not happy as a clam

[wangotango]

from other posts ive read, this is not the week for clams. i have a crocea that ive had for about a month and a half. during this time it has grown slightly. for the past 2 days it did not open, i took some water to my LFS and my chemistry was perfect (i dont have specifics). i fed it some DT's and it seemed to respond. it looks better today, but only half of the mantle is fully expanded, the rest isnt. i have not seen or have any fish that would go after it. nothing is stinging it, and my LFS says that they make sure that there are no pyramid snails on any of them, plus if most of them are commerically bred wouldnt that not be a problem? so my question is, has anyone had this experience, and if so what can i do?

yes i do have proper lighting.

 

[wax32]

Sounds like it could be pinched mantle (PM), which is a disease clams can get... search the boards for it.

 

[wangotango]

i did a search, but the results didnt help me much. is PM disease fatal if left untreated or are there ways of treating it. thanks for any input. the clam is looking a lot better than it was yesterday, and i was quite worried for a while.

 

[rappa]

Check your PH. My PH dropped a while back to 7.8 and the clam wasn't happy and didn't open much at all until I corrected it. YOU need to check your PH YOURSELF and not the LFS because the PH of your sample changes by the time you get it to the LFS. Good luck.

 

[wangotango]

pH is between 8.2 and 8.4 not out of the ordinary. i would like some more information on pinched mantle though.

 

[fishieness]

i dont think PM is where the mantle is not out. all that ive seen have the whole in the center that is huge. is the water import hole (mouth) very large?
it could be a fish or shrimp such as cleaners or peperminets at night. what is your ALK?
how big is this clam? if its small, then it needs common feedings.
and also, when you said the clam responded to DTs, how did it respond and how did you feed it?

 

[wangotango]

i have a coral banded shrimp, but he doesnt go near it. my bicolor blenny has been spending a lot of time near it , but i havent seen him do anything. the clam is probably 5-6" long. my alkalinity was normal (i dont have exact numbers as i had it tested at my LFS). the "mouth" opening is about 1" long. since my first post on this it has been opening more. could it be because a little bit of the mantle is touching rock? it opened more when i put DT"s in.

 

[fishieness]

it could be the rock. it it is touching something to irritate it, then it wont open.
bi colors have nipped a lot of clams before.

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by WangoTango
from other posts ive read, this is not the week for clams. i have a crocea that ive had for about a month and a half. during this time it has grown slightly. for the past 2 days it did not open, i took some water to my LFS and my chemistry was perfect (i dont have specifics). i fed it some DT's and it seemed to respond. it looks better today, but only half of the mantle is fully expanded, the rest isnt. i have not seen or have any fish that would go after it. nothing is stinging it, and my LFS says that they make sure that there are no pyramid snails on any of them, plus if most of them are commerically bred wouldnt that not be a problem? so my question is, has anyone had this experience, and if so what can i do?

yes i do have proper lighting.

What lighting do you have? Crocea are one of the most light intensive clams there is. My daughters 20 g tank has 195W PC and it is on top oft he rocks and it does only ok. She doesn't know it but it is moving over to Halides this week.
Mc

 

[wangotango]

i have 330 watts of VHO in a 55. my LFS (which is pretty good) said i was fine. i have had to clam for almost 2 months. why would the bicolor nip at it all of the sudden? he hasnt done anything since i got the clam.

 

[wangotango]

the clam was pretty much all open today, but later tonight i closed up a bit. is it totally serious if a little bit of the mantle touches rock? its been in the same position since ive gotten it, so why would it act up now? it is positioned in a crater so moving it is out of the question.
i would really appreciate some input.

 

[wangotango]

137 views.... nobody has any advice?