Bysall gland detached?

[coraladdict]

Hi,HFF

I posted a topic on a maxima clam about 3 weeks ago regarding the clam's mantle not extenting.It had been 1 week in my tank doing fine and then it's mantle retracted,with no snail or fish picking at it.
Anyway today the clam let go of it's bysall gland ,I must say the clam did't have it's mantle extended during all this time.
So what's going on with the clam , is it dying?It still reacts to movement.
I have 250 w Iwasaki with on target water parms and i feed home cultured phyto.The clam is half way up in the tank.
I've tried placing it in different places and didn't do better.
Thanks

[herefishiefishie]

The first thing that comes to mind is that it might have been kept under insufficent light for a little while and needed to be acclimated to the light levels in your tank. However, after a week it should be okay by now.

If it was attached to a rock when you got it, and it has let go of the rock, it might be trying to move to another spot in the tank; it might be unhappy with where you placed it. If the clam is very brightly colored, I would try placing it closer to the light; if it is dully colored, perhaps further from the light.

If the clam did not come attached to a rock, perhaps it has not attached yet at all, in which case you might have to be patient whiole the clam figures out where it wants to be.

I do know that sometimes maximas do not attach.

Try going through a checklist of possible problems:

Enough light?
water params (nitrogen, calcium, temp, SG, etc) okay?
Any predators/harrassers/parasites?
anything change recently in the tank?
pollutant?

Just some ideas.
HTH


[Edited by herefishiefishie on 02-26-2001 at 08:55 AM]