Clams mostly closed

weinerdogfish · #1 08/30/2007, 10:49 PM

I have 2 Croceas and 1 Teardrop Maxima in a 75 gal reef and had 350w of MH until my ballast went bad. I replaced it with a 4x54 T5 which I had on the tank for 2 weeks and then decided I should go with the 8x54 instead. I noticed the clams weren't opening as they were before. I've had the Croceas over a year and the Teardrop about 10 months. They are all on rock near the top of the tank. Do you think it's the light, or water chemistry. I noticed the Ca and Alk is rather low. I went back to adding A & B, but it will take a few days to get it back up slowly. Please help me, cause I would hate to lose any of them.:confused

mbbuna · #2 08/31/2007, 12:57 AM

its probably a combination of both. did you acclimate the clams to the new light? what exactly is the Ca/Alk?

Serioussnaps · #3 08/31/2007, 02:26 PM

you actually have more light now! I am not sure if you took the appropriate care in light acclimation. Don't go all crazy tinkering with them or the water or doing freshwater dips thinking you have "pinched mantle." I have had issues with clams and kept my water consistent and pristine and over time they come around. I even have had a case of pinched mantle to the point where the mantle was torn by the shell and lost zoox from stress and lack of light being closed up....here two months later it almost back to normal. My advice is to leave it be as long as nothing is amiss with water quality and possibly cut back on photoperiod. Light acclimation is a beginners thing and we should all be aware of the need to do so.

weinerdogfish · #4 08/31/2007, 11:04 PM

Thanks for the information. I checked the Ca today and it's 340, and the dkH is 8.4, so I got some Kent Liquid Calcium to supplement the A & B. I have the 4 actinics come on at 9am, and the daylights come on at 10am. The daylights go off at 8pm and the actinics turn off at 9pm. Do you think that's too long of a photo period? Because I felt the MH was more intense, I didn't think of how to acclimate them to lesser light. Two out of the 3 are opening up a little bit more, but still not like they used to.

Kalkbreath · #5 09/02/2007, 10:43 AM

Double check your salinity.

weinerdogfish · #6 09/03/2007, 10:27 AM

Why? what is the connection? Salinity is 32, and very constant. The Maxima is opening up a little more, but the Croceas are still not opening normal.