Is Clam Dying??

[FlytheWMark]

I've had this clam for about a month now.  It took him a little while to get acclimated but once he did he hooked on with his foot and opened and closed well.  He responded well when you'd block the light and everything.  This week his foot detached and he's not opening.  I thought at first he was dead but when I tried to open him up I can't.  Trying to figure out if he's a lost cause as I don't want him to die and crash my tank.  He's about 2" in an IM10 with a Kessil A80 on a controller.  Intensity gets up between 75-100% for a good amount of the day so I dont think lighting is the issue.  Paramaters are good Calc is 400, Alk took a dive early in the week under 8 but I've got it back up to 8.4 and slowing raising it a bit more.  My Nitrates usually stay around 10.

 

Thoughts?

[travoose]

I can't help you, but I want to follow along as I recently got a clam and I'd like to see what others have to say.

[patback]

At 2", are you feeding it?  

[FlytheWMark]

3 minutes ago, patback said:

At 2", are you feeding it?  

I target feed reef roids and shrimp around it when I'm doing my normal feeding.  I also add reef snow 2-3 times a week as a suggestion from my LFS.  Any other feeding suggestions? 

[Clown79]

What is your target number for alk or are you just randomly dosing to reach a number?

7-10dkh is normal.

[FlytheWMark]

6 hours ago, Clown79 said:

What is your target number for alk or are you just randomly dosing to reach a number?

7-10dkh is normal.

I typically keep my Alk around 9 or just under.  I find that the corals in the tank just seem to open up and do better right around that number.

[Andreww]

On 9/28/2018 at 5:29 AM, Mark L. said:

I typically keep my Alk around 9 or just under.  I find that the corals in the tank just seem to open up and do better right around that number.

There is no specific Alk number where corals do better because of it. There are great looking tanks ranging from 7-10 and even higher KH as long as the number is STABLE.

 

As for your clam, how did you acclimate it?

Did you have it shipped or bought locally?

You also mention you tried opening the shell...you mean force it open? Seriously?

 

If that’s the case, you stressed it even more. And where exactly did the clam attach? It looks like it’s on the sand at the moment.

 

Clams at that size need to be fed, and the survival rate is very poor as I found out with 2 of them in the past. And by feeding I mean to have green water full of phyto plankton which is just unrealistic in a nano tank because of pollution.

 

Your light is also inadequate. The larger the clam the more light it’ll need and per James Fatheree comments on clams in his articles , many people with adequate light for SPS can’t keep a clam because they don’t provide it with enough light and will slowly die .

 

Your light is merely enough for LPS. 

 

Please update us on the condition of the clam and don’t try to play with it anymore.

Being closed tight means it still has life in it and using its muscle . When it’s dead it’ll be wide open with mantle retracted in the shell.

 

Let us know what’s going on. Hope all is well!