A few white spots on my Maxima's mantal.

purplereef · #1 11/23/2007, 11:15 PM

Hey Guys,
I have a 4 inch Blue Maxima clam that is getting these white spots on it's mantel. I thought they looked like stress cracks for the lack of a better description. There is only like 4 of them and they are pretty small. I will get a picture tomorrow when my Halides come on. Any idea what could be causing this? Thanks, Dan.

a4twenty · #2 11/24/2007, 12:08 AM

is this a new clam? or has he been in the tank for a while?

where is he in the tank?

what light are you using? ( watts + kelvin ) and how old are they ?

usually bleaching of a clam in an aquarium is from light shock ( to much light to fast ) or a lack of light. this could also be a part of the clams natural pattern, but if they growing it is probably bleaching.

post the picture tomorrow, preferably with the pumps off and from above.

purplereef · #3 11/24/2007, 12:20 PM

Here is a picture of the clam. It has been in my tank for about 1 year and has doubled in size in that time. The lights are 250w de Pheonix 14k's and 2 T5's in a Aquamedic hood. They are not new and the spots have been there for a few months. I have a ton of flow for the SPS. I have 2 Tunze streams 6080's. Thanks Dan.

a4twenty · #4 11/24/2007, 08:39 PM

it appears to be bleaching, take a look at this pic of a crocea with some white spots as part of it's natural pattern. they don't look like this do they? more random .....

how old are you MH bulbs?

14k bulbs start with considerably less PAR than a 10k bulb and lose PAR at a faster rate. you probably need to replace the bulbs ( most say every 8 months for 14k ) and or move the clam up higher in the tank. just don't do both at the same time or you can make matters worse. ( light shock )

HTH

purplereef · #5 11/25/2007, 10:18 AM

Thanks a4twenty,
My Halides are are around 4.5 months old. The spots do look like the picture you posted. So you think it is bleaching? Is that to much light or to little for a clam? I am not sure if you treat a clam like you would a piece of coral? They both have Zooxanthellae. What are your thoughts? Thanks, Dan.

a4twenty · #6 11/25/2007, 11:21 AM

if these ( circled ) are the white spots ( i think the one i circled on the right is coraline, lol ) then it doesn't look like a pattern.

see how in my pic ( other post ) there is a pattern of white that is on both sides of the mantle. it looks like in your pics the white spots are random and much larger. if this isn't the case, could you maybe post another pic but from above this time please.

otherwise my advice from above is still the best course of action.

HTH