Clam disease

[pet]

Guys,

[pet]

Guys,

cleaner shrimp do not eat clams unless the clam is under attach by any animal, injured, sick or dead...... Star_fish are known clam eaters, if you have clams....DO NOT PUT STAR_FISH in your tank!!!!!!!!!!! The list includes, all kinds of triggers, butterfly, crabs, mantis and wrasse. The only safe wrasse that's clam safe so far is six-line & four-line wrasse.

Pet

[pet]

I would like to add that Clams do best in the light spectrum range between 5000K to 10,000K ...........anything beyond that, with the likes oof MH @ 20KK is totally useless to clams. You can have 10 X 400W MH with 20KK and if juz don't make your clams grow or optimum food production! any PL, VHO or MH that I would recommend will be 6500K (daylight) + 10KK + Ac-Blue combinations. Species that come from the deep, with less luminous body color combination do well with 6500K + Ac- Blue.

Also note that if you under fed your shrimps, including cleaners, they tend to distribute the clams insearch for FOOD! If you have enough Clams....I mean ready enough, like 10 X 300grm of clams in a 4ft tank! The clams will take care of your nitrate and ammonia, provided with enough light spectrum + intensity for food generation!

Sad to see beautiful clams go away like this.

Pet

[pospeh]

Its absolutely terrible now that this outbreak has happened when prices are so high.

After the AVA crackdown, do we know if the suppliers are getting their supply from new sources? (which would tend to explain why the outbreak has coincidentally occurred now after the AVA crackdown). I believe the new batches at Harlequin are from Australia.

I doubt it is some sort of bacterial or viral infection because the clams are affected one by one. A viral or bacterial infection would affect all clams relatively simultaneously, not one by one. Its probably an attack by some sort of new previously unknown snail/worm that came with the latest batches of clam shipments. Clams on sandbed are especially vulnerable, and expecially with croceas, they should be placed on rocks.

[pospeh]

BTW, I am seeing an outbreak of another type.

An outbreak of changing avatars!!

It attacks each member one by one, forcing us to switch our identities.

[Achilles Tang]

My tank only has reef safe inhabitants. No wrasses, triggers or butterfly fishes that may attack clams, not even a dwarf angel.

Pet... do you have documented proof that cleaner shrimps eat clams??

Tanzy, I intend to treat in a hospital tank.

At least with medicine or to give a FW dip.

Apparently, this clam disease seems to strike clams one by one or maybe two at a time. I dun really know how it works, even gurus like Mark Knop are stumped.

I wonder if it is parasitic snails.

Anyway.... one of my affected croceas is now an empty shell. My bristleworms must be very well-fed.

[Sinn]

sorry to hear bout it AT...

in fact my gf was upset that yer clams passed on...

[Achilles Tang]

For those interested, you can check this thread about clam disease in RC

[pet]

Hi AT, I got my clams originated from Indonesia, Papa New Guinea or Australia...this should be safe. Any where else there's a potential since the source of the diease is untraced to pin-point to a specific clam farming site?

I would like to elaborate about cleaner shrimp eating clams, it has been well documented, I'll try to get to the site and post the contents later. But note the cleaner ONLY ATTACK A clam that is SICK, INJURED or ALREADY DEAD. If you see your cleaner attacking a clam, it's NOT the shrimp's fault.....something has already gone wrong, it is an early sign of TROUBLE. With the cleaner shrimp attacking....it will ensure your sick clam is definitely going to heaven.

Sorry to hear your clam's condition....such beautiful animals doesn't deserve it.

I have purchase clams in the past with parasite snails, worms embedded to it's outer shell after close examinations. These parasite are so small and it will go unnotice without proper examination. If your clam is coughing, I guess something (PARASITE) has enter into the internal and is eating your clam away. You might want to do a examination on a dead clam's internal organs....you might see PARASITE!

aLSO

[pet]

I read through the forum and noticed that the problem happen to or started with majority of clams place on the sandbed....am I wrong...something fishy?

Pet

[divinesloth]

Hi Achilles Tang

Borrowed a marine book from the NLB and found this paragraph:

"One unexpected problem was finding that the larval stages of a snail parasitize the young clams. The larvae settle between the shell and the mouth and then feed on the mantle, eventually killing the clam. The snails have to be removed manually as soon as they are noticed. Another snail with similar habits can be washed out. All these problems occur on top of the difficulties of captive breeding."

Hope its what you are looking for.

Cheers

[Morgan]

divinesloth

It is not a parasitic snail problem. If it is, the clams would have died long ago.

Another thing, AT would notice them ( the snails) feeding on his prized clams.

[divinesloth]

Actually I've no idea what is happening but saw that paragraph on the book and thought maybe that's what happened to those clams. Sorry, not much help after all

[Achilles Tang]

Hey, I personally appreciate your input, man!

I did check my clams for snail parasites... but as Morgan said... it would have occured a long time ago... unless.... they came as hitch-hikers on some LS and multiplied to plague proportions and began their attacks.

But it follows the familiar pattern of the clam disease as reported in RC.

[X_Japan]

at the moment, u should have a few clams left izzit??

hope this thing stops

[Achilles Tang]

I still have one baby crocea and two big squamosas left.

Crossing my fingers really tightly.

[pet]

Hi AT, anyway to check the Iodine in your water, too much iodine kills/poision the clam slowly to death! They need iodine, but they are also sensitive to iodine. I've read about clam breeders whom clam die due to too much iodine.

If this a diease, the cleaner shrimp feeding on it would have contacted it and become a host to the virus? .....thus spreading it from clam to clam as the cleaner move around?

2 cents,

Pet

[PLataX]

AT...maybe u shld try trouble shooting by putting yer calms in a refugium like tank where the water frm the main tank flows but critters like fireworms and shrimps have no access to (i.e no rocks or whatever just clams). This shld prove that its not the critters fault but somethin viral...

[Achilles Tang]

My last baby crocea has been moved right to the water's edge. Away from the sandbed. It's burrowed deep into the rock it came in... so parasitic attacks from underneath is prevented. Keeping my fingers crossed.

My two big squamosas are still on the sandbed. One is closed and has the cleaner irritating it but it still opens at the light. However, it is the first to close up when the lights dim.

I may treat it soon it with some medication I acquiried that should hopefully stop the virus in its tracks.

[Tanzy]

Antibiotics can't kill viruses. Tetracycline is a bacteriostatic not bacteriocidal. It's treatment is only suitable for long term constant dosage, maybe over a month or so. For example the treatment for acne with antibiotics is a course of tetracycline for 2 years. It prevents the bacteria from growing and lets the host's own defense system to kill the bacteria. Only bacteriocidal antibiotics actually kill the bacteria.

[Achilles Tang]

bacteria or virus whatever... just die and leave my clams alone!

[Tanzy]

How are you going to make them die?

[Achilles Tang]

From my research, the clam disease is caused by a gram-negative bacteria.

So I got the appropriate medication which will apparently help the clams to recover.

Thanks to that person with the 'lobang' for tetracycline.

[Tanzy]

I'm serious here and I'm worried that tetracycline isn't going to kill those gram negs on clams. If I have known earlier, I'll would have recommended ciprofloxacin. The kill time for tetracycline is way too long.

Anyway, what's the intended dose regiment?

[robe]

Hi AT

Watch out when you dose antibiotics as the tank can crash if u kill off the bacs i nur sand and LR. Use a separate tank for treatment.

Why not use cephalosporin or gentamycin easily available from doctors , just pretend ur sick and ur throat is so sore that u can hardly talk.