Did I kill my clams

[Powder Blue]

I just lost 2 of 3 baby maximas. I have been repositioning them every time they move or fall off the rocks, trying get them to attach to the rocks. I think the 2 that died I moved the most.
The last one still looks like when I first got it about a month ago. the 2 dead clams just died within 2 days. Did I kill them by moving them? Any ideas? Thanks

 

[monkeyboy]

What are you running for lights and what is going on w/ your water? pH, dKH, salinity, temp, etc. Baby clams have a higher mortality rate than larger, older clams. Could be a little bugger in the rocks going after them or they got stressed somehow. But we'll need a little more info to go on. I'll be waiting!

 

[Powder Blue]

Ok, my tank is 50 gal with 2x55 watts PC and 40 watts NO actinic, and the tank is next to the window and has direct sunlight for a couple of hours a day, no hair/slime algae. have a 3.5" sandbed and the tank is 18" high. trying to put the clams on a rock 10" under the PCs. salinity is 1.023-4. temp is 80. pH is around 8.2-3. The sofites, LPS, and bubble tip anemone seems to be doing good. as well as the remaining clam which I am leaving alone now.

 

[faztaz]

I would say you need more lighting. At least another 2 55W PC if you plan on keeping your maximas 10" from the lights. I have a 175W halide with 2 28W Actinic PCs on my 30g and I have one deresa on the floor and one maxima 10" from the lights! They are growing like crazy!
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[Powder Blue]

Oh yeah, the clam that is still alive just attached to a small rock while the other 2 died. I find it weird that only 2 of 3 died. I bought them from Jeff's exotic fish where they kept them maybe 6 feet from metal halides.

If my acorpora is growing, is that not a good indication that the water and lights should be good enough? I think that the direct sunlight is what's making my acorpora grow. I change 3 gallons a week since I don't add any supplements or kalk.

yep the clams were open fully the day before they decided to die. Do they really die that quickly? In a few months I'm going to replace the PCs and NO with 3 VHOs, using the same icecap ballast.

 

[slojmn1]

Small, baby clams are quite challenging from what I have read. I had a baby max that was doing well for about two months. I moved it about 4 inches forward so I could fit a larger t.max in the spot and the next day the baby max started to die. it was dead in about 24 hours. I had it under MH/VHO on the sand bed and it had attached to a small rock. I think they are very delicate. I was bummed about this loss as it was doing well and showed some signs of a bit of growth in that 2 month period, then BAM, dead. All my other clams(3 croceas, 2 t. max) are fine and growing well so I gotta figure it was due to the move.

 

[howie099]

What is your calcium levels in your tank? Your light might to weak? What where they kept under? Usually they move becuase the light is not strong enough or it is to strong for them.
The easiest way to move baby clams is first get them to attach to a small rock.

Your clams might of hurt themselves from falling off the rocks. Did your clams open fully in places you put them? It is hard to place clams on rocks with out them falling over unless you wedge them in they move a bit and fall.

Mine have moved about 10' from the place I put them in the sand 2 of the 4 attached to rocks and other 2 did not want to attach.

I place small rocks in the sand just below the clam so it will attack and in a few days and than you can move they around easier.

sometimes you just have to leave the calms choose there spot. What looks good for us might not what they want. When mine move and fall over I just flip them over in the spot I found them.

 

[Powder Blue]

Yeah so it's probably the moving. Now I'm just going to let the last one be even if it falls on it's side.

 

[faztaz]

Did you make sure then when you were moving them you didn't rip of their psuedo foot which attaches to a base? I have a baby maxima and moved it around 15-20 times during a 2 month period till I found a spot for it that I like.
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[FijiKen]

Bought my 2" Maxima a few days ago and so far so good. I had placed it on a rock and it jumped off and stayed on the sand bed. Noticed that it had attached itself to the rock next to where it had landed and positioned itself to get the most light. Maixma's like to position themselves next to the coral rubble and attach themselves next to rocks. There's some threads and some good articles from Knopp that suggests being carefull when moving and making a sharp cut where the foot is attached to the rock inorder to move it. Maxima need plenty of light (atleast 4-5watt/g)and should gradually adjust. If the mantle is dark when you first bought it then it has probably not adjusted to brighter/longer periods of light. Keep them lower and then gradually increase the length of time under the lights. Also, keep calcuim at around 400 and may want to feed with Phytoplankton to stimulate growth.

 

[Powder Blue]

The clams were not attached to anything when I moved them. That was what I was trying to get them to do, repositioning them so they can attach to small rocks. Actually I saw one of the clams actually use it's foot and push itself off the rock.

 

[Iron]

small clams filter feed= probally didn't have enough for it to feed off in the water. This is why they are hard. They need the lighting more as they get bigger.

 

[2poor2reef]

I would attribute the losses to iron's point. IME young max can't meet their nutritional needs from lighting alone due to the relatively small mantle area available for zooxanthella. They need to feed. If you feed them DT's live phyto they will do better. Although I would also increase lighting as they aren't likely to thrive under 2x55.