New crocea clam tear or pinched mantle syndrome?

[biotex]

I just got this ultra crocea shipped from Biota and noticed that the mantle is damaged once it opened up. Does this look like a pinched mantle? What can I do to help the damaged mantle heal? How long does it take for the mantle to heal?

I'm a bit peeved that I was shipped a damaged clam. Fortunately, the clam seems ok otherwise and is easily startled by shadows. I did email Biota so I'll see what they say as well.

Tank Specs:
IM Nuvo 15
NP K7 Mini with ~300 par on clam

Filtration:
Filter roller
Skimmer
Media reactor with GFO and carbon
UV Sterilizer

Parameters (weekly trend):
Calcium: 440 (-60)
KH: 9.3
Mag: 1170
Nitrate: 5 (+5)
Phosphate: 0 (still leaching from dry rock)
pH: 8.15
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 79C

Dosing:
AFR (haven't started yet, waiting one week to see how much the clam absorbs)
Live phyto

 

[SaltyWalty]

Give it time. If it’s healthy and getting plenty of light it should be able to heal up and recover itself. Keep tank stable and that’s really about all you can do. But since you are already feeding I would just keep an eye on it

 

[biotex]

According to Neo et al., 2019, it takes juvenile squamosa clams 90 days to regenerate and they still show scarring...great...

 

[minus9]

It looks stressed, hopefully it'll recover soon enough. Do you have any CUC in there, it looks like you need to manage the algae? You might want to drop temp down a degree or two as well.

 

[Uncle99]

Looks like someone has tasted that mantle.
They really don’t ship well.
He should be wide open.
I’d be upset and ask for credit.

 

[biotex]

It looks stressed, hopefully it'll recover soon enough. Do you have any CUC in there, it looks like you need to manage the algae? You might want to drop temp down a degree or two as well.

I'm bummed about the clam. I feel like it arrived stressed. Currently I have 3x trochus, 3x astreas, 3x money cowries, and 1x tuxedo urchin. Half of which were added this past weekend to manage algae. I'm winning the battle because much of the hair algae is now thin,wispy, and detaches from the rock by itself. My temp stays stable at 78 and only peaks to 79 in the afternoon. I already have a fan on the tank so it would be hard to drop it further.

 

[biotex]

Looks like someone has tasted that mantle.
They really don’t ship well.
He should be wide open.
I’d be upset and ask for credit.

Thanks! I suspect this is what happened. I'm corresponding with them right now about this.

 

[biotex]

Here's an update, clam does not look happy imo. It sucks because it's absolutely gorgeous. It was closed up since this morning. If things get worse, should I freshwater dip it just in case?

 

[dansyr]

Seems stressed already, I wouldn't FW dip it. It could be still acclimating to 'high' PAR, but others more experienced should chime in on that?

Not advocating moving it, but when I get a new clam from a low-light they stay mostly closed for first few days until they acclimate. Never had them shipped, but would imagine >24h in dark, possibly more at holding facility, would produce similar effect to getting them from low-light LFS.

Algae could be a stressor depending on what kind of algae it is, but that wouldn't be my first guess. Or some fish checking it out when you're not there.

 

[biotex]

Seems stressed already, I wouldn't FW dip it. It could be still acclimating to 'high' PAR, but others more experienced should chime in on that?

Not advocating moving it, but when I get a new clam from a low-light they stay mostly closed for first few days until they acclimate. Never had them shipped, but would imagine >24h in dark, possibly more at holding facility, would produce similar effect to getting them from low-light LFS.

Algae could be a stressor depending on what kind of algae it is, but that wouldn't be my first guess. Or some fish checking it out when you're not there.

Thanks, I'll just leave it be and see how it plays out. Only fish in the tank is a Rainford's goby and it stays at the bottom. No pincers in the tank either, just snails right now. A big, human-sized hermit crab is removing most of the dying hair algae every night so along with the filtration, there's a good amount of nutrient export. My corals are taking off too, so the clam's my only concern.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

To me it looks wedged in. Is it able to open up? It might need more space.

 

[minus9]

To me it looks wedged in. Is it able to open up? It might need more space.

I agree, the location doesn't seem to be the best. Can you share a full tank shot so we can see the rock work? It should sit in a concave area, but it should be able to fully open it's shell.

 

[biotex]

I agree, the location doesn't seem to be the best. Can you share a full tank shot so we can see the rock work? It should sit in a concave area, but it should be able to fully open it's shell.

It has plenty of space. I designed the scape for a 6in clam.

 

[biotex]

Update on clam, the part that was "damaged during shipping" even though it clearly looks like it was nipped is still retracted compared to the rest of the mantle. The clam has not opened fully since I got it. All Biota is willing to do is extend their live arrival guarantee. The burden of nursing this clam back to health (if that's even possible) and dealing with the damaged mantle still lies on me, apparently. I guess this serves as a cautionary tale about buying clams from Biota. They should, at the very least, put a warning on their site that clams may arrive damaged so that buyers know what to expect. I got to see my LFS unpack a fresh order of maxima clams from ORA and they had their undamaged mantles fully extended in 15min.



Looking ahead, I don't have time to experiment with treatments one at a time to nurse this clam back to health. I already lowered my lights by 10% and decreased my photoperiod to 6 hours. Over the weekend I will do the following: add rubble rock to the crevice to have the clam sit flatter on the rockwork, increase flow around the clam, and freshwater dip. I appreciate everyone's feedback and I hope I can rescue this crocea.

 

[minus9]

Update on clam, the part that was "damaged during shipping" even though it clearly looks like it was nipped is still retracted compared to the rest of the mantle. The clam has not opened fully since I got it. All Biota is willing to do is extend their live arrival guarantee. The burden of nursing this clam back to health (if that's even possible) and dealing with the damaged mantle still lies on me, apparently. I guess this serves as a cautionary tale about buying clams from Biota. They should, at the very least, put a warning on their site that clams may arrive damaged so that buyers know what to expect. I got to see my LFS unpack a fresh order of maxima clams from ORA and they had their undamaged mantles fully extended in 15min.



Looking ahead, I don't have time to experiment with treatments one at a time to nurse this clam back to health. I already lowered my lights by 10% and decreased my photoperiod to 6 hours. Over the weekend I will do the following: add rubble rock to the crevice to have the clam sit flatter on the rockwork, increase flow around the clam, and freshwater dip. I appreciate everyone's feedback and I hope I can rescue this crocea.

I don’t think it’s necessary to turn down your lights or reduce your photo period, it needs light in order to regain its health if it has a chance to survive. Do you have any idea of the amount of light it’s receiving now? Do you have access to a par meter? Rent or borrow? Judging by the clavularia (or tubipora?) next to the clam, it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of light? I could be wrong here, but the surrounding corals say differently. It should be receiving at least 300 micro moles.

 

[biotex]

I don’t think it’s necessary to turn down your lights or reduce your photo period, it needs light in order to regain its health if it has a chance to survive. Do you have any idea of the amount of light it’s receiving now? Do you have access to a par meter? Rent or borrow? Judging by the clavularia (or tubipora?) next to the clam, it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of light? I could be wrong here, but the surrounding corals say differently. It should be receiving at least 300 micro moles.

The NP K7mini in a Nuvo 15 is a very strong light and is very capable of bleaching corals. I tested par when I set up the tank. The par on the center of rock shelf was 315 and should roughly be around 280 now. "Reduce the lights for acclimation" is what Biota told me to do, but it has not made a difference. Can you tell my why you think my corals aren't getting enough light?

 

[minus9]

The NP K7mini in a Nuvo 15 is a very strong light and is very capable of bleaching corals. I tested par when I set up the tank. The par on the center of rock shelf was 315 and should roughly be around 280 now. "Reduce the lights for acclimation" is what Biota told me to do, but it has not made a difference. Can you tell my why you think my corals aren't getting enough light?

It was from their general appearance, but that may be from all of the algae and the unclear pic. It’s strange for Biota to tell you to acclimate the clam in lower light, which kind of tells me that they’re not keeping these clams in optimal conditions.
I don’t think you need to acclimate, but if you do, a few days to a week at most should be fine. Looking back at your pics, there doesn’t seem to be much or any new growth on the shell? A crocea this size should have a healthy growth rim at the top of the shell. I wonder what lighting Biota is using for their clams?

 

[dansyr]

Looking ahead, I don't have time to experiment with treatments one at a time to nurse this clam back to health. I already lowered my lights by 10% and decreased my photoperiod to 6 hours. Over the weekend I will do the following: add rubble rock to the crevice to have the clam sit flatter on the rockwork, increase flow around the clam, and freshwater dip. I appreciate everyone's feedback and I hope I can rescue this crocea.

I would NOT experiment with treatments - clams are really resilient but hate being fussed with. Probably something to do with taking energy to close up, and if they're in poor position, incremental optimization at the cost of making them burn what little stores they have left is counterproductive.

I haven't found clams super responsive to flow, i see that seriatopora behind the clam so if your birdsnest is fine then clam is probably fine flow wise. Freshwater dips are pretty much only for pinched mantle, which I would trust the others on not seeing any symptoms of. Rubble to help orient it vertically could be good, but not at the cost of wedging it in, and again - avoid spooking/stressing the clam.

As someone who's intentionally bought and kept 'rescue' stressed clams, just put them in a safe spot getting enough light (ideally white-heavy but that's just anecdotes and my personal opinion), and let them be for at least a couple weeks. The long-term clam-suitable spot is also the ideal clam recovery spot.

 

[dansyr]

To be clear, it could have sat in poorly lit holding facility somewhere too long and it's past the point of no return from stress of shipping and cumulative low light. Not saying that doesn't happen with clams. Just that if your clam is just on the survivable side of weak, or had a nip or something, then the less you mess with them (while providing consistently good environment) the better chances of recovery.

 

[minus9]

To be clear, it could have sat in poorly lit holding facility somewhere too long and it's past the point of no return from stress of shipping and cumulative low light. Not saying that doesn't happen with clams. Just that if your clam is just on the survivable side of weak, or had a nip or something, then the less you mess with them (while providing consistently good environment) the better chances of recovery.

This is my thought as well. The overall appearance of the clam shows that it hasn't been taken care of and was is subpar conditions far too long. When these clams come in from the farms, they are healthy (I'm sure there are a few that don't do well after being shipped) and usually have a pretty robust growth rim at the top of the shell. Having seen a lot of wysiwyg shots from Biota, the lighting is blue heavy and my guess, not enough to sustain growth for very long. Of course, I'm speculating here, but seeing some of these clams in person and pics from hobbyists who've bought directly from them, I'm not surprised certain species don't do well in their systems for very long.