T. Maxima Spawning??

[Randy]

I believe my T. Maxima spawned about 3 weeks ago, but I'm not sure. So here are the particulars for your thoughts.

1.The clam is approx. 10 years old, and I've never seen this happen before.

2.During the day I noticed the excurrent siphon about 3/4" longer than I have seen before.

3.About 15 min. after the main lights went out, (actinics still on), the clam began contracting and with each contraction milky white fluid was ejected. This happened about every 2-3 min. for 45 minutes. The fluid was very opaque and thick early in this period and became much more transparent later on. By the end of the period the tank was very cloudy.

4. With each new squirt of fluid, my fish would attempt to eat the substance. Just about all the corals in the tank extended feeding tentacles except for the pearl bubble which closed.

5. The tank settled in about an hour, and there has been no signs of any problems since the event.

So was this a spawn, or some other event?

Randy

[herefishiefishie]

This is exactly how I read it explained in the Knop book. Your clam is old enough. You have had a spawning event. Congrats!

[Randy]

Thanks for the confirmation. The only thing I'm doing any different is adding some Black Powder - 1/2 the recommended dose, as I don't use my skimmer except when necessary. I wonder if the powder had anything to do with it, or if it was just a natural cycle.
Randy

[herefishiefishie]

What is "Black Powder?"

[Randy]

Well Black Powder is a product from Marc Weiss. It's advertised as another miracle product, but I, like a lot of others, take that claim with a grain of salt. Although the exact make-up is not published, it says it is "concentrated amino acid complexed biocolloids" and it "exploits growth and reproductive potential in captive organisms that are deprived ot theses enzymes in the captive reef." I see that a lot of people on this board don't have a good opinion of his products, but I have not made a judgement yet.

I have not used any additives except calcium for the last 4 years, so this is new for me. I've used 1/2 dose every other day for 2 months and I have seen a fair improvement in my tank. I also had my first diatom algae bloom in a couple of years, so it could have had an impact there also. But the bloom came 2 days after the clam spawned, so that could have been a factor also.

Randy