Crocea Clam Help - Not Fully Opening!

[charleskeller]

I puchased this clam on 12/20 and left town two days later. When I returned last night I noticed the clam wasn't opening as much and has what appears to be a noticable tearing away. You can see before and after pics below.

In the 3 total days I have been able to observe it I have not noticed any fish bothering but today there were about 5 crabs roming close to it which I picked away. Only possible troublesome fish would be a pygme angel but it has shown no interested.

I have started to spot feed. KH was really low and Calcium just a tad low, both of which I am adding additives to correct every few hours to adjust. Parameter are listed below pics.

I really would hate to loose this clam (and reap havick from the wife for loosing another expensive item). Any input would be apreciated.


AFTER:


BEFORE:


System:
Lighting - 150W 14K Current HQI.
Size - 44g, 80g in total system
Water parameters:
Temp: 78.7 F
Salinity: 1.024
KH: 6.5 dKH (116 ppm) (adjsting to reach to 3.75 dKH)
PH: 8.3
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: 20 (typical of my system)
Calcium: 380 (adjusting to reach to 400)

[skinz78]

Take a clear plastic bottle preferrably 2 litre. Cut it in half, fill it with 1/4" holes for water circulation. Place the clam in an open spot in the sand. Then put the bottle over the clam to shield it from your angel. If the clam opens up and stays open you then know it is your angel or at least something else nipping at your clam.

[charleskeller]

Thanks, I had to make a Gatorade bottle work for now. I left it up on the rock in the middle of the tank because it already attached to the rock. I did that about an hour ago and the clam seems to be staying open longer.

I also notice that it had already started opening a bit wider before adding the 'cage'. Do you think the alkalinity coming up is more likely helping out than the cage?

If it is back to normal tomorrow I'll keep a close eye on my water and pull off the cage and see if it reverts back to closing up.

[charleskeller]

I woke up this morning and the clam had moved and knocked the bottle off. I decided to keep it off and watch it for a while. It went back to acting like it had yesterday by closing up.

A bit ago I put it back on and it started opening up within 10 minutes.

I'm thinking I may have too much water flow. The anemone beside it is really waving in the flow. What is a perfect amount? I can shoot a video.

Later today I'm going to test my water and try moving the powerheads around. I have 3 MJ900's in the tank plus the return pump.

Also, the clam left behind some white stringy material where it previously was. What is that stuff? Could it have ripped some of its 'foot' off trying to move the bottle?

[skinz78]

Is the clams mantle getting blown into unnatural positions by the powerheads?

Yes, the strings left behind are called the byssal threads. They are alot like our hair and fingernails. The clam has no feeling in them.

It does sound like it doesn't like it's placement to me, try moving it to another spot.

A video would be cool, so sure post one.

[charleskeller]

I'm new to clams so when you say mantle i'm guessing the part of the clam that hanges over the edge of the shell. When I originally placed the clam in that position there were no akward movements.

I know the crocea needs a lot of light, so if I put it on the bottom of the tank about 24" from the 150w MH would there be enough light?

I spent the afternoon buying stuff I don't need (washer, dryer, plasma) instead of fish stuff so I was too busy to get the video before lights out.

If I reconsider buying something because I can only think of what a way cooler setup I could have if I didn't, does that indicate obsession?

[skinz78]

Yes the mantle is the top fleshy part that extends past the shell.

In my sticky at the top of the clam forum I list 2 great books I recommend for beginner clam keepers. Check them out.

I just noticed in the first pic the clam was on the sand. And in the second pic it is up on the rocks. How high up on the rocks is it? How fast did you move it up there? Was it on the sand in the lfs? If so what kind of lighting do they have?

Placeing the gatorade bottle over it may have shaded it a bit. It may need to be acclimated to your lighting. I still am not convinced the pygmy angel can be ruled out though.
When you move clams up on the rockwork you need to do it slowly to acclimate them to the light intensity. Being down on the sand with your light for a few days wont hurt the clam. It should be fine there until we figure out what is going on.

One other option you can try is get some window screening and place it on top of the tank below the light. Do a couple of layers 3 - 4 and this should shade the clam a little bit.

If it opens up after a little time then we know it is just stressed due to light intensity. This may be the case depending on the lfs lighting and the newness of your bulb. If it does open up leave the window screen there for a couple of days. If all is still well take a layer or 2 of the screen off. Keep a few layers on for a few more days and then remove them until it is all removed, doing this will acclymate it to your light.

If this doesn't work then it probably is being picked on by the fish and you'll need to move it down onto the sand with the bottle. We'll go from there.

Don't feel like the lone ranger I spent this afternoon out shopping for my new 12g nano tank and setup

Honestly I think everyone in this hobby is obsessed to some extent, just some more than others. And if you can afford to do it I say why not, you cant take your money to your grave. LOL I still haven't figured out how to tell my wife I recently spent $200 on a baby squamosa clam.

[charleskeller]

This clam was actually my wifes idea! I was suprised when she said, "How about the clam over here?" I didn't argue very long. My hobby money has been a hot button issue lately so I regularly have to go through the long spill of all the great deals I've found and how I have got $5k of stuff for less than half that.

At the LFS the clam was in sand on the bottom of a tank about 20" deep. The MH's were about 30" above that. I'm not sure what kind they were but I would say at least 250's but probably 400's considering the distance. It was a 48" fixture with 2 MH's and T5 or PC bulbs.

Originally I placed the clam in the center of my tank directly below the MH about 20" away. Within an hour it rolled off that rock twice so I put the clam on my tank bottom 25.5" from the MH. I then moved it directly to the middle of the tank 14.5" from the MH the next day about 20hrs later. My MH bulb is about 6wks old. I run it from Noon to 10pm. Is that too long?

Let me know what you think about the lighting change, I have some gutter guarding I can use for screening.

One idea I had is to wait for the clam to open up, then pull the bottle off and keep an eye on it and see if and when it will open back up while keeping a constant eye on it. Under normal conditions I would say it should open back up within a minute or so. If it stays closed for much longer then definitly light or flow.

I need to do some work to start ruling stuff out; flow, light, fish.

What's your plan on the nano?

[skinz78]

I am guessing the lfs hasn't changed thier bulb for quite some time. And yours is pretty much brand new. I would place the clam back on the sand and slowly bring it up onto the rocks to acclimate it to the light. Do this slowly over days maybe weeks.

the gutter screen would work.

My plans for the nano are that I don't have a qt tank. And I recently upgraded my tank from my 75 to my new 125 closed loop. Now I have some rocks with zoa's and shrooms on them that I don't want in the 125 so I plan on putting them into the nano.

I set the nano up last nite in my dineing rooms and like I said I want a good qt tank but I do want some life in it so it will probably just have some shrooms zoa's and eventually some lps.

I have been looking online at some led lights for it too.

[mbbuna]

whats your dkh at now? are you still covering the clam?

[charleskeller]

I haven't been able to check my dKH until today, it is at 3.07 and I've added more reef builder shooting for 3.75.

I've also added 3 pcs of gutter guard to shade and pulled the bottle off today. So far the clam is staying open more than it had been a couple days ago when uncovered.

I'll keep an eye on it and see if it starts opening completely.

mbbuna...your house pic of your tanks is great. you should post some pics of your sump in your gallery too.