Yet another clam ID

wilsonreef

Member
Can anyone I.D. this clam? This is my first attempt at posting a picture so I hope it works.
Holy Cow it worked!

 

jonnywater

Member
That is a crocea that is falling into its shell on the right hand side. You mess with it a lot or does it slam itself shut a lot? Because that weakens the muscle and causes that.
 

wilsonreef

Member
Believe it or not that is as far as I've seen it open. I've had it about a week. It looked like that when I bought it. Or should i say rescued it if you know what I mean. The Crocea needs to be put on a rock if I'm not mistaken right? I'm just glad my first experience with posting pictures worked. Any Ideas why it's not opening? When I got it a week ago it had just come in to my LFS.
 

wilsonreef

Member
I have 2- 175 metal halides, 2-65 watt dual daylight pc's, 2- 65 watt dual actinic pc's
610 watts, 75 gallon tank.
 

phoenixfla

Member
It may be on its way out. All you can really do is keep your calcium up, keep it well lit and maybe try feeding it plankton. Let us know how it works out.
 

jonnywater

Member
Hopefully the water flow on it is not high. I am not reponsible for advice, LOL. Try turning it toward the front of your tank and aiming the incurrent syphone down hill. As for placement, clams could care less in my experience. There is no certain spot that you can put it where it is GUARANTEED to be fine. The shorter end is where their byssal glands tend to be which is usually where their incurrent syphon is. You have it leaning the wrong way in my opinion. I would try changing that and giving the little guy some time to recover. Just because it is slightly falling into its shell, doesnt mean it will parish. It's about 70/30 that it may go. However something happened that strained the muscles on the clams mantle or something in the tank is messing with it.
Is it still responsive to touch of its mantle or shadowing my merely waving your hand above it?
 

bang guy

Moderator
I will be very surprised if that clam holds on for even another month. Judging by the shell it has been unhealthy for a long time. Is it too late to return it?
 

jonnywater

Member
I wouldnt worry about the shell to much. Most likely bang is referring to the colored line that is supposed to be along the brim. Croceas can hit spurts of growth on their shell that causes their mantle to be to small and the (in most cases) orange or yellow line to disappear. Outside of that the shell looks fine. Just let it be and keep an eye on the little bugger.
PS: I also thought I heard you say something about rescueing them? In most cases the layer that carries this more vividly colored line also has "scales" up there with it. However these "scales" are EXTREMELY fragile and can break very easily also removing this color.
 

reefiness

Active Member
Originally Posted by jonnywater
I wouldnt worry about the shell to much. Most likely bang is referring to the colored line that is supposed to be along the brim. Croceas can hit spurts of growth on their shell that causes their mantle to be to small and the (in most cases) orange or yellow line to disappear. Outside of that the shell looks fine. Just let it be and keep an eye on the little bugger.
PS: I also thought I heard you say something about rescueing them? In most cases the layer that carries this more vividly colored line also has "scales" up there with it. However these "scales" are EXTREMELY fragile and can break very easily also removing this color.

i think what he ment was not about the outside of the shell but about that little bit of sheel you can see which is on the inside of the clam which should be bright white and shinny, but it looks gray like the outside of the shell meaning that the clam hasnt opened past the point it is at now for a few months which is not good.
 

jonnywater

Member
Doubt it. Things can form on the inside of the shell at any time regardless of how open the clam is. You could even go with the fact that the mantle is completely torn apart. Look at the slits and chunks missing out of it. Then the color line is gone showing that it has nearly lost the ability to regrow its shell. The mantle is even falling into the shell, that could complete with the clam passing.
I am just saying that the guy rescued the clam and these are all factors - yes - but the clam could still recover. It is a very slim chance, but it could still recover. None of us have any idea what it looked like prior to this picture. The mantle doesnt appear to be bleaching at all and the blue stripes are still rather vivid.
 

wilsonreef

Member
By rescuing I mean I've had the clam about a week and I got it the day after it arrived at the LFS. And, probably not the best of either. Yes, when a fish swims overhead it does retract back into its shell, or if anything gets close to it. I am going to do a water test in just a few minutes, and will post findings a little later. Thanks for the help so far. I wish all LFS had a conscience...but I guess that's asking too much. lol
O.K. the results are in and they are:
KH=12
ALK=4.34
CALCIUM=330
AMMONIA=0
NITRITE=0
NITRATE=0
PH=8.2
75 GALLON
I have been dosing with KENT TechCB part A and part B for the last two weeks
10 ml each part in the morning. My test parimeters are always the same, these results never vary in any of my tests. I think my alk, calcium, and kh numbers are way low. Should I increase the amount of the Tech CB to get these numbers up? I will start a calcium drip when the desired numbers are reached. But it seems like I'm not getting there...
 

jonnywater

Member
high
high
low
good
good
good
a little low
Thing is that it could have retracted its mantle BEFORE it came to the store and tore a muscle in its mantle. That would cause one or the other side to fall into the shell. It would also cause encrusting of algae to form within days because of the calcium being secreted from the mantle in the wild.
However most clams, in most cases, are not to receptive (not responsive) towards movement if they are that far gone. The store, I dont see why they would take him back. Maybe they would though. I dont know WHAT bang is looking at, but knowing that he was recently shipped could have caused the coloration of the edge of his shell to break off. Or the inside of the shell could have encrusted with algae in literally under 72 hours in the wild had his mantle fell into his shell.
 

wilsonreef

Member
Should I continue with my dosing of the Kents TechCB part A&B? What to get my Alk and Dkh down. Would continuing with the Kents eventually raise Calcium if I increased the amount, or is this what's causing the Alk and Dkh to run high? Or should I start dripping with limewater without any buffer? I am thinking the part A of the Kents is a buffer of some sort.
All these questions huh?
 

bang guy

Moderator
Your PH is perfect, but your Calcium is a bit low. If you start dosing just half of the Kent part A and a double dose of the Part B you'll eventually get a balance between ALK & Calcium.
Best of luck with the Clam.
 

bang guy

Moderator
What levels of Calcium and ALK are you targeting? If it were me I would start the limewater as soon as ALK is where you want it maintained. Then stop the Part A dosing but continue the Part B until Calcium is where you want it.
 

blitz99

Member
ya, it's unfortunate but likely on its way out... i have been reading up on the clams as much as possible the last few days and from what i gather if it's showing signs of stress it's likely too late to save it.
 

jonnywater

Member
I would read up HIGHLY on dripping Kalkwasser if I was you before I started adding it. Also two little fishies (thats the companies name) makes a good brand IMO. You can go read about it on several of websites. What is good for some is not good for others though. But go check it out.
Also on the bottle of Kent I believe it says add equal amounts of each. The reason for this is because it creates an "ionic residual". Dont go messing with that. Kalkwasser is a STRONG supplement. I hate to say it and dont take this the wrong way, but if your calcium cant seem to be maintained at 420 or higher, I would HIGHLY recommend against Kalk. Maybe try something like Seachem Advantage Calcium, GREAT PRODUCT or Just regular seachem or kent calcium and a magnesium supplement to help keep it all from precipitating really quick. Also strontium. That is why I say Seachem Advantage Calcium would be good. Because it contains all three. Calcium, Magnesium and Strontium. Read up on all of it before you do it though. I would go with the SAC if it was me (seachem advantage calcium).
 

wilsonreef

Member
Ok guys what are the views of a calcium reactor? I did read the thread "dripping with kalkwasser 101" That's where I got the idea. I believe I will continue with the KentCB part B until it comes up. Unfortunately there are 2 LFS in this area and neither carry any of the things I need. It sometimes makes me want to open one myself. Maybe sometime but not now.. I will have to order on line for now. I do believe the reactor will be a good idea, but what about the other additives? i.e. magnesium, and strontium? :thinking:
 
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