Dersa acting very funny

[csababubbles]

I have a dersa clam (4") acting peculiar over the past few weeks. I noticed a month ago that he started retracting to his shell and not sticking out his mantle anymore. Then his hole got several times larger then normal. Then he stopped opening up. This continued for about a week or two while I ran a series of test on my water to see if anything was out of wack. I also did several 20% water changes. I then noticed for the first time since I had him (about a year) that there were several pyramid snails on his shell. I took him out of the water, scrubbed him with a toothbrush and placed him elsewhere in the tank. I then siphoned the area where he was before and found many snails that I removed from the tank. In a matter of 2-3 days the clam seemed back from the edge of death. His hole shrunk so that I could no longer see his entire insides, he started opening his shell and sticking his mantle back out. So fast forward 2 weeks and he seems to be back to normal, no evidence of snails yet (if i see more i will scrub him again), and shell open and responding appropriately when I shade the light. One thing that is weird is that his mantle is now HUGE. It sticks up about 2" above and beyond the shell. Is this something that I should be concerned about? Is his shell not growing fast enough or something?

 

[Reeferdude]

We should start calling you Dr. Clam now...

 

[surf_buddy]

We should start calling you Dr. Clam now...

Dr. Clam... ROTF. Must be good with the ladies : )

Got any pictures of the snails... I don't think I'm familiar with those?

 

[csababubbles]

maybe i have the name wrong then. apparently they are tiny snails that feast on clams. i cant get a pic since I dont see them in my tank anymore. im sure in the future they may come back but as for now they are gone. anyways, is the mantle overextending like that a problem? my calcium was quite low when i measured it and i have not been able to get it up over 400 since i started testing a few weeks ago. could the overextended mantle be because there is not enough calcium in the water for the clam to continue to grow his shell? or is he telling me he needs more light and is "reaching" for it? he is under a 250w mh with 2 T5 fl.

 

[skinz78]

when you moved the clam did you place it in a more shaded area? Generally when they extend further than normal they need more light. How far below the light is the clam? Can you post pic's.

And your were right they are called pyramid snails. They usually don't go away after one cleaning so check the clam at least every other day about 1 hour after the lights go off. Until you are 100% sure they are gone.

 

[csababubbles]

clam is 24" under the lens of the light fixture. when i moved him is was the same height. i put him back in the original spot since then. no signs of the snails yet but his mantle is so awkward, nearly 2" above the shell. i'll try to move him up higher.

 

[skinz78]

pic's would help.

 

[csababubbles]

alright i got some pics of him i will post up as soon as i download them from camera.

in the meantime, the clam has been moving around my entire tank for the past few weeks, about 1"-2" a day. is there a reason they move around? he is on a sand bottom.

 

[Barry N.]

the clam has been moving around my entire tank for the past few weeks

There might be some water movement or light that she/he doesn;t like.

 

[csababubbles]

Do they generally not like water flow or need lots of it? He is in a slight current right now but not enough to even cause his mantle to flap. Should they be in an area with very minor flow or with quite a bit of flow?

 

[skinz78]

It sounds like your water flow is fine, can you post pic's?