Clamsdirect Group Buy - how are your clams?

[ScottM]

Scottmerrill- Whole Tank Dead
JustdavidP- Both dead
Matt davis Square- Dead
Skatzen- Dead
Ray- Dead
Penman/Dima96-dead
Edasque-dead
97 Vmax-?
newreefer03-alive
Theulimatenoob-dead
Piscevore-dead

Anyone I missed?


I ask because my tank developed clam pinch and it wiped out all of exisitng clams, including my irreplaceable blue squamossa.
Just curious what was your cause of death?
The purpose of this thread is NOT to bash clams direct.
I would like to gather as much info as possible about each person?s tank water params and how they died. This info may be useful to Barry in determining what may cause/promote/deter clam pinch in the aquarium.

 

[ScottM]

as for my tank.
Water Params were temp 79 Ca ~425 Alk 12 Phos 0 Nitrates ~5-10
Clam Pinch first started on the smaller clams. i thought they were just too small or the excessive handling for direct feeding of DT's may have killed them. then a lage squami started to pinch. and every other clam in the direct vicinity. they were all grouped together in a 1ft x 2ft space. every clam in this area died from pinch. only the clams that were over 2ft away survived. they were also fairly new additions to the tank.
i did constant 30 min fresh water dips to try and save the clams. no such luck.
as the clams died my nitrates increased. as the bigger clams started to die the mantles were being consumed by the tank inhabitants before i could take them out. i was holding out untill the last minute in hopes that my clams would survive. they did not live. the decaying mantles in the rockwork caused my nitrates to skyrocket wich in turn caused my SPS to bleach/RTN.
it took a 100% water change and removing the rockwork and collecting the deacayed mantles to recover the tank.

Whatever caused the pinch seemed to be limited to a specific region of the tank. it did not affect the entire tank. it just happened to be the most populated area in the tank.
i have since fresh water dipped my remaining clams 2X a week for the past 2 weeks. they are doing OK.

 

[ScottM]

Barry from clams direct sent me an email that i think is appropriate to share:

Even now and then we receive a clam that has pinched mantle from the supplier so we do a FWD and quarantine it, then all is fine. We have shipped to a lot of people in your area and have heard from a few that there was a problem with pinched mantle. I sent a picture of some clams that we have and no signs of this at all. Shipped a large group order to Texas about 3 weeks ago and as of this past Friday, all is doing well. J Wish I knew what causes this pinched mantle, we have done a lot of research in this area and even took some clams to Scripps Ocean Research here in San Diego and had them check as well as our water and all test came back negative. I took a Tridacna crocea that had sever pinched mantle and place it in my personal clam tank for 56 days and no other ones shown any signs. Go figure. I would like to say this in all fairness, we also receive a lot of email and post on our support forum from others that have purchased clams from other supplier other than ClamsDirect and also have experienced these same signs, so it is not isolated to clams that come from just us. Most people do not take into consideration that most LFS and online vendors purchase from the same major suppliers that we do. I have tried to find a common denominator that maybe would shed some light on what this ?pinched mantle? is and what can be done to prevent it. The only thing that we have done with success is the FWD but one must do it long enough or it will return. There are so many things that we still do not know or understand regarding these awesome creature. I have spend the last 10 years plus keeping them, observing them and yes doing some research on them to better understand what is needed to care and keep these awesome creatures and one thing that we have found out is that it is best to keep them in a dominated clam tank, no other corals or inverts thus avoiding any water warfare. We set a clam tank up over 2 ? years and have nothing but clams (14) and one clown fish, 6 line and one small yellow tang and have lost one clams since the tank was set up. J



Scott, in closing I want to say that I/we would NEVER send out a clam that we thought was not in good health. Now and then we have even cancelled an order the day of shipping as the clam that was suppose to go out, didn?t look like we thought it should. Bottom line is that we pride ourselves on providing healthy/colorful clams as well as good customer service.

 

[JustDavidP]

My tank had been rock solid for more than a year now. I waited to get Maximas until it was a mature, proven system. I could go home tonight and write down all my journal entries for water condition, but it is safe to say that there were no "noteworthy" water problems. My nitrates are just now a recordable issue since the clam deaths. I've done water changes and have it all under control. It was ugly for a while. I lost some corals in the crash. Everything now (except for my squamosa) is on the rebound.

The maximas showed PMD within a couple days. Honestly, through the acclimation etc. they never really opened well. Finally, after two days, the clams opened except for the mantle nearest the inhalant siphon. After a couple more days, my squamosa began to pinch. I dipped them all once. The squamosa looked better. The maximas did not. I dipped the maxis once more and then I lost my first. A couple days later the second gave in. I've dipped my squammy one more time, but it is too late. Any additional dips would bring it over the edge.

I posted on Barry's site to let him know the same information. The only thing I add to my water (faithfully) is B-Ionics 2 part.

I agree that any information to help understand these losses would be great. Barry has been nothing less than professional when dealing with him. He has a great business and has wonderful customer satisfaction skills. I'm sure he is not happy that our clams died either. I hope that this information will help him prevent future losses.

Dave

 

[Ray]

No other clam was effected in my tank, just the small maxima from clams direct. I can not say it was PMD because I knew nothing about it at the time, I just know the clam wasnt opening as much as it should and after 3 or 4 days in my tank I noticed my pepermint shrimp all over the closed up clam and when I came home from work my shrimp had cleaned it out
My water was stable Ca-450, nitrite-0, nitrate-0, ammo-0, alk-norm, nothing changed after the death of the clam
There was one other clam not far from that one and I have added 5 more since and all are fine, one I thought had it but turned out to be a tube worm by the mantel

 

[Matt L.]

Despite the death of my clam, I would like to add that I would never purchase a clam from anyone other than Barry at Clams Direct. There service and caring was second to none. I find this an unfortunate tragedy that is affecting us all, supplier and consumer. The sooner we can find a cure, the better.

Oddly, a clam that was near the one that perished is now showing the same symptoms. This clam, an almost 6" T. Squamosa, was purchased from elsewhere, and predated my (now-deceased) Clams Direct T. maxima clam by about a year.

The symptoms are getting worse, and this large clam is beautiful. I want to keep him alive. How long should the freshwater dip be for?

Matt

 

[JustDavidP]

Matt..

Good luck. My T. Squamosa isn't going to make it either. I dipped it for 15 minutes the first time, and 30 each time thereafter. I know if I dip it one more time, it'll be the end of it.

David

 

[Ray]

Dip for 30 mins, I used RO water in one of those hang on tank containers for the clam that I thought had it, it was eather that or the tube worm, eather way it is fine now

 

[dima96]

so far i've lost the two small maxima from the clams direct order. out 6 clam 4 are showing signs of pinch, 3 croceas and a maxima. my derasa and squamosa and now doing fine. there have been no measurable changes in my water params and the only things added to my tank were 2 acros.

 

[ScottM]

Matt,
take bagged RO water and float it in your sump to match temp. then dip for 30 min. and repeat... repeat....repeat.....

 

[newreefer03]

The maxima I got from clams direct is still alive and doing fine but I lost another small maxima that was near it that I had gotten from AA about 2 months before. I don't know if there was any relationship. It didn't look like it was fully expanding its mantle one day then the next day it was gone.

 

[Tanked]

Scott,

the Maxima I got from the group buy died very quickly and was gaping from the start. My very stable water parameters are Temp 79 Ca ~445 Alk 10 Phos 0 Nitrates ~0-5, no Ammonia

Erik

 

[JustDavidP]

FWIW... if doing fresh water dips, check to ensure that your RO water is in and around the same PH as the tank. It helps reduce the stress.

Dave

 

[Matt L.]

Well, if my T. Squamosa doesn't improve, I will dip him, although I fear that I could do more harm than good. I can easily adjust the pH so it matches that of the tank thanks to a handy portable digital pH meter. So you say 30min? And they can survive this? Wow.

Matt