Pinched Mantle

[the mad reefer]

mine are doing fine. mine also slimed up pretty good the first couple of days. I will be taking them out tommorrow morning and put into a qt for about 4-5 weeks. (right now they are in a hospital tank). I don't think the meds are having a neg effect. but probably really won't know for sure until i put them into the qt and out of the meds for a few days. we'll see what happens. I think it will all be good in the end!!

 

[M.Maddox]

I hope everything turns out like mad reef says it will - good luck nikki!

 

[Barry N.]

We are treating 12 croceas in a 60 gallon q-tank and after 5 days of medication I can see a 60% improvement. One a few clams, there is not sign of pinching but the others are looking better.

 

[mojoreef]

Give it time Nikki

Mike

 

[Maxx]

Sorry to hear the clams arent doing as well as you'd like Nikki. I've set up my lil 20 gallon and made a rough and ready hood for my 175 watt MH that I will be running over the tank. I will put the clams in tomorrow after work...I'll let you know how mine goes....

Hope things look better in the morning Nikki.

Nick

 

[NaH2O]

Barry - I can't remember, did the lab say they only found the protozoans on the mantle tissue? My larger clam would never stay put on his rock, was always jumping off everything, but since it has been in QT, it hasn't budged off the rock. I wondered if the byssal area was being irritated by protozoans, as well. (sure, now that I say this, when I check on them later, it will probably have bailed off the rock).

The clams are still with me . I'm going to do as Mike says (can you believe it? lol), and give it time . I did a small water change last night with the appropriate amount of Metronidazole.

 

[Barry N.]

I'm going to do as Mike says (

Good.

They said they found it on and around the mantle. You have some very strong clams to go through what they have and still survive. :razz: Now I tell my clams if they don't behave, I am going to send them to Nikki. :lol:

 

[M.Maddox]

From where are you purchasing your Metronidazole? Is it sold under a brand name of some sort?

 

[the mad reefer]

several different manufactures offer it. aquatronics has it in capsules called hex-a-mit. i also know seachem offers it too. I have some 250mg tablets from my sister who is a rn. just brought home some samples.

I took mine out of the hospital tank and put them in qt about an hour ago. they look really good. haven't looked this good in some time. Hopefully they will stay this way. I will get some pics of them in there new temp home later on. today is a beautiful day and need to do some yardwork.

 

[NaH2O]

M. Maddox - the metronidazole I purchased is from Seachem (added bonus - they area sponsor ) - through Petsolutions.com - Metronidazole, but they are on back order right now according to the website. Seachem has a forum here, so if it gets difficult to find, you may want to PM them or start a thread in their forum. It is a powder and the scoop that comes with it is 100 mg (eek - recalling from memory is always scarey ).

I just checked on the clams, and the larger clam looks amazingly better (and it was looking really sad...gaping, etc). The fact that it hasn't jumped off the rock yet is interesting - it would never stay put. I know the lab only found the protozoans around and on the mantle, but I wonder if this clam didn't have some around the byssal. It isn't gaping as much as it was either. The smaller clam is still pinching in the back, but the rest of the mantle is nicely extended. I'm not as discouraged!

the mad reefer - looking forward to the pics! How long do you think you'll have them in QT?

 

[the mad reefer]

i'm going to keep the main tank fallow for 4 weeks. not sure the life cycle of this protozoan so i will treat it like most others. would really hate to put them back in to soon only to pinch again. I have 3 packs of hex-a-mit that i bought incase sis couldn't hook me up, if interested i will be happy to ship it too you for the price i paid 4.99 and shipping. they are packs of ten capsules that pull apart and just dump the powder in. each capsule is 250mg. I hope i am not violating any laws by offering it too you. If you can't find any let me know. I will be just returning them to the lfs anyway.

 

[Scooterman]

I hope i am not violating any laws by offering it too you.

LOL umm ok lets see there, humm I can come up with enough to last you a few years in lock-up! LOL

Oh save the clam!

 

[bmtpfgh]

You are dosing 5 grams in 60 gallons, so is the "testing dose" 1 gram/12 gallons?

Is this this dosage everyone is using?
How many days of treatment?
Do you remove the medication with carbon and water changes after the treatment period?

 

[NaH2O]

That is the dosage I am using in QT. My plan is treatment for 10 days, and I am not removing the medication with carbon, but am doing small water changes daily. The new water going in has the appropriate dose of metronidazole.

 

[bmtpfgh]

Thanks,Nikki.I hope your clams pull through.They have been real "troopers".

My plan is treatment for 10 days, and I am not removing the medication with carbon, but am doing small water changes daily.

After the 10 days,will you be using carbon and water changes to remove the Met?

 

[NaH2O]

I'm not going to make an effort to remove the metronidazole after the 10 days, but through routine water changes after treatment, it will decrease on its own. Does anyone know how long it takes Metronidazole to break down in saltwater with MH lighting? I was wondering how much would still be present by the next day. Since this is a new treatment for pinched mantle - I'm open to suggestions/ideas on my course of treatment. I'm hoping that after 5-6 days I'll see marked improvement.

 

[Barry N.]

Nikki,

I would suggest doing just what you are doing. I have no idea how long it takes to break down but would think that doing the water changes should rid most of it. If you are concern about getting some Metronidazole into your display tank when you place the clams back into it, I would set up a few small container with frest saltwater and give them a dip bath first but I wouldn't thinkt that there would be enough water in the clams chamber to harm anything. JMO

 

[MikeS]

glad to hear that you are seeing general improvement in the clams, Nikki

MikeS

 

[Maxx]

I placed both of mine in a 20 H I'm using for a hospital tank. They looked craptastic last night...mantles were very extended, copious amounts of slime, and just generally unhappy.

I did take pics, will post them later tonight. I have them under a single 175 watt 10k AB bulb. They were under dual 250 watt DE's in my 58 gallon. I raised the clams up about 6 inches in the water column, so they are closer to the lights now. After I moved them up, I did a one gallon water change, and added some more metronidazole to replace what was removed by the water change.

More informational bulletins as events warrant.....

Nick

 

[M.Maddox]

Good luck guys - thanks for all the updates & info!