t.crocea wont open. HELP ALL

[chris&barb]

Originally Posted by reefiness
i put in nitrate spong a few days ago to help with no3
did you do this befor the clam started doing this? if so remove the nitrate sponge and add carbon

 

[chris&barb]

Originally Posted by reefiness
also i saw a thead at clams direct and it was titled something like "pinched mantle or ruffled mantle?" and the person did a fwd and it came back to look great. can that be an option for mine?
from the pics you sent me, you dont have pinched mantle.
like i said i think you spiked you Alk/Ph or a fish is picking at it. a fish doesnt have to take a chunk out of the clam to cause it to close up. all it takes is one or two nips a day and the clam will remain closed.
i don't see any bleaching in the pics you sent me. anyway bleaching is most likely caused by lack of nutrients(PO4/NO3). you don't have that. or excessive UV, do you have a cracked bulb or missing glass shield? or 3rd disease

 

[chris&barb]

edit pic to large

 

[reefiness]

i have a uv shield and no cracked bulbs. also what is 3rd disease. i was thinking you didnt see the spots but they are there and i dont know how to describe it, ill try to take some more pics on sat but i cant take any until then. and no i added the nitrate sponge after the clam got began to decline.
hope we find an answer soon.

 

[chris&barb]

Originally Posted by reefiness
also what is 3rd disease.
i gave you 3 scenarios as to what causes bleaching. the 3rd scenario is "disease

 

[chris&barb]

Originally Posted by chris&barb
i did see the pics. i think it may be one of 2 things.
1- one of you fish may be picking at it (from what you listed, my guess is the cleaner wrasse) cut the top off a clear 2L bottle to make a dome, drill a bunch of holes in it so water can flow through and place it over the clam, if the wrasse is picking at it this will give the clam a break for it and it should start to open.
2-your Alk is or was either too low/high or you adjusted the Alk too fast,causing a spike in both Ph and Alk.
how do you add your Kalk and Alk? you need to slowly drip both when you add them.
i got the pics of the corals you sent me. i still think its one of the 2 above. most likly #2. if that is what happened the only thing you can do is keep your water as stable as you can and hope the clam pulls through.

 

[unleashed]

Originally Posted by Blitz99
calcium being high is not the problem.. check out clamsdirect.com for specialists on teh subject... hopefully nobody here deletes that link because your clam will die if it's not taken care of..
i disagree with what you are doing with the changes to teh SG and calcium... the PH will not be the problem either, sure it's better at 8.2 but STABILITY IS THE KEY!!!! and following this advice is going to stress your clam.
not following this advice is going to kill everything in the tank not just the clam itself . GOOD water quality is the KEY.
his readings above are def not good parimeters for any marine species .
Im no clam expert at all but i do know poor parmeters when i read them.his tank is already stressed.losing one species is hard enough but taking a risk of everything dying is devistating.

 

[chris&barb]

Originally Posted by unleashed
Temp- 81.4
SG- 1.027 sg too high bring it down to 1.024
PH- 8.0 ph too low.bring it up to 8.3
NH3- 0ppm
NO2- 0ppm
NO3- 20ppm too high bring it down to as close to 0 as poss
KH- 130 mg/L
2.6 mEq/L
CA- 580ppm cal way to high levels should be in ranges 350-450
PO4- 0.5ppm
the things i have noted are all very good reasons for it not to be doing well
Temp-81.4 is well within the range of a clam
Sg- 1.027 is fine, NSW has an Sg of 1.026, in the Red sea where clams are prolific the Sg can go over 1.030
Ph-8.0 is fine. any where between 8.0 and 8.4 is ideal. the key stability(no fast adjustments)
NO3-20ppm, this form of nitrogen is not toxic at these levels. it is higher then you would want to keep a reef tank because of its effect on the colors of corals and that it will fuel algae growth but clams house 10x the zoox(algae) per sq" then corals.this elevated level will feed the clams zoox and in turn feed the clam. does the clam need levels this high? No. Are levels this high detrimental to the clam? No. Aqua-cultured clams are feed ammonium nitrate on a dally basis.
Kh-2.6meq/l with in the range of NWS(low for you Ca levels)
Ca-580ppm, higher then NWS of about 420ppm. elevated levels of Ca(in this case 580ppm) will not have a detrimental effect on a reef tank. and if Alk and Mg are continued to be added (with out adding Ca)the Ca will fall on its own.
comparing your Ca to Alk they are not in balance. the first thing that comes to mind is that your Mg is low(you haven't listed it so i assume you don't add it or test for it)
Ca/Alk and Mg should be looked at as one thing not three. they all work together.
Po4-.5 high for a reef tank again because of it propensity to fuel algae. the zoox in clams will use PO4 also.levels above .2 in a reef tank will retard calcification (make things stop growing) but will not cause the clam to do what it is doing.
again i think the cause of this is the rapid addition of "buffers" to raise your Alk/Ph. check your Mg and SLOWLY raise it to about 1300ppm. then SLOWLY raise your Alk to about 3 meq/l.
clams need stability, any changes to the tank must be made slowly

 

[teen]

does it look like these spots? maybe this pic can help, even though its a maxima, it sounds like what you said yours looked like.

 

[blitz99]

Originally Posted by unleashed
not following this advice is going to kill everything in the tank not just the clam itself . GOOD water quality is the KEY.
his readings above are def not good parimeters for any marine species .
Im no clam expert at all but i do know poor parmeters when i read them.his tank is already stressed.losing one species is hard enough but taking a risk of everything dying is devistating.

with is readings, where do you get your conclusion of poor water quality? it may not be ideal but definitely not poor.
by following your change it or die approach he can be endangering his entire tank not in the future, but now. everything in the tank must be stressed about the changes he did based on your advice. Also, his current concern was the clam... he was given the impression by you that he needed to change his params immediately which is not the case at all. things need to be done in time, not over night which. he's trying to save an animal, not kill all of them.
Temp- 81.4-
SG- 1.027 -
PH- 8.0
NH3- 0ppm
NO2- 0ppm
NO3- 20ppm
KH- 130 mg/L
2.6 mEq/L
CA- 580ppm
PO4- 0.5ppm

 

[reefiness]

Originally Posted by teen
does it look like these spots? maybe this pic can help, even though its a maxima, it sounds like what you said yours looked like.
nope it looks more like now a complete dicolored bar abour the whole mantle about 1cm from rim.

 

[reefiness]

i dont test for mag or add it i guess ill start doing that asap. well not raise it but look into at least getting a test for it.

 

[reefiness]

can someone pleas esuggest a mag. test kit, thanks.
i found the additive powder from seachem which loks good. all i need to find is a good test kit and ill make an order

 

[blitz99]

it's been a few days, how is the clam? doing ANY better?

 

[reefiness]

no not any beter but it seems like its not getting much worse. if i had batteries i would take a pic but dont have any. ill try to get some by tonight

 

[blitz99]

well, i hope it all works out and when you get a chance visit that other forum... it's nice to have a SPECIFIC forum for clams seeing how different they are then coral and fish.

 

[reefiness]

ya i know i wish i could but when i try to sign in the screen just stays white like it usually does between pages loading and never loads.

 

[dburr]

How big is this clam? Is it on the small side and need to be fed? If it has not been moving, sorry about your loss.
Stable enviroment is the key. Moving and chasing numbers all over is not the right way to save a clam. Calcium can and will lower itself by doing nothing, not adding calcium is the best way.
Sometimes clams just die in our tanks and we will never know why, could be a disease the clam had before you got it.

 

[reefiness]

is it possible to that it may have some sort of fungus?

 

[reefiness]

any one there??