Sunlight Clam Pico II (1.25g)

[clifford513]

like the reflector, cliff? actually, i don't. my back is still aching from shoveling it. i can't wait for warmer (longer) days.

Just toss it all in front of the window. I bet that reflector could last till spring

[travisurfer]

good call cliff

[Needreefunds]

Hmm, yur not that far north from me....

 

Guess most if not all of that new reflector has drained away...

 

Ah well, perhaps a bigger, longer lasting one will come soon.

 

 

 

 

( man, that just does not sound right....LMK- I'll delete it )

 

[tinyreef]

gawddammit! my baby max died.

 

i had been attacking a bunch of vermetid snails that anchored throughout the tank. about 4 of them were on the baby max (none on the crocea for some reason), with two of them right on the mantle lip/edge. i thought they were bothering it a bit so i had been sqooshing them when possible.

 

well, friday/saturday i really went after them but my tweezer slipped a bit and i thought i injured the baby max pulling him too much from a twisting motion. i wasn't planning on pulling or tugging at him but the tweezer and vermetid mass twisted and it twisted the maxima (he had been anchored on a frag disc since the 2nd day or so that i got him).

 

anyhow, i was immediately worried because i felt the tug and twist was too much for it but it seemed ok. po'd, but ok.

 

saturday night: it was ok

 

sunday: it seemed a little closed more than usual. rest of the tank had been fine and still is. the maxima was still showing mantle and response to light so i figured it was just still po'd.

 

monday morning: it was open agape. i immediately was like "aw, snappish!"

 

i checked it (dead) and removed it. *sigh* coloration was fine still actually, but i could see the byssal flesh was all gone (the resident bristleworm must've gone up and thru). so i'm assuming that was the point of first injury, which lines up with my notes and what i observed from my manhandling due to my big meaty claws. *face-palm!*

 

oh well, the crocea and rest of the tank is still fine. i'm just going to have to be more vigilant with the vermetids from now on. i don't think i'll replace it though ($$$ and room). i'm going to let the rest of the tank 'grow in' instead now.

[lakshwadeep]

[Weetabix7]

I'm so sorry tiny.

Hey, wouldja do me a favor?

Go look at my 100+ pg. tank thread and answer the question I posted earlier this evening, one page back I think?

[Lalani]

Sorry for the loss.

[Needreefunds]

Awe shoot Tiny, very sorry to hear this Buddy.

 

Thankfully the rest of the critters seem to be OK.

 

Hang in there

[travisurfer]

[clifford513]

Sorry for your loss Tiny. Big meaty claws

[clownfish1124]

[tinyreef]

thanks for the thoughts, appreciate it. i'm just really po'd that it was my own stupidity that killed it. i knew right when that tweezer slipped that it was an "uh-oh". >.<

 

my 175-sextillion watt bulb. i think it's an Radium or maybe Ushio. it's a real pita to change but i keep a spare just in case.

 

just an updated side view. no more baby maxima on the other side.

 

for some reason the crocea's slightly more horizontal at the moment. not sure if it's moving for a better position or the greater flow (gph) from the canister filter (back corner) is affecting it more, i.e. new flow dynamics. the flow dynamics aren't optimal imo but i really don't have another placement for it.

 

i moved the entire rockwork back slightly to give more room upfront but otehr than that (and the maxima removal) the tank's the same. it's just a progress pic.

 

thanks for reading!

[travisurfer]

looks nice tiny

[tinyreef]

thanks, trav!

 

curious development this morning, maybe i never noticed it before or it just developed(?) but it appears that the clam has a 2nd intake on its back! ewww. (on the far right of the pic)

 

 

but seriously, it appears to be a fully functioning intake. it opens and closes and contorts just like the intake and output "mouths" on the mantle side. (multiple action pics)

 

not sure if it developed due to an injury (or maybe a pulling maneuver like the previous move it conducted on itself), excessive flow conditions (which currently exist), natural development (i've never heard of before), illness (seems fine and healthy though), or the result of deterioration/diet.

 

weird.

 

so anyone ever heard of a 3rd inhalent/exhalent on a clam?

[Lalani]

You come up with the strangest things, tiny.

Hehe, but great shots as usual, especially those FTS shots^^^^

[tinyreef]

You come up with the strangest things, tiny.

hey, is it my fault i come into contact with clams with questionable histories/backgrounds?!

 

thanks for the comments though!

[Greenstar]

Kinda looks like that clam is gaping, but I could be horribly wrong considering how small the proportions are.

[tinyreef]

Kinda looks like that clam is gaping, but I could be horribly wrong considering how small the proportions are.

could be, i thought maybe it was gaping too but the opening seems functional (opening/closing) with the flow like another inhalent rather than just an injury/tear.

 

at night (now), the muscles/flesh contract so that it's completely hidden, even though i know exactly where to look. i figure if it was a 'gaping' situation the hole would still be somewhat visible when it's relaxed.

[Weetabix7]

Hi tiny.

Happy New Years.

Dassall, bye.

[tinyreef]

hi weet! again. (i had posted in your 'lounge thread' )

 

update pic: "byssal mouth"

 

still don't know wtf this byssal opening is.

 

it's not 'healing' closed anymore than the mouth and exhalent would "heal close" on the mantle. so i really don't think it's 'gaping' or any injury. the flesh structure seems pretty 'normal' imo. i've just never heard of an additional (regular/healthy) opening on the flesh underside.

 

just interesting at this point. the crocea's healthy and the only realy change has been that he's on his shell. which i think is more due to the fact that i think i've had him "upside down" all this time. at least it doesn't seem like it's really hurt him other than forcing him to 'flip' over.

 

thanks for reading!

[clifford513]

Glad it's doing okay

[eddiecorrea]

The whole sunlight thing is cool. But do you get excessive algae growth?

[Duncan]

sorry to hear about the baby clam.

 

i believe your clam is evolving an anus with all that extra energy from the sun. it must have been fustrated about eating and dumping through the same hole.

 

but you made me want a clam now! maybe 2.

[tinyreef]

The whole sunlight thing is cool. But do you get excessive algae growth?

define 'excessive'.

 

it's ok imo. i run all my tanks pretty 'hands off'. so for some they might be 'wrecks' but for others they're 'zen'. e.g. my display tank (which uses a little sunlight too) probably hasn't been fed or waterchanged in 8+ months, which are typical timeframes for me.

 

true, the glass is a bit fuzzy but the corals are growing like mad and the rockwork/glass are growing significant coralline, even with stony and clams present. the competition with algae is extensive though but i need that to feed my tang because i never feed.

 

so while this pico tank does have some algae growth i'm not too vigilent on it either because i frankly like some of the 'look', it helps provide some filtration, and the phytoplankton boost helps the clam (and other livetock) imo. so instead of fighting an all-out war with it i embrace the algae.

 

of course, i prune here and there but i also started the frags all hairy and what not as well. so really most of the algae that's in there is actually transplanted in. i would say i've had a die-back of the algae when you really want to quantify it.

 

most of the nutrients are taken up by the corals/clams. so there's simply nothing available left for the algae to exploit. i've never fed this tank and while i've only done a couple of waterchanges so far (5-months), the lack of nutrients and careful watch on flow dynamics limits the ability of nuisance algae to get a foothold.

 

although i do have a slight cyano issue in the rear now that i pushed my rockwork back for more room upfront. *sigh*

 

sorry to hear about the baby clam.

 

i believe your clam is evolving an anus with all that extra energy from the sun. it must have been fustrated about eating and dumping through the same hole.

thanks, dunc! i was just sooo po'd because it was a bit pricer than i really wanted to spend and i totally caused it myself. >.<

 

extra anus? mebbe.

 

it's just so weird because none of my research mentioned a structure like that and i really didn't notice it until it was open. i think it was there all along though.

 

closed, it just looks like a flap of skin/flesh folded/wrinkled. opened, it's fully functional! it's like having an extra limb all of a sudden.

[Urchinhead]

i've been thinking about taking out the sand and replacing it with black sand but that's still just a side thought i'm kicking around. i'd avoided it at the beginning due to temperature issues with the black sand absorbing too much sun heat but with the chiller in-place, i'm not as concerned with that.

 

Would you also face a reduction in the reflection of light off the white sand bed in terms of supplementary light for the corals? It was my understanding that white sand actually was better than black since it would 'bounce' some of the light back up into the tank instead of absorbing it like black sand...