clam on its side, is this ok?

[LilBugger225]

I have had my maxima for 4 months now and it has grown a bit and done great. The past couple of weeks however it has been lying on its side more. The shell half on the bottom appears actually larger than the other half now but its hard to tell. The clam still sits in the shell I bought it with on the substrate. Until lately the clam has not moved and has sat straight up. I know it has grown alot, maybe outgrowing the shell its sitting on and its trying to move off of it? I didn't want to move the clam around or take it off its shell until I got some feedback from this board. The clam appears healthy and opens up like it always has. Here is a couple of pics of what it looks like now:

(You have to cut and paste the link on your browser because geocities is wierd)

http://www.geocities.com/lilbugger225/clam6-5-02.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/lilbugger225/c ... 6-5-02.jpg

This is what it looked like when I first got it:

http://www.geocities.com/lilbugger225/t ... am2702.jpg

Tank Specs:
75 gal with 130 lbs live rock, 110 lbs live sand
temp ~82 F
SG 1.025
lighting: 2 175 MH
all water params in check

Any advice appreciated!

Erica 8)

 

[Tybond]

Hi,

I wouldn't be concerned to much about the clam leaning to one side.

Hopefully more experienced members will chime in as I don't personally own a clam yet but, From what I have seen over time, Clams do some strange things. As long as the mantle is extending fully, I would guess the clam may be getting ready to move off the shell and into the substarate, It has tilted toward on comming flow to feed, or posibly you have a window in that direction and he decided to catch some rays of light from there.
I have actually witnessed a maxima hanging sidways from a lift pipe on a fellow reefers tank. 6+ inches up the pipe laying horizontal.

I know this isn't a "professional" answer to your question, but hopefully at least slightly calming.

ty

 

[LilBugger225]

Thanks for the reply! Leaning towards the flow to feed does make sense because its lean is towards one of the powerhead's flow in my tank. Maybe I am not feeding enough? I do feed DTs on occasion but not regularly. I am just concerned about the growth of the clam, wether the growth is symetrical or not when leaning. I am somewhat of a clam newbie owning only one other clam which was killed by a "snail massacre" of a wierd kind of hitchiker snail.

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
If clam like to point itself to flow, then it will be pointing sidewide on the beach (laminar flow). However, most clam in the T. genus are point more toward the sky than any other directions.

I won't be too concern about it too much. But if you do want to make sure it get the maximum amount of light, how about move the shell the clam is on so that it point directly toward one of the MHs?

Seem like something caused it to move over time. It is real easy to move something sitting on a shell on a bare substrate. Even a careless fish can bump into it, or the powerhead current, etc., can make it move gradually over time.

 

[Sue Truett]

Lilbugger, I would try to get on a regular feeding schedule. Did I miss the size of the clam?? If it is less <3" it should still need to be fed DT's or some sort of phytoplancton. I still feed my larger clams about 2 times weekly with a mix of Eric Bornemans fish/coral/clam food. I use DT's too. Smaller clams mantles are not large enough for them to put to use the lighting to live on, like the larger clams. Very simple interpretation there.
HTH...

my 180 ecosystem sps/clam tank:
http://berlinmethod.com/suet/
my 120 ecosystem sps tank:
http://suetruett.homestead.com/home.html
www.marshreef.org/members

 

[danmhippo]

Ditto to Sue.

Is your clam still attached to the rock? If you think you can lift it up, you can reposition it by wedging it between rocks or in sand. It is best to do this at night as you will be able to visually inspect if there are any snails dwelling in its underside. Remove them if you see any.

 

[Anonymous]

I have two croceas. One always sit upright facing the halides, the other always lays on it's side. I probably righted it a couple of dozen times when I first got it. Now I figure it must be happier on it's side. It seems fine. I quit worrying about a year ago.

They are prettier when they are facing up.

Should I force this guy upright? Or continue to leave well-enough alone!

Louey

 

[danmhippo]

Mine are lazy too, but I still upright it to please my eye.

 

[LilBugger225]

The clam is almost 3 inches long right now and is attached to a shell on the substrate. It was attached to this shell when I bought it at the beginning of february. I think I will definitely increase the feedings because what sue says makes sense because the clam has oriented itself so its mantle is in the direct current of one of the powerheads. I get nervous about trying to detach the clam from the shell so I do not damage the bysal threads. After the death of the other clam which was from these conch like snails I check for snails all the time and every time I see one of those buggers I banish it to my empty tank. So how often should I feed DTs? I always am paranoid about putting too much food in my tank. I also feed that frozen invert food by ocean nutrition but I think that stuff might be too big for the clam. Thanks for all the replys!

 

[Sue Truett]

Clams cannot take in food like that. They filter the water in and out and crocea's are very prone to their gills getting clogged. I use DT's 2 times weekly. I have only 1 maxima that is less than 2". I would work my way up to feeding atleast 3 times weekly. Some with large populations of tridacna clams week daily. You need to see what works best for you and your system. HTH..

my 180 ecosystem sps/clam tank:
http://berlinmethod.com/suet/
my 120 ecosystem sps tank:
http://suetruett.homestead.com/home.html
www.marshreef.org/members

 

[LilBugger225]

Thanks for the reply. I realize they don't take in food like that, that they filter it. The invert food ranges in size from phytoplankton to shrimp larvae. I would never target feed a clam, I just defrost the food in a class of tank water, and dump it in. I will just stick with the DTs though, maybe increase feedings to 3 x weekly for I only have one clam but I do have alot of lps that don't mind it.

 

[FishHead1]

Mine has been leaning for years

 

[BCReefer]

I feed DT's to my tank everyday. Just about 3 -5 ml. I don't use any special way I just dump it in. I have only been doing this for about 2 - 3 weeks so I am not sure if this will be a good thing or a bad thing?

Cheers,