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Unread 12/11/2002, 06:07 PM   #26
nvert
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well, whatever it is it's back. the maxima that i dipped about 12 days ago is pinching again. the derasa is showing *some* curl just along the edge of the mantle....not near as noticabley as the pinch on the maxima. i'm considering dipping again, this time all three at once which i did not do last time. will another dip, 12 days later, negatively affect the maxima? should i wait another week?

i will NEVER again buy a clam, no matter how beautiful, from my lfs. they never can give me assurance where the clams actually come from. once my tank shows no more signs of the pinch, i'll wait several months like minh before stocking another clam....and that sux.

brad


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Unread 12/11/2002, 06:24 PM   #27
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Brad is the Crocea ok still?


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Unread 12/11/2002, 10:21 PM   #28
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hi rob-
the crocea pinches only occaisionally. my maxima from the lfs is pinching alot, just like the squamosa i bought from the same store did before it died. i should have followed minh's advice and dipped everyone. i have some ro/di water ready.....just in case i decide to dip but am afraid to do this to the clam a second time in two weeks. it just seems like such a severe thing to do the the clams but watching this pinching mystery that eventually leads to death is unbearable.

thanks for asking rob.

brad


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Unread 12/11/2002, 10:26 PM   #29
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nvert,
I am sorry that you must dip your clams again. I would try to dip it 15 minutes instead of 1 hr. I really think 15 minutes will likely works without causing as much stress to the clams. However, I have not try 15 minutes dips.
Good luck
Minh


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Unread 12/12/2002, 12:41 AM   #30
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corcea

My crocea are looking fine after fresh water dipped - I guess it has been two weeks?

The two small ones (3 column) are new this week. My photo does not do these clam justice to show colorful they really are.


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Unread 12/12/2002, 08:54 AM   #31
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i dipped everyone last night for 30 minutes after the lights went out. lights aren't on yet today but all three clams are as open as clams usually get in the dark. keep your fingers crossed for me. i hope this takes care of the pinching. i do not want to do this again.

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Unread 12/17/2002, 06:25 AM   #32
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Just an update 2 weeks after the initial dip. All the clams (except the lost T. crocea) are doing fine. Last week my T. squamosa put on 2-3mm of new shell growth


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Unread 12/17/2002, 10:27 AM   #33
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I lost yet another clam overnight! I had lost two 5 inch maximas about two weeks ago. They went from pinching to dead in a matter of days. The latest one took about two weeks after the death of the other two to show any signs of pinching. I tried two 25-30 min freshwater dips and made sure I placed the clam in the sump at night (much fewer worms and copepods down there). This morning the clam had pulled in its shell like the others and was not reactive. I have one remaining clam left which was purchased not long ago. I guess it is just a matter of time before this clam gets the disease too. There seems to be at least two bugs going around. One is a longer term disease which seems managable. The other is a more virulant lifeform which can progress from slight pinching to death in a matter of days. I am done with clams for a while. I have killed 4 so far and am not going to risk anymore. I do plan on setting up a 10-15 gal reef and perhaps I can put the remaining clam in there to see if it makes a difference.


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Unread 12/17/2002, 01:49 PM   #34
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Update
On Sunday I noticed that my prized 5" maxima was starting to pinch; by monday morning it was pinching pretty bad. The whole left side of the mantle was affected.

I instructed my gf to do a FW dip on all 5 clams again (3 had allready been dipped and was fine; But I wanted to make sure I get it all this time) I figured that Since the 5" one was doing so well that it wouldn't be affected.

After a 30min dip (for all 5); they were all placed back into the display tank. When I got home from work (4hrs after dipping); the maxima had really closed up; which was strange sicne the other ones looked fine.

By the end of tuesday it was DEAD!@#!; Its weird since he was the one that faired the best out of the whole ordeal, and to have him go from that to (at this moment and empty clam shell) is disturbing.

There other four clams seem to be doing very well in light of this.


At least I got one good pic of it before it died



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Unread 07/06/2003, 07:00 PM   #35
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I am having the same problem with my clams. My 2 prize 3.5" maximas are what i am really worry about. I just dipped all my clams after reading this thread and a few others about mantle pinching.

I hope all my clams turn out fine, but only time will tell. Thanks to everyone that posted to this thread. The pics help alot.

Here is a pic before the dip:


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Unread 07/06/2003, 07:08 PM   #36
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Typhoon,

Wow that looks awfull. I do not think it will be long for this world.

Best of luck, Rob


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Unread 07/06/2003, 09:07 PM   #37
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The pinched mantles disease that infected my clams do not kill the clam quickly and is very localize early in the disease. It is also worsen as the day go on. Clams that are 4-5 inches would last for months with the disease.
All clams will have pinched mantles with irritation. As the clams get infected with what ever disease, they will withdraw their mantles. Fresh water dip is not a cure all for clam diseases. It does stress clams severely and will kill many weakened clams. Please keep this in mind when you are consider treating your clam with fresh water dip.
Minh Nguyen


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Unread 07/07/2003, 09:08 AM   #38
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This morning, 12 hours after the dip, only 2 clams survived out of the 5 that I dipped. The 3 that died where in pretty bad shape. I am guessing dip or no dip they were going to die in a matter of days anyway. Hopefully in going through with the dip the remaining 2 will recover.

I lost 2 X 2" saqamosa and one 2" blue maxima

The ones that lived where a 2 X 3.5" maxima (nice show ones)

I was wondering is it normal for them to open back up a few hours after the dip?? Like within 3 hours??


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Unread 07/07/2003, 01:49 PM   #39
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Quote:
I was wondering is it normal for them to open back up a few hours after the dip?? Like within 3 hours??
IME they will open back up within a few hours. The local area where the mantle was pinched clears up over a couple of days. Two of my three (that showed mantle pinching before the dip) gapped after the dip. Both of these "gulped" FW during the 30 minute dip. A 3rd clam, a small maxima that showed no sign of pinching before the dip, showed no sign of stress after the dip. The clam with the most pinching prior to the dip is the clam that had the hardest time after the dip, and took the longest to recover.


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Unread 07/07/2003, 02:49 PM   #40
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Thanks.. Howard..

I notice that some of the pinching was still there after the dip. I am guess that is normal and it will go away in a few days??

Thanks,
Typhon


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Unread 07/09/2003, 03:55 PM   #41
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After reading this thread I decided that my crocea had this disease. As suggested my Minh I FW dipped all of my clams (1 crocea, 1 maxima, 1 derasa, 1 hippopus) for 30 minutes. I used aerated ro/di water and matched the ph. I did the dip 16 hours ago. Here are the results so far:

Hippopus: Didn't open for a few hours after the dip. Today it looks as though I never even dipped it. This clam was fine before the dip.

Derasa: Opened up half as far as normal immediately after the dip. Today it looks the same as it did yesterday before the dip. This clam was also fine before the dip.

Maxima: I did notice this clam pinch its mantle a couple times but not often enough that I would say that it had the disease for sure. After the dip the shell opened farther than normal. The clam was gaping and irresponsive to tough or light. Throughout the night I saw some bristleworms moving towards its byssal orifice. Clam is still alive today but not looking good. It does have a slight response to light as it closes about half way when a fish swims over it. It now has a white bleached spot in the center of the mantle between the two siphons. The edges of the mantle are releasing strings of brown stuff. I think it may be rotting away. I thought this clam was pretty healthy before the dip but that may not have been so.

Crocea: The crocea was the clam that I was concerned with. It was pinching a small section of its mantle during the last 3 or so hours of the lighting cycle every day. After the dip he was looking like the maxima...gaping and the shell was open more than normal. I also saw a couple bristleworms moving in towards it's byssal orifice last night. It is looking much better today. Mantle is extended over the shell and no more gaping. It is also responsive to light. The condition of the clam looks about the same as before the dip. Haven't gotten to the last few hours of the lighting cycle yet so we'll see if it is still pinching.

I will post another update in a couple days.

Travis


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Unread 07/09/2003, 04:25 PM   #42
XDrewX
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When you use Ro/DI for the dip,
how do you get the pH of the Ro/DI water to match your tanks pH.
My Ro/DI water is slightly less than 7.0..........
Thats a long way to go to 8.2

Thanks


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Unread 07/09/2003, 10:55 PM   #43
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Use baking soda to raise the ph and vinegar to lower it. It only took me a couple pinches to get my ro/di water equal to the tank ph.


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Unread 07/10/2003, 08:54 AM   #44
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Damn, I think I killed my fist clam a nice blue maxima. I have had it for 2 weeks now but it slowly started to pinch by the exit tube. I couldn't find anything irratating it and no one was picking at it. Then I found this thread and it seemed to fit the description of what my clam was doing. When I picked the clam up last night he was very lethargic but eventualy closed the shell. So I put the clam in a bucket of RO/DI that was at the same temp as the tank. I left the clam in the for 20 min. When I put him back in the main tank he was still closed and his bysal foot was limp holding the rock he was on. This morning he is still closed but I saw no signs of critters eaing him. He is doomed isn't he?


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Unread 07/10/2003, 04:20 PM   #45
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I just want to follow-up on my original post. A couple of months after the initial dip of all the clams some pinching re-appeared with the same symptoms. I followed the same procedure on all clams and placed them back in the tank. I did loose a further clam that had been suffering with the problem for alongtime before the previous dip. Since then I haven't had any further problems and all the clams have been putting on excellent shell growth and good mantle extension.

Just to say that I don't think the freshwater dip should be used just because a clam is showing pinching. First I would check out other causes like snails just below the mantle rim on a night, if sweeper tentacles are brushing the mantle etc. Also, the pinching described by myself and Minh progresses quite slowly and the clams seem able to live for some months with it (it's not a pinch today, dead tommorow type disease). I would observe the clam carefully for awhile before taking action (if possible move to quaranteen and observe if you have other clams in the tank).


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Unread 07/13/2003, 10:49 PM   #46
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I dipped my clams 6 days ago. All of them have recovered and are looking great (including the maxima). None of them are showing signs of mantle pinching. Now I'll just have to see if they are cured for good or if the disease will reappear again.


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Unread 07/14/2003, 01:22 AM   #47
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Minh,

On clams direct, shipping is only $1.25 for overnight? (plus $10 for box) but still.. $11.25 for a clam shipped overnight?

CHEAP!! I'll be sure to get one if the price above is correct.


Thanks Minh,


-Nick


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Unread 07/24/2003, 10:31 PM   #48
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The 'shipping' is only $1.25 until you enter your address, etc., then it switches over to the normal $35 range.
I think there's a mention of this (in red) on the first clam page.

I also have two maxima clams (purchased a week or so ago) that are showing signs of this pinching, and after reading over Minh's many threads I performed a freshwater RO dip on the both of them (a 1.5" and a 3").
My 4" squamosa that I had previous to the maxima purchase shows no sign of this disease and is actually looking the best it has since I bought it.
It's also about 12" away from the other two clams (that are placed next to one another) and separated by a large chunk of live rock.

I'd still like to know also what is causing this problem. My two clams are looking as good as can be considering they just got dipped, but as far as I can tell they're already looking better than before. Their mantles aren't extending much, but they aren't as pinched up as they were.

Thanks Minh for your guidance... I was pretty hopeless with their condition until I found your threads. I hope they pull through, and if they do (knock on wood) I have you to thank for it.



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Unread 09/11/2003, 07:47 PM   #49
Travis
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Just wanted to post my results since the first dip(7/8/03). I posted about dipping them a few posts up on this page. All the clams looked great for about 3 weeks. Then the crocea(only one that was pinching in the first place) started pinching again. I gave it some time and over the next couple weeks it continued to get worse. Then I dipped it again on 8/19/03 and it looked great for a couple weeks after the dip. Now it is starting to pinch again. Whatever it is that is causing the clams to do this doesn't seem to go away. The FW dip helps for a little while but then it comes back. I guess I'll just have to dip my clam whenever I see it pinching from now on. FWIW, I don't think the dip is overly stressfull to the clams as all of mine looked good the next day.

Everyone else who has dipped their clams: Have you seen that it comes back or have you eradicated the disease from your tanks?


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Unread 09/12/2003, 07:27 AM   #50
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Good luck to you Travis. I lost four clams last year to the pinching disease. Like your's, they looked better after the dip but they would not appear healthy for long. Once the last one went last December or so I decided to wait a long time before getting another clam. The derasa is the only one that survived...been in the tank for 15 months and is about 6 inches. Nice clam and my fav since it pulled through. About 6 weeks ago, a friend broke down his tank and had to give me his crocea. I reluctantly adopted it because of my previous experience with the pinching...wasn't sure if it was going to happen all over again. No pinching as of yet...and I'm not sure why....maybe whatever it was died off since the tank was practically clamless for 9 months. Just hope it doesn't come back as I find myself checking out clamsdirect.com frequently!

Brad


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