Another multi-clam problem...
 

Water params are excellent but ALL 7 of my clams are retracted and have been for some time. They have been in the tank nearly 2 years.

I do have a couple of cleaner shrimp but have been losing them. I put in a CBB prior to the clam problem, but haven't noticed him picking on the clams. Just before the problem started I added two cleaner wrasses and I haven't noticed them bothering the clams, but I do observe them getting real friendly with some corals.

Other issues that merit discussion are the huge die-off of snails and subsequent dino outbreak. I solved the dino issue over the course of about 2 months, and after they were gone, the clams started looking weak.

One other major thing to note: I have found the remains, or the molt, of a decent sized red crab with black pincers. I don't know if they molt, and the pieces looked more like remains than a molt, but it's definitely worth mentioning.

I also have a longnose hawk, but he seems to behave himself, 10 tangs, maroon pair, sebae clown, one chromis, one foxface. I have not observed anything bothering the clams.

I am getting very tense about this situation as some of these clams are really quite nice specimens. I do have a 40g QT, but it is a real hassle trying to get a clam out of the tank. I did inspect one for snails but no banana.

So, recommendations the same?

i replied in another thread but check for metals with a poly filter

what is this poly filter?

[url]http://www.poly-bio-marine.com/polyprod.htm[/url]

it will change colors depending on whats present in the water

That's interesting. I'll check it out.

I also noted tonight well after lights out that the clams are not closing up for bedtime like they normally do. They are all about half open with about half the mantle showing. This seems very strange, but one might assume that the harassment theory would be borne out by this behavior.

OK. So I pulled an 8" teardrop out of the tank during lights out this morning.

It does not react well to being tapped on in terms of closing up, but on about the 4th tap, it did squirt me. The mantle still has decent color but does show signs of some kind of problem. A few of the actual teardrops seem to be lifting. The clam appears to be gaping a bit too.

No pests found on it or around it. Something to note is that all the clams look stressed but are spread out over a wide area up to 7' apart. There are a couple of strands of some sort of filamentous string coming from the mantle as well. I am going to do a battery of tests now to see if there isn't something I am missing regarding water quality.

I will get the poly filters in, but I am concerned that I may be too late. I have a 40g QT set up with half tank water and half fresh water and I am going to put theteardrop in that to see what happens. If it opens up well over the next 24 hrs. all clams will be pulled from the display.

So I recalibrated my probes and did a full battery of tests with a couple of surprises.

I found my temp. probe to be caked and my pH probe off by about .30. Salinity was also much lower than I normally keep it.

Salinity: 1.023 (refractometer)
Ca: 425 ppm (Seachem)
Alk: 9.0 ppm (Salifert)
NO2: Undetectable (Seachem)
NO3: Undetectable (Seachem)
pH: 7.93 (Probe)
Temp.: 77.5F (Probe)
Mg: 1410 (Salifert)

I do not have any tests for heavy metals, but it seems to that the likelihood of there being a heavy metal problem is extremely low, unless it is coming in my salt. I take great pains to mix salt with very pure water. Well, except for the gold ring I lost in the tank a year ago! :rolleyes:

So the question is, are the low pH and salinity inclined to lower the clam health? I am slowly bumping both back up.

How old is the Alk test kit? You could have one of the bad kits. Mine reads around 4 higher than my other 2 kits I have from different manufacturers.

I buy new kits about every 3 months, so not very old. I have another unopened one so I will try that tomorrow. How much will alk affect clams?

I put a second 8" teardrop into the QT and it seems to be responding well. Both of these clams had some white variegated sponge on them.

I am hoping one of the clam pros will post about pH, salinity, and alk. :D

if the clam is looking better in the QT then i would really be looking at the water. the poly filter i mentioned is kinda like a test kit. as it removes certain compounds from the water it will turn different colors, depending on what color it turns you can tell what is in the water and what its removing.

your PH is fine.

SG is ok, i like mine at NSW but 1.023 will work

your Alk looks fine but clams are very sensitive to Alk changes. you always want to make adjustments very slowly.

this is a water chemistry guide for clams

[url]http://www.clamsdirect.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2516[/url]

I normally keep mine at 1.026, so that is a problem, but I don't think a causitive factor in this case. Poly Filters are on the way.

I have had large alk swings in the past due to equipment issues with no apparent effect on the clams. Certainly not long-term like I am seeing now.

That article is essentially the way I do things, so I don't see any issues there. So we are down to two possibilities:

1. harassment;
2. heavy metals?

did anyone already ask you for photos

yeah. camera is at my store, and I am there now. I will bring it home this afternoon and shoot a series of pics to post.

OK. So here are the pics of two teardrops I put in QT. They are much better off than they were in the display tank, but I figure posting isn't a bad thing. Also, the clams in the display seem to be a bit better off today. I will try to take some top-down pics of those today as well.


First three are of the same clam:

[IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc77/jnarowe/CIMG2993_edited.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc77/jnarowe/CIMG2980_edited.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc77/jnarowe/CIMG2979_edited.jpg[/IMG]

Second set are of the second clam:

[IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc77/jnarowe/CIMG2994_edited.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc77/jnarowe/CIMG2990_edited.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc77/jnarowe/CIMG2981_edited.jpg[/IMG]

Taken with the lights off:

[IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc77/jnarowe/CIMG2984_edited.jpg[/IMG]

The green hue on the second one is interesting. Any comments?

These are in way better shape so again I have to assume there is either a pest or a water quality problem. The QT is half system water and half fresh made SW, and does not currently have a skimmer or any kind of filtration. This is because i am waiting on a pump for my skimmer to replace the one that froze. This is an entirely separate system from the display I removed the clams from.

both of those have some bleaching.

that green hugh is crazy, that not a normal color for the clam?

are you sugar or vodka dosing?

do you have any other clam in the other tank? if so can you post photos of them

I don't think it was ever green before. They are reacting much more normally in the QT and are extending much better. I will take top downs of the other clams ASAP.

Not dosing vodka or sugar at this time but I did dose sugar about 2 - 3 months ago as part of my trying to get rid of dinos.

they both are dumping some zoox. sugar can be pretty nasty and the effects can take time to show up. carbon dosing is pretty indiscrimanate on the strain of bacteria/s it boosts. its kinda like waking a sleeping dragon. i know from first hand experience(twice) how carbon dosing can go south.

that green has me baffled

Well, I am fairly certain I have found the problem. While taking top-down pics, I got a series of shots like this:

[IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc77/jnarowe/CIMG3037_edited.jpg[/IMG]

The clams started having the problems after I introduced these cleaner wrasses... I watch him come up and nip at this clam several times in the space of about 10 minutes.

As far as the green goes, I think its actually algae. So now I guess I have to trap the wrasses and it ain't going to be easy!

I really appreciate your help, and of course encouraging me to take the pics led me to the problem. :)

the wrasses may be part of it but if you look closely at the two maxima photos they lost a lot of zoox. you might still have something else going

I am not sure how much the stress can affect the zoos. Youare talking about the milky areas I assume?

The other clams all seem to have good color including one other teardrop. But, these clams are sitting under very powerful lamps, and the two teardrops in QT were getting the least amount of light.

I have the poly pads on the way so that will be my next step.

I would check your topoff water and make sure your RO/DI unit is functioning properly, if using one. The green hue is ok, but the clams are bleached. Also, dosing alcohol doesn't seem to make sense IMHO. Alcohol is a stressor of all cell types, including bacteria, and in the lab we use alcohol to stimulate hyperventilation of the cell. It has the similar effect of applying heat to cells - speeds up metabolism, although stressful. Alcohol also effects membrane permeability. I guess it's diluted out of toxic concentrations, but I am doubtful you'll find Stoli Vodka in the natural marine setting ;).

You may want to try lowering the clams a bit first, and see how they respond. If response is unfavorable then move closer to light. Clams respond differently on the individual level, therefor generalizations shouldn't be made as to specific species of clams loving more or less light. I found this to be the case for my clams (they responded just the opposite as to what light requirements for each type were specified). This may differ for you though, so just try a little experimenting.

My RO/DI is functioning quite well. My clams have shown some signs of bleaching throughout my reef keeping experience from-time-to-time, even before I had put the wrasses in.

I however have never tested for heavy metals. I have all the materials inbound and will be sending a water sample out to a lab as well.