my new clam and some mantle pinching

[mattseattle]

yesterday i noticed that one area of my clam is pinching. i removed it last night and did an inspection of the shell and found one pyramid looking snail on it (very small) so i removed that. i only found one. i put the clam back in the water and the mantle has extended a little more than yesterday but it's still pinched a little or what i think is pinching. i used a turkey baster and tried to blow any sand or any other debris off it's shell and under the mantle. this morning i noticed that a small long green looking bug was in the area where the mantle is pinched. should i do a freshwater dip to remove other things that could cause the mantle pinching or should i just wait a few days to see if it recovers? the clam looks good except for this one area. here is a picture of it taken just a few minutes ago. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[mojoreef]

Hmm the green bug hing sounds weird, if you can remove it remove it but I wouldnt do a dip. Try to remove the bug and give it a bit of time.

Mike

 

[mattseattle]

you can see the green bug in the picture if you look closely. part of it's on the white part right where the mantle is closing a little. should i just take the clam out of the water for a little bit and use a toothbrush (brand new one of course) to clean the shell in that area? i'm afraid the bug may run inside the clam shell though.

 

[mattseattle]

well i took out a bowl of tank water along with the clam. i used a soft toothbrush to cleanse around the mantle. i dunked the clam in and out of the water several times. in the bottom i found 2 of those green bugs along with about 5 pods. i guess it's normal for pods to live in a clam? anyway i flushed the bugs down the toilet.

the clam seems happier now...the mantle isn't fully extended in that one area but is out further than it was earlier.

 

[mattseattle]

anyone else have any advice?

the pinching in that one area has seemed to be a little worse today. what causes pinching?

 

[Doug1]

up

 

[mojoreef]

Well usually its some kind of irratation. I would give it a bit more timeand see what happens. let us know

Mike

 

[mattseattle]

ok i will......

 

[Elmo18]

Ok hmm i have to say that's a cool looking tear drop clam (minus the problem you are having). I'd follow what mike has said.

If you would like...to get a link from Reefland, there was a deep and ongoing discussion about pinching on imported clams about a year and half ago.


Ok...Mike....i definitely missed out on those clams....noooooooooooo ;(

Ok ok, save me some next time...hint

- Elmo

 

[Elmo18]

Ok hmm i have to say that's a cool looking tear drop clam (minus the problem you are having). I'd follow what mike has said.

If you would like...to get a link from Reefland, there was a deep and ongoing discussion about pinching on imported clams about a year and half ago.


Ok...Mike....i definitely missed out on those clams....noooooooooooo ;(

Ok ok, save me some next time...hint

- Elmo

 

[mattseattle]

hey elmo,

yeah do you have the link handy? i'd appreciate it.

i think the pinching is getting worse. i noticed that an area on the other side is starting. yesterday it actually looked better but today it seems worse.

 

[EmilyB]

This might be of some help to you. I've never had this problem but it looks like many others have.

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6715&start=0

 

[mattseattle]

great - thanks for the link. i've seen so many different articles on so many different url's my mind can't process it all. it looks like my best bet is to wait a few more days to see if the mantle fully extends and if not i'll do a 30 minute FW dip with RO/DI water that is temperature matched. Hopefully it won't come to that point because the thought of my beautiful clam in a FW dip makes me cringe. some people have had success and others have lost their clams within 24 hours.

thanks again

 

[mojoreef]

Lets hold off on the dip Matt. The scenerio with the clams that all gaped and died a year ago were from the panopae and magnesium was used to tranquilize them...wasnt a good idea.


Mike

 

[mattseattle]

ok, so just hold off and wait, eh? hopefully it'll recover on it's own but then again i don't want to wait too long that it dies.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

ok, so just hold off and wait, eh? hopefully it'll recover on it's own but then again i don't want to wait too long that it dies.

Anything that irritates the clams will cause pinching of the mantel. The "pinched mantel disease" that responses to FW dipping do not kill clam quickly. It starts without symptom then focal pinching, then worsened area of pinching over weeks to months. I would take good care of him, removing all the parasitic snails over the next few days and see if he improves. Once you eliminated all possible irritation to the clam, and it still have pinched mantel, you can try fresh water dipping.
My observation (personal experiences) is that if you have Pinched mantel disease in your tank, all your clams are likely infected. It is very easily treated with 20-30 min FW dip. This does cause significant stress to the clam and often do them in if they are weak or mal nourished.
Minh

 

[mattseattle]

thanks for the info. this is my first and only clam. i'll take pictures of it later today to show you guys to see if it's worsening. i think it is.

 

[mattseattle]

i took the clam out today and did a thorough cleaning of it's clean. i noticed some sand on the 'teeth' as well as it had a red sponge growing on it near the teeth. i removed this down to about half an inch away and cleaned the 'teeth' as well as a through inspection of the shell. no snails were found and only one pod was in the clam. the clam is opening much more than it was this morning and the past few days but one part of the mantle is still a little pinched but not like it was. maybe it was the sand and sponge that was irritating the clam.

 

[EmilyB]

Did your bug look like the one pictured on Canreef? Is that just a normal pod?

 

[mattseattle]

from all the pictures of pods i've seen i'd say yeah it was just a normal pod. i see them on my glass at night and on the live rock.

i saw the picture of the 'mean pod' and to me that also just looks like a normal pod.