Clams

[schroom]

My Derasa clam seems to be shrinking and does not look good. Any ideas? I have had him for three months and he has been doing great. I dose the tank with kent's calcium and also phyto-plancton. The tank is a 90 gallon and is lit with metal halid lights and flourescents. He is located at the bottom in the sand bed. It almost looks like he is wilting away. Any ideas? should I move him closer to the light? Is he starving to death? What else should I feed him?

 

[EmilyB]

Is it possible something is picking on him ? Dwarf angel ? Any sign of small white snails anywhere ?

 

[schroom]

Nothing is attacking him, he is kind of pulling away from the edge of his shell. Around the outside. And he does not extend his mantle as much as he use to.

 

[MedicineMan1]

If it's pulling away from the sides of its shell, it'll probably die no matter what you do. However, it's always nice to try to help a critter in trouble! I noticed you're dosing calcium; are you doing anything to maintain alkalinity? Without a good buffer system, the calcium ions can't get laid down onto the clam shell as it grows. This can lead to a VERY stressful situation for the clam!