Derasa not feeding

[rldavisou]

I added a derasa clam to my tank yesterday. It's opening fine, and the mantle looks good, but both the inflow and outflow siphons are completely closed. My water quality is decent, not good enough to support SPS, but I didn't think clams had the same requirements, do they?
Amm: 0
Trite: 0
Trate: 4
A little bit of scum is in the water, as I'm not running a skimmer but am doing rather frequent water changes.
Is the clam just getting acclimated, or do I need to do something else?

 

[bonebrake]

Are you sure they are both closed all the time? They will close them periodically.
Clams require the same water parameters as SPS: strong light, strong and turbulent flow, pH 8.0-8.4, calcium 400-450 ppm, alkalinity 3.0-4.5 meq/L, magnesium 1200-1400 ppm, nitrates < 10 ppm, phosphates < 0.1 ppm.
Regardless, there isn't much you can do except to provide the best water parameters possible and strong light.

 

[rldavisou]

I have not seen either siphon open, and it's been in my tank for almost twenty hours. I'm not saying they've never opened, but I've been home and watching for it about every twenty minutes.
Could it be the trates or the little bit of organics in the water?

 

[nietzsche]

is there a way you can post a picture?

 

[yosemite sam]

A picture would help. They may look 'closed' but there is probably water flowing through, as that's how clams breathe. The incurrent siphon should really look closed on a normal clam anyway. If it's wide open, that's often a sign of stress. Is the mantle coming out? Where did you get the clam from?

 

[rldavisou]

I don't have a digital camera besides on my phone. It's moving its incurrent siphon a little bit; sort of like if you were to suck your lips back into your mouth. Every other derasa I've ever seen has had its siphon wide open, to the point that you can actually see into the animal, with little tentacles around the rim. The mantle is coming out just fine and it looks really good, besides the fact that the siphons aren't really doing anything.
I bought it at a very reputable LFS, who had it for about 2 weeks with no problem.
But, every other derasa I've ever seen has had its siphon wide open, so this is just a bit alarming.
Below is a pic (not my clam!!!!!) of what I'm used to seeing. Is this clam stressed or is this normal? Where the long slit is, mine is pretty tightly closed.

 

[teen]

that looks normal, but this thread is next to worthless without a pic of your clam.

 

[nietzsche]

i have an idea of what youre talking about, but i dont think its anything you should worry about. what hes saying is the incurrent siphon is more closed together like this

instead of it being wide open

 

[jonthefishguy]

I think the mods are going to jump all over this one.....

 

[rldavisou]

First, I got it to open just briefly by squirting DT's directly at it. It opened for about 20 seconds, and then the whole clam closed up. I did not touch the clam nor did my hand or anything else pass between the clam and the light.
Second, why is the thread worthless w/o a pic? I understand it would be helpful, but what other way can "both the inflow and outflow siphons are completely closed" be taken?
I understand your position, Teen; a pic would better explain the difference between "open" and "closed". But I was assuming you have been operating doors all your life, and this would have aided you in deciphering my unclear description. But you know what happens when you assume.
Maybe I should have left out the part about this being MY clam; perhaps I should phrase it as a hypothetical:
What would cause a clam's inflow siphon to remain closed? If, hypothetically, I had a clam, and if, hypothetically, its siphons were remaining closed, what would you suggest I do, if anything?

 

[teen]

ok. your going to try and call me stupid when your squirting DT's directly at it.
good luck with that.

 

[yosemite sam]

Originally Posted by rldavisou
First, I got it to open just briefly by squirting DT's directly at it. It opened for about 20 seconds, and then the whole clam closed up.

Don't do this, it will clog the gills of the clam. Just leave it alone, it's probably adjusting to it's new environment.

 

[mscarpena]

I love clams and read a book on clams by a sceintist who has done a lot of reasearch on clams. Beleive it or not clams need some nitrates to feed off of. Don't try to feed it especially if you are not running a protein skimmer. Just let it feed off of the stuff in your aquarium. If it is open up and looks good other than that I would not worry about it unless it stays closed for more than a week. If it is over 2-3 inches you do not need to feed it at all and it will gain most of its nutreints from light. What type of light do you have it under. Also check your calcium, alk, PH, mag, and iodine. ALso they need medium flow not high flow or this could cause them to close up. Good luck.

 

[rldavisou]

I'm charging my friend's digital camera now. I'll have pics in a few mins.

 

[halamaya]

I just received a Derasa about almost a week ago and it wasn't until today that he opened it up a bit more freely. I have read to not squirt him directly also and have yet to put anything in the tank to feed him other then my 327 watts on my 55 (which I hope is going to be enough, LFS told me it should be for Derasa but not my beloved Maxima.)

 

[nietzsche]

yeah dont do that. if it closed and opened back up it was probably "coughing" i have no idea why my post was deleted earlier but it would be pretty cool if the mod would explain to me why at least-- if it was about the picture you could at least have deleted it and not what i said. anyways, everyone here is trying to help you. like yosemite said, it may looked closed but could still haver water flowing through. i find it odd that the mantle would be extended yet everything be completely closed

 

[jonthefishguy]

I think the deleted it because it showed -- picture and not a pic of a clam. They deleted my comment right after yours where it said that the mods would be all over it and delete it. They did. They dont like links to anyone else. Even bulletin boards.

 

[nietzsche]

Originally Posted by jonthefishguy
I think the deleted it because it showed -- picture and not a pic of a clam. They deleted my comment right after yours where it said that the mods would be all over it and delete it. They did. They dont like links to anyone else. Even bulletin boards.
woops my bad

 

[rldavisou]

First, teen, if you're still reading, sorry for blowing up at you earlier.
Ok, I was feeding it DT's because I understood they were filter feeders, so I didn't consider that it could clog their gills or do any other harm. I haven't done it again and won't. It is sitting mere inches from a coral I manually feed DT's on a regular basis; will this damage the clam?
Here's a pic of my clam. The lights had gone out for a few minutes before I got home, so he had pulled his mantle in a little bit. It was slightly further extended earlier today, and the two halves of his shell were further apart. It's under PC lights, but everything I've read on derasas says they should do fine under PC's. A lot of things even said to do supplemental feeding, I just didn't realize that you couldn't directly feed it.
I realize pretty much everyone here knows where the siphon is. However, since it's pretty tightly closed and therefore hard to see, I've circled it.

 

[yosemite sam]

I would wait and see if it opens more. It's probably still adjusting. I'd pick up one of the books on giant clams if I were you and do some reading. They have a lot of useful info about how to care for them.
And what coral near the clam are you feeding DTs?