anything else?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

jtshack;178749 wrote: Maybe a month and a half? All that's on the rock is a chunk of flesh...this is not the clam I got from you, it's his little bubba that sits kind of in front of him. I've had this one the longest... He's responding to light and I have him kind of propped up on the rock right now...do I need to do anything else?

nope. just bear in mind, he may jump again. What has changed recently? Somethingf must've if he suddenly decided to move after 45 days. Just dont freak out, if he does. If he keeps jumping dont keep putting him back in the same spot.

 

[derek_s]

Yeah, they can move around. I have moved my maxima twice, and it just keeps migrating to where it wants to be. A-hole.

It will be ok... just put him back somewhere nice and stable, but dont glue him or anything...

 

[jtshack]

There's been some changes in the tank recently with the purchases from the meeting and moving stuff to accommodate the new stuff. Didn't really have any affect on Charlie though...he's in the same place he always was...ooh wait...I moved the powerheads...maybe that ticked him off?

Here's a pic of what was left on the rock:

alt="" />

Here's his bottom side...

alt="" />

And here he is propped back up on some LR...

alt="" />

I'm assuming I need to move the powerheads back the way I had them on his side of the tank...he has a little more flow now than he did before. I didn't know they jumped like that. (I would have expected him to detach, not break off like that :confused2: )

Thanks for helping me with this...I absolutely FREAKED when I found him :yikes:

 

[george]

He's open and not gaping, so I'd say he just decided to move. Clams can and will do that and it's not necessarily for anything other than whim.

Since Croceas are boring (as in "drilling", not "party killer") clams, they have pretty big byssal filaments so I'm not surprised at how big it is. I'm kind of surprised none of the cleanup crew cleaned it up. They usually went for that stuff in my tanks.

 

[glxtrix]

He's fine (by looking at the pic) You'd need to worry if you looked under the clam and there was a huge hole or missing flesh in the center. IMO the best thing to place a clam on is a clam shell. you should be able to get one from a LFS for free or a few bucks. Place the clam on it, it'll attach pretty quick seeing how its a surface it's use to. Then you can move the clam around a lot easier.

 

[jtshack]

When I first picked him up from the bottom, there <u>was</u> a hole in the center of the bottom. By the time I was able to take a pic, it was like you see in the pic I posted - closed up. That was the biggest thing that scared me. I've been watching him all morning and he seems to be okay. I did go ahead and move the powerhead where he doesn't get so much flow...closer to the way it was before he got all ticked off and took a dive.

Wasn't aware you could get empty clam shells from the LFS...I'll look into that and make sure I have a couple on hand in the event one of them jumps again. Certainly makes sense.

Can't thank everyone enough for helping me out with this and responding so quickly...much appreciated!

 

[jtshack]

He's on a small piece of LR, but he does stay on the bottom of the tank on the sandbed. For lights, I have 2 - 175W MH and 2 - 40W actinics. I think my lights are okay, but I think I ticked him off with the powerhead change. I guess time will tell if he's going to jump again or not...

 

[jtshack]

Dagnabit!! I really thought he was gonna be okay...

He hasn't reconnected to anything since the "jump" and his flaring got less and less until this morning I noticed a hole that goes all the way through. He's not flared at all now and my Charlie isn't gonna make it.

:sad: My poor Charlie!

If my other two clams are doing well and my water params are all still showing as good, is there anything I could've done for him? I feel so bad! :unsure:

 

[jtshack]

Barbara, I can't be sure, but if he isn't already dead, he sure looks like he's well on his way :sad:

http://images.kodakgallery.com/servlet/Images/photos4805/4/85/41/43/48/0/48434185413_0_BG.jpg?a=0" alt="" />

My other clams looks happy as...err...clams!

[IMG]http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos4997/4/85/31/63/72/0/72633185413_0_ALB.jpg alt="" />

Not sure what happened...based on the pic at the top, I should take him out shouldn't I... so sad...

 

[jefft]

Take one of your other clams out and smell it, then pull the "sick" one out and smell it. If its dead get it out asap.

 

[lifestudent]

jefft;180737 wrote: Take one of your other clams out and smell it, then pull the "sick" one out and smell it. If its dead get it out asap.

I agree! :yes: :yuk:

 

[jtshack]

He doesn't smell like rotting fish, but he doesn't smell the same as the other one. When I pulled him out, I gently pulled the shell apart a little and I could swear I saw him move. I put him in a container with some of the DT water in it and he's floating for now. If he is dead (or close), he won't contaminate the rest of my water now that he's contained.

Just for the record...this sucks.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Egads!! Stop pulling and poking. You CAN routinely see a hole through the clams. He's likely just irritated. Put him in a spot and let him be. Definitely dont ever force a clam open!!! If he dies, more than likely, any cleanup crew will be on him like flies on....well, they'll be there, and it will be obvious. Clams have a miraculous ability to make you think they're dead, and then one day be fine.

 

[jtshack]

Don't panic Jeremy...I knew not to pull. My terminology was poor...it was more like I wiggled the sides to see if Charlie would respond. I really don't think he's faking it though...when you look in the shell, his "body" appears to be pulling away from the shell. Do they do that too?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

jtshack;180783 wrote: Don't panic Jeremy...I knew not to pull. My terminology was poor...it was more like I wiggled the sides to see if Charlie would respond. I really don't think he's faking it though...when you look in the shell, his "body" appears to be pulling away from the shell. Do they do that too?

Thats a much worse symptom. Does it look like his shell is opening so wide it is pulling the tissue away? That is gaping, and is usually the precursor to death. However, if he's just clamped closed, and you can see any colored mantle, I would just leave him be.

 

[jtshack]

jmaneyapanda;180786 wrote: Thats a much worse symptom. Does it look like his shell is opening so wide it is pulling the tissue away? That is gaping, and is usually the precursor to death. However, if he's just clamped closed, and you can see any colored mantle, I would just leave him be.

Nope...his shell is open and the fleshy part is pulling away from the sides. Not all the way though...it's as though he's retracted into the shell, but the shell is still open.

I'm trying to get some pictures, but they aren't turning out too well through the container he's floating in...