Clam and Anemone loosing color, why?

[jimreemts]

My Seabe anemone and my Derasa Clam seem to be loosing there color. On the seabe its starting to bleach in the center around the mouth, other than that its open and eating silver fish just fine. I do not notice any change other than the loss of color. The clam was on the bottom of the tank about 2 feet from the lights. He has never opened fully and I have had the clam for a little over 2yrs. I have started to notice loss of color in the middle of him also. the edges are very bright still. I moved him half way up the rock to try and get him more light.
tanks info
My lighting is 2x400watts MH
tank is 100gallon
I have a problem with hair algea not over run but a hassel
nitrates are not registering
phosphates are .5 (I think this is my hair problems food)
Calcuim is 320 ( I know this is low but I cant ever raise it about 360 and not sure why, But my coroline is really growing)
Magnisum is 1350 ( I know this is low also but add stuff to try and raise it slowly)
PH 8.0
Alk is 3.5 If i remember from last night
If i forgot anything else please let me know...

 

[markeo99]

if you have hair algae also how old are your bulbs?

 

[jimreemts]

My bulbs are almost six months old. I run them six hours a day trying to reduce my aglea

 

[spiderwoman]

Your calcium has to be about 100 pts higher in order to keep a clam. Lights are OK, maybe increase the light period on find out why you are having algae issues.
What salt mixture are you using? If your salt is not sufficient enough with the calcium level, either switch salt and/or start dosing 2 part.

 

[jimreemts]

I buy my water mixed from the lfs. I add kent marine turbo calcium 1/2 tsp ever
Other day. I have had this issue with low calcium for ever. I thought it was due to low magnisum. I have no idea why I can't control my hair algea.

 

[spiderwoman]

You are going to be better off mixing your own water. That way you know exactly what you are getting.
What are the inhabitants in your tank and how often do you feed them, also what do you feed them?
Definitely your phosphates is the one that will give you algae problems. If you feed only flakes, that right there increase the phoshate levels. Also the water from your LFS may already be high in phosphates. Have you ever tested the water you get from them?

 

[aquaknight]

pH is a bit low. Went did you test it? You might want to test it multiple times at different times, mainly after the main tank lights have been off for a while (early morning). You'll be surprised how much it can drop.

 

[nycbob]

imo, there isnt a need to move ur clam. what u hv is more than enough for a derasa. sometimes clams will hv white spots in the middle. as long as its not on the mantle, i wouldnt worry about it. a pic would be truely helpful. the alk is low, try to bump it up. what water do u use for topoff? ur calcium test kit could be off if it shows 330. try getting another one. as for ur hair algae, try running cheato if u hv a fuge. if i hv room in ur tank, add a sailfin tang. sailfin will eat hair algae.