what's wrong with my new deresa?

[mattyparsons]

i purchased a deresa from live aquaria last week, and it arrived on thursday. i took a full two hours to acclimate him (with the lights off) just before the tank's night cycle. by the time i bid them goodnight, the clam was open, filtering water, and his mantle was up to the edge of the shell.

the next morning, to my horror i saw that my skunk cleaner shrimp was picking away at the inside of the shell. not the mantle, just the shell. god knows how long he was doing that the night before. the clam looked noticably stressed. to help prevent any more intrusions, i moved the clam and cut a liter soda bottle in half, and a bunch of circulation holes and covered the clam in it. after two days of that, i saw no marked improvement, and i moved him down into the sump/refuge to rest on the chaeto bed.

after four days, it seems like the mantle is almost peeling off from the shell. here's a pic-





ok, now for my tank-

it's a 55 on top with approx 40 lbs sand and 50lbs rock, and a 20 gal sump/refuge below loaded with chaeto and mangroves for nutrient export. tankmates include 2 clarkii's, long tentacle, orchid dottyback, lawnmower blenny, skunk and banded shrimp, and some lps's and softies. oh, and approx 5 watts per gallon on top of powercompacts, and 5 watts per gallon below with 10k daylight powercompacts

tank parameters-
sg- 1.0245
temp - 74
ammonia/nitrite/nitrate- 0
cal- 420
ph- 7.8 (a bit low at the moment)
phosphate- 0

i don't really test for any other parameters because i use ocean water, and i've found that it contains everything my tank would need.

please someone hold me and tell me that my clam will pull through!

thank you all in advance!

[jmaneyapanda]

It seems as if your cklam didnt really adjust to well to the move. Symptoms like it's showing usually dont bode well, especially when they're just getting worse. Some things I noticed- Temperature is too low. You should be 78-80 (arguably), but 74 is not healthy. Also, how much swing in pH? Is 7.8 the low end, high end, average? Could anything have been touching the clam- corals, anemones?

[skinz78]

I agree water temp is too low. Good job with the bottle, I think now just wait and watch. Slowly raise that water temp to 80

[mbbuna]

you need to test for Alk and Mg also. Alk is depleted quickly and NSW is naturally low in Alk.

i also agree 74 is too low

[mattyparsons]

well thank you all for your responses. sadly, the clam passed this morning. i'm extremely sadened at this loss.

i am quite frustrated because the liveaquaria "quick stats" says temperature requirements of 72-78.

my pH is certainly low. my daily range is from 8.0 in the afternoon to 7.8 at morning before the lights in the refuge go on. clearly the metabolic output of the creatures is outpacing the ability of the plant matter to maintain an optimal pH, and it's time to start buffering. and clearly, its time to start dosing with alkalinity.


thank you. this will be a learnining experience. a painful one, and a reason to do more research and to have more prudence in the future.

[basser1]

Are these part of their 14 day guarantee? I'd check it out. Sorry about your loss.

[mattyparsons]

yeah, its in the 14 day thing, so i should get a refund (only had it alive for 4 full days).

makes it suck a little less, but it still sucks.

[Big load]

I thought the one of the ideas to having a refugium was to keep lights on 24/7 to keep PH from making a big swing at night. You did not mention what type of lighting you had?