baby maxima seems happy, but detached from rock...

[jacko]

I've had a smalll ultra maxima for about 2 months. I feed DTs and some CyclpEEze every few days. Within 1 week he attached to the large shell I put under him. And he has grown about 2 or 3 new "scales" all the way around.

I was on a business trip 2 weeks ago (about 8 days with no food), and fed him very well before I left. When I returned, he had detached from his rock. or shell. But seems very happy / normal.

Is this common? expected? Could it be a reaction to no food? Will he re-attach?

PS - water params are all fine, afaik, ca =450, Alk=4

 

[Jim Tansey]

I have never kept a clam, but read someware that Cyclpeeze is to big for smaller filter feeding clams.

Jim

 

[Shroom King]

Haven't been clammin' myself either, but I've read the same. Check out Clamsdirect. They have an informative clam forum.

 

[wrassefan]

My smaller squamosa detached itself from a rock once. I placed it back on a shell in the sand and it reattached. Haven't had a problem. I think the conch was digging in the area and the tunze was just set up and it was trying to get use to the flow. My black max use to not attach permanenly to any rubble either. Was healthy tho.

 

[scavdog]

Jack, What lighting are you running? Is the clam extending itself? Is it gaping at all? My clams get little more than good lighting and they are fine. Feeding a clam phyto is fine, however I do not believe it to be "do or die". FWIW, clams won't consume cyclopeeze IMO.

You might want to check the clam for Pyramid snails. They can get under the foot of a clam as well as the mantle and consume it.

 

[jacko]

thanks for the comments.
I'll stop feeding cyclopeeze, I'll just use DTs until he is 2 or 3 inches.
He is fully extended when the lights are on. It took a couple weeks for his entire mantle to come out, and now it does, every day.
The lighting is a 250W DE -- i think it's a 10,000K AB bulb.
I have checked for pyramids. nothing.

Oh, one other thing, there is a derassain the tank, which has been slowly dying for a few months. I am nearly given up on him. not sure at all what is wrong with him. I doubt it is contagious since the baby max has been fine for 8 weeks. no pyramids on the derassa either. the derassa has lost its tendon which holds the 2 shells together, it is weird. he has started pinching. if anyone wants to hospitalize the derassa, you can try your luck with him.

 

[Matt L.]

thanks for the comments.
I'll stop feeding cyclopeeze, I'll just use DTs until he is 2 or 3 inches.
He is fully extended when the lights are on. It took a couple weeks for his entire mantle to come out, and now it does, every day.
The lighting is a 250W DE -- i think it's a 10,000K AB bulb.
I have checked for pyramids. nothing.

Oh, one other thing, there is a derassain the tank, which has been slowly dying for a few months. I am nearly given up on him. not sure at all what is wrong with him. I doubt it is contagious since the baby max has been fine for 8 weeks. no pyramids on the derassa either. the derassa has lost its tendon which holds the 2 shells together, it is weird. he has started pinching. if anyone wants to hospitalize the derassa, you can try your luck with him.

That sounds very distressing. Something is obviously wrong with the Deressa clam. How big was he when you got him? I've heard that large clams tend to handle changes poorly.

How far are the clams beneath the light?

My opinion on feeding clams has been that if they are young (< 3-in. long) they require supplemental feeding with DTs, otherwise, they can get by on just photosynthesis.

Matt

 

[jacko]

the derassa was about 4 inches when i got him a yr ago.
and has not grown.
i have not target fed the derassa.
the light is about 8" above the water.
the derassa was on the sand for the past year (under 16 inches of water) but I recently moved him up onto a rock half way up the tank...because he cannot keep himself upright.
he maxima has been living at a depth of 8" under the surface....offset from the bulb by about 10" and I moved him to a rock since he un-attached himself, because he would fall from his precarious home. his new home is about 14 inches deep, closer to the center, hot spot under the bulb.

 

[jacko]

i came home from work today
and since the maxima is un-attached, he moved himself off of his rock/shell and into some gorgonia....damn thing..... now he is not opening all the way, and some of his mantle is darkened from blue towards black...with spots on it. dangggggggg

so, now in addition to my question "is it normal to detach" I am also asking "how bad is a gorgonia sting to a 2" ultra maxima" ???

 

[scavdog]

any updates Jack?

 

[jacko]

no.
I have not been home since I last wrote.
When I left, the maxima had been moving a bit off of his shell, again. So, I had to place him and his shell on the sand so that he could not fall onto anything. The problem with the sand is that hermits will crawl all over him and pick at him. And they seem to sleep on him there, as well.

I'll give an update tonight. thanks for checking up

 

[jacko]

maxima pics

So, update on the baby maxima:
Over the weekend, it remained on it's shell, on the sand, and it did not attach.
It seems to have recovered froom the stings...
However, it does not close completely when I put my hand over it. It does withdraw the mantle cpompletely, but it barely closes the shell when the shadow comes over it. It does close the shell completely when I picked it up. I picked it up to see whether or not it was attched, and to put it into its DT bath. ALSO, whenever I pick it up, there is a slim and goo on its underside. it is not like the strings which it uses to attach. and it is not the string of poo that it releases after eating. it is gooo

here are some pics of the sand bed, clam from side, and clam from top :

 

[jacko]

from side :

 

[jacko]

from top :

 

[JustDavidP]

It looks better than I thought it would. It seems happier where it is.

The slimey looking stuff is an excretion from the byssal glands. You'll see that occur before it creates the threads that will ultimately adhere to the rock. I'd leave it on a shell or piece of LR until it does attach. Then lift the whole thing to move or feed it.

Personally, I like using a plastic bottle to create a dive-bell type feeder for my small clams. Moving them to and from a DT bath, creating change in light, temperature, etc. can only stress the clam. By using a bell feeder type system, they stay put in the display tank while you concentrate the DTs on them.

Have a good one.

David

 

[jacko]

thanks, david, yeah I had been using the inverted 20 oz. coke bottle. But, sionce using that method, I have had serious algae problems. Marc suggested out of tank baths. So, despite the environment changes, I think I need to keep all the DTs out of the tank.

 

[JustDavidP]

Wow... algae? Are you releasing the DT's before the clams have cleared the water? Are you using too much? It should JUST stain green. Enough for a few minutes feeding. Is your skimmer producing? I could understand having problems with dead phyto, but the live cultures shouldn't be a problem unless you use too much.

In any case, one would have to "live" it to understand what is happening in your system. Good luck! That's a sweet looking Maxi.

David

 

[jacko]

yep
i over feed him
so he am better off in a bath !
I did not know it was supposed to be just barely green :-o