Clam Question

[Ashman1]

I just did a 20% Water Change and noticed that the Crocea Clam wasn't opening up the next day. Could this just be a coincidence? Everything else seems happy after the change. I've never had a clam before. Do they periodically close up for a day or so? I know some of my other corals do that and then open up even better than before in a few days. I'll check in with the wife later today to see if it is opening up today once the lights come on. I almost thought it was open more in the dark this morning than last night, but its probably just my wishful thinking.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

How long have you had the clam? What's its general health?

It's not out of the ordinary for them to close for a bit here and there. How closely did the water change water match your tank water?

[Ashman1]

I've had it since the URS meeting at Aqua Tech. It's been doing fine before this. Fully open, no gapping hole in the mantle or anything. The replacement water was the same salinity and within a degree or 2 of temperature. As of 5 p.m. its still not really open. In fact its more closed with the lights on than it was this morning with them off.

[drbronx]

Is the mantle closed in a uniform manner across the length of the mantle or are parts of the mantle "pinched" in appearance. If it is the former, there may be being bothered by another organism e.g., pyramidal snails etc. If the mantle is pinched, it could be suffering from a protazoan infestation. Either could be treated with a fresh water dip however I would not rush to treat. It could be that something in the water chemistry got destabilized by a large water change. There are good forums on RC as well as clamsdirect.com that may help shed light. No need to panic at this point but closely monitor the clam and water parameters.

[Ashman1]

I had read thru the clam forum earlier. As I was looking at it again to check out some signs I read about I noticed it was opened up a little more. One suggestion was to block the light with some paper or something to see if it would react to the change (Like when they "flinch" when a fish goes over them) I did that and it closed a little bit and then opened more. I did this a couple more times and within 30 minutes it was fully open and looking as good as ever. Weird huh? Probably a total coincidence with whatever I was doing and it just needed a time out for some reason. I also was wondering about the white looking stuff under the mantle that I don't remember being there when I first brought it home. Some of the clam folks said that is a sign of shell growth! So I guess it is doing fine so far. I did put it up pretty far since most peeps said a Crocea was iffy in a T-5 Tank. (Although I tell you, 8-54's with icecap reflectors on a 120 Gallon tank is Really Bright!)

Sorry for the long winded post.

p.s. I noticed on one part of the board that Gary Majchrzak is one of the top posters of all time! Over 15000 Posts. Man that's alot of typing!