MY clam won't open....barely

kat 4

Member
Help - I just got a new clam and it's so frustrating..it starts to open and then a fish swims over it and it shuts and stays shut. It fell a couple times (uh -oh) off the rock ledge so just moved it to a stable spot but is it going to die? It still barely opens...we have a beautiful 75 gallon reef and can grow acropora, etc. but why won't clams open up ..? we have metal halide lights, perameters of water are good - 25 nitrates though...any ideas?
 

airforceman

Member
wow nitrates are way too high. that probably isn't the reason for the clam not opening up though.
For the fishes' (fishes'? lol) do a huge water change to get rid of those trates
 

kat 4

Member
yah we got a diamond goby who went to town in the sandbed cleaning.....raised our nitrates up. We did a water change yesterday and have mangroves growing in our sump so will continue to monitor that. I just can't figure out the clam though.....Maybe it just needs to get used to the lights?
 

candycane

Active Member
What kind of clam is it? Clams feed off of nitrates and ammonia, though you don't usually want above 5 ppm or thereabouts detectable in your tank. How long have you had the clam as well?
If it keeps falling off the rock, you don't want to continue putting it back in the same spot. If you are determined to keep the thing in one specific spot, you could cut a 1 inch tall piece of PVC piping that is about 1/4" larger then the clam would be when it is fully open, place it around the clam to get it to stop falling over. I have done that about 500 times. Issue is that you have to cut it JUST right and the clam can still "crawl" over it if it's really that picky. Maximas and Croceas like a LITTLE bit of higher water flow, so you might want to try aiming it's incurrent siphon towards a powerhead but NOT at it. The clam will usually turn a specific direction and show you where it wants to be aimed.
As for is slamming shut, you don't want it to happen that much. It is showing that the clam is healthy because it is reacting to light (assuming it still has it's byssal organ). Their mantle is covered with hundreds if not thousands of "eyes" that they use to detect light and shadows. But one way to test if a clam is healthy is by waving you hand over the tank (in this case a fish) and see if it closes because of the shadow. Only problem is if it continues happening, you MIGHT want to move the clam out of this fishes territory because it takes a TREMENDOUS amount of effort to shut and stay shut. Acclimating a new clam can stress it out very much if it has to keep closing. Anything in the tank that is crawling on the shell?
 

kat 4

Member
Thanks - the clam looks just like the one in my avatar photo...I've moved it to a stable place. It opens at night but is barely open during the day. There was an emerald crab on it one night but I got him off. Frustrating when you can grow acropora but not a clam.....
 

candycane

Active Member
Some "scavengers" will leap all over a new clam and take advantage of the fact it is weaker. If you have a decent amount of hermits or an emerald that is bothering it, you might want to lend them to someone for a few days. Could also be light shock with the fact it is only opening at night most of the time. Was it fully open when you purchased it and what kind of light was it under when you purchased it?
You might want to look in to a different form of nitrate control other then mangroves. They don't take up much nutrients at all by themselves.
 

nycbob

Active Member
try to leave the clam alone as much as possible. they hate to be moved back and forth during acclimation.
 

harris28

Member
How long have you had the clam? They will stay partially closed for some time and until they get used to the fish swimming around and you walking up to the tank it will continue to close. But in time it will acclimate and stay open. Unless like me you have a blue hippo that liked to nip at it, it stopped and the clam is always open now. Give it time! How did it look when you bought it?
 
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