clam help, broken shell????

Shouldn't he want to help you lol. You shouldn't have to beg until after you get married. At least that is how is works for me lol, just joking. Good luck to you

 

bahahaha i wish! we are having a tit for tat battle lately because i got sick of doing everything by myself...so if i want him to build me something,ill have to do something (speaking of clams bahaha jk) in return lol, actually it usually involves me washing his work clothes (which works for me because i do them anyway...but he doesnt need to know that hahaha)

 

8)Not just the "Sad Face", Do the "Beautifully Sad Face" and he's yours for sure. You see, he already knows your sad face, so he'll expect that. You need to add some chemistry to that poor, Sad Clam, (The one in the Tank) and then, and only, Then, will you have a new filtration system, and possibly a new clam too(cause you're probably gonna want one after the first one dies) and nature will have taken it's course as we all watch it do....GL and Please. don't be mad cause something dies, ...You can only be happy that it had the chance to live.......And don't ever introduce me to your fiance, cause he'll knock me out for telling you all of this...Bwahahahaha

 

Is this enough of a tragedy for an upgrade do you think lol? i have had upgrade fever the past few days! Maybe if i send a letter to the broken clam fairy she will grant my wish and he will buy me that huge tank i have been daydreaming night and day about haha!

 

A healthy clam should be fairly closed at night...that guy looks like he has lost the strength to hold himself closed...which is generally a pretty bad sign. Clams are funny in that they can slowly over a long time period be going south but show almost no signs of it...only once they get to the point of no return do they show obvious signs of decline. They can go from what appears healthy to dead in a very short time span. See how it looks in the morning...if he is still retracted and not able to hold himself closed he is most likely a goner. Good luck.

 

Thank you! i have not detected any signs at all, but i guess a clam cannot really tell you how he is feeling! His mantle is always fully extended during the day and almost all the way closed at night, and i do target feed him,so hopefully tomorrow he will be no different...just a little crooked! If he cannot do it on his own what do you think of my gumband idea? and maybe i will move him up off of the sandbed and onto the rocks so he is closer to the lights? do you think any of this may help?

 

i just realized that gumband is Pittsburghese and prob noone knows what i am talking about lol

Gumband=rubber band

yea im a Yinzer lol

 

I wouldn't do the "gum band"...I think the risk of it impeding his opening and closing is worse than leaving it be. Normal "night-time" behavior should be, as you say, almost all the way closed with just a small amount of mantle showing...gaping open with the mantle retracted into the shell is definitely not good. It's hard to see in the photo, but is the in-current siphon also gaping open?

For future reference maxima clams are rock dwelling clams and are generally better placed on a rock...they will attach to the rock with "sticky threads" and it's very hard to get them back off without injury. I always suggest placing them on a small rock and letting them attach...once they are well attached you can move the rock and clam together to wherever you feel is best/desirable. This way if you need to move the clam again at a later date you don't have to try and remove it from the rock.

 

yes i had read this before but everytime i put him up on the rocks when we 1st got him my snails would knock him down no matter where i put him (the snails are bigger then him) so after he fell on the sand bed 5 times i said "well thats where you are ment to be lol) i guess at this point there is nothing i can do until morning...i am hoping it is just a night time trick of the light and he will be fine when i wake up...fingures crossed! I guess if he doesnt pull through i will consider a dresa if i get another at all...which reminds me if he does die do clams poison the water like flame scallops do (other then the normal ammonia and such i mean)? i dont believe i have ever read that they do but i would like to be sure.

 

AFAIK, they have no toxins, although the amount of ammonia would be greater than that from a scallop of equal size due to the (much) larger mantle.