I lost both of my maximas

[Reefer Addict]

Well, this just sucks...

Both of my new maximas are now bristleworm food. I 'cured' them of the mantle pinching problem they were having and they looked better for a few days then rapidly deteriorated over the period of a week.
Well, at least I have a pair of empty maxima shells to show for my $$$...
The sad part is that my (previously purchased) squamosa was happy and healthy for the better part of two months and now it's showing signs of pinching... It's bigger than the other two clams so hopefully I can save it...
I don't know what to make of this, but it's gonna be a while til I get another clam...

Everything else in my tank is doing great (aside from the squa) and all my parameters are fine.

Looks like there may be the dreaded 'disease' surfacing again... I'd recommend quarentining any new clams for about a month or so to make sure they aren't carrying anything.

did you inspect for any of the predatory snails?????? ra i know how excited you were and i am terribly sorry for your loss.....maybe your water quality was too good.......

[Reefer Addict]

Thanks for the condolences there mnreefman... I appreciate it.
I did indeed check for pyramellid snails, but didn't see anything... the only thing I noticed come off one of the clams was a flatworm during a freshwater dip, but that could've come from somewhere on the shell.
The really sad part is that they weren't even paid for yet... just got the CC statement in the mail a couple days ago...

lol
omg

[Reefer Addict]

Well, as I was dipping the squamosa in freshwater, I noticed something very interesting... pyramellids!
There were only 2 of them though, but after discovering that, I examined the carcass of the 3" maxima... on it's shell was a single pyramellid...

Interestingly enough, I never noticed them during the freshwater dips I had previously performed.

Wouldn't it take a lot more than a single pyramellid snail to kill 2 maximas? I could find no more than the 3 I pulled off them... and 2 were on the squamosa.

Well, at least I found them before they became a problem, but I'm skeptical that they were the cause of the clam deaths.

Here's a picture of the snails in question... they were too small to photograph so I slapped them on my scanner.

send em to me my mantis would like em

[Geoff]

RA- i am really sorry to hear about he clams.

G~

[Jeremy1973]

okay..is there another snail that looks like those? my 20 and my 75 have lots of little snails that look similar to those. But I had them long before I had a clam. So, if they are bad, I would have never noticed. But I still have lots of these little snails. So, are they these bad snails, or is there another harmless snail out there that looks similar?

[Casey]

Ra man that sucks sorry for the loss Check your tank real good especially at night make sure you havent missed any snails.

Originally posted by Jeremy1973
okay..is there another snail that looks like those? my 20 and my 75 have lots of little snails that look similar to those. But I had them long before I had a clam. So, if they are bad, I would have never noticed. But I still have lots of these little snails. So, are they these bad snails, or is there another harmless snail out there that looks similar?

cerith snails...and nasiurus as well both of there are harmless hth

[Reefer Addict]

Thanks all for the condolences... it's nice to have support from the community here.

At least the squamosa still appears to be doing well... I'll keep my eye out for more of these snails.

[crab0000]

Wouldn't there be small hole in the shell of the dead clam where the snails burrowed through? Or do they come in through the bysal gland as well?
Steve