new55galSALT Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Left for work clam looked like this (see picture) 1200 afternoon Came home at usual 645ish The insides were gone like something ate it..:-( Running a koralia nano whisper 10 internal filter salinity is at 1.025 as per floating hydrometer thing Quad t5 lighting 24w each only running 2 at the moment i have 4 sgt major damsels 1 black o clown Saw some bristle worms in my sand bed when updating to the 10 gallon from the 5 gallon hex I dose with liquid calcium as bottle states I feed mysis shrimp and flakes for fish kent marine mkcrovert and cyclop-eeze for my little filter feeder corals Please let me know if i did something wrong to kill this beautiful clam very sad black friday :'( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBReefer Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I had the exact same thing happen to my clam yesterday. My wrasse was eating away at my clam and look exactly like yours... must be black friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 That sucks to hear man. How long have you had it for? Your post made me reach in and give my clam a hug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Bristle worms can definitly kill it if they get to it's foot! after that, once it's dying, you'll see other things eating it. You can put a sour cream top or similar under your clams to protect their feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Awe man sorry to hear that, losing a clam is frustrating. How big was the clam? Smaller clams do have a higher mortality rate, and if the critters in your tank sensed it was on its way out.... If it was a smaller clam it probably wasn't anything you did, cause all of the params you posted look pretty good. Sorry for your loss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Really sorry to hear about your loss. I don't think bristle worms killed it, but they'll definitely scavenge a dying or dead animal. How long had you had it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new55galSALT Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 (edited) I had it for almost a month i think i got it at the frag swap.... the white thing you see in the pictures was actually protruding from its normal gapping hole .... i figure once it dries out ill add the shell back in the tank for corals to attach to... also it was a small clam maybe 2 inches long Edited November 25, 2012 by new55galSALT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 To expound on Juicmans comments if the byssal opening is damaged many of your CUC species will be able to get inside the clam and kill the clam. The byssal opening is the opening in the back side of the shell that is obvious when you hold the two halves together. It is where the clam uses byssal threads to attach itself to rocks. Maximas are considered the least hardy by some1 because they have the largest byssal opening porportionally of all the giant clams. I wouldn't let this one incedent deter me from getting another clam. It's difficult to determine how stressed the animal was even if it looked helathy and you don't know what conditions it was grown under. Ideally when you get a clam it should be holding onto a piece of rock and you can't see the tissue covering the byssal opening. When buying with a healthy clam the opening should at least be competely closed off with the body of the clam, if you can see into the clams interior or if there is any obvious damage to the tissue covering the byssal I would not buy it. 1Dr. Gerald Heslinga, Next Wave 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+boognish Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Bummer... Bristle worms alone couldn't devour a dead clam that size in 6 hours. I'd look at the fish or the CUC. Like everyone said though, neither of those would usually attack a healthy clam, so I'd look for other culprits that would cause it to be weakening. Pyramidellid Snails, light requirements (usually slow, but can weaken them enough for prestaors to take over and finish the job), etc. Your post made me reach in and give my clam a hug. I wanted to hug mine also, but I couldn't quite reach all the way around. I am nervous about moving it to my new tank. Will probably be the last tenant to leave that 75. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Wow, crazy I also lost a clam over the holiday break.. I think my CUC was the culprit. The clam had a quarter size hole in it and the CUC was dead too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBReefer Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Sounds like a bad weekend for clams.... What are the odds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new55galSALT Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 I think it was a fish since the only CUC i have are the bristle worms and one turbo snail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 I had a clam that looked great for a couple months. Then I noticed the clams opening was getting larger and it was receding fast within a few days. I couldn't figure it out, because everything else was really thriving. After I did research on it, I found out that CUC's could damage them. I picked it up, and sure enough there was the tiniest snail on it's foot. I took it off, but it was too late. I didn't know you could put a top under it to protect it's feet. I'm going to have to try that. I wanted another 1, but I have an awesome CUC that I knew would do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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