PocketClam
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- Apr 28, 2019
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So, second thread visible on the first page... sorry about that, wish I could simply edit the title and bump it. I've had this maxima for about half a year and in that time it has had one or two days where it refused to open up for seemingly no reason at all, even when it was the SOLE inhabitant of the tank.
Fast-forward to the present and the clam has had three of these incidents within the last month, closing up one day each of the last two weeks. And I'm getting concerned.
There are no signs of bleaching or browning, no signs of predation; ie. no bite marks, no pyramid snails, no bristleworms at all in the tank, we have some copeopods but I've not seen any amphiopods. It also isn't totally-closed and instead simply keeps its' shell mostly shut with bits of the mantle covering its' scutes (but showing all the pearly new shiny-growth on the far-edges) while it slowly expands back out throughout the day.
(and the clam has exhibited this behavior before any tank mates were introduced, plus from what I've read sheltering the clam would cause it to open back up within a few hours if it were being harassed - I made an egg-crate cage for it and it still didn't open until 8 hours later after I had given-up on and removed the cage *granted I was messing with rockwork at the time but this was at least 5-6 hours later*)
There is a single coral which may produce irritating mucus, a "pretty-pink" chalice, which is now (and has been) downstream from it.
The last time it closed up I noticed that it coughed up a fair bit of very thick mucus before slowly opening back up over the next few hours, this could have been a coincidence as I was forced to kick up a bunch of silt re-making my scape as, the potential irritant for this episode, a nerite snail decided to attempt a cross-mantle trip at night and was promptly flung across the tank as the clam slammed shut hard enough to make a ripple at the surface and totally knock-over the pile of rockwork it was on.
The only other things which may have changed:
I broke a new-growth scute about a month ago by dropping tweezers onto it
There is now a juvenile spinger's damselfish in the tank but it stays in the rockwork and is well-fed, that said I've seen him poke at the shell of the clam - eat its' waste - and also poke at pods or algae on the mantle itself (without the clam even flinching I'll add). On top of this the clam shuts tight late *AT NIGHT* (10-11PM) and then doesn't open the next morning, instead slowly displaying as if nothing was wrong the next morning.
I upgraded from a Normal AI Prime running a high-par custom setting to a Prime-HD running a 5-hr peak AB+ with heavy PM blues but much lower PAR for pop. (acclimated over 3-weeks using the built-in feature)
Added a clean up crew-supplementation from ReefCleaners, about half a dozen dwarf ceriths and a money-cowrie, all are accounted for and staying away from the clam, all were scraped with a toothbrush and dilute H202 before being added to the tank.
Water parameters are all perfect as best I can measure:
9-10 dkh (I kept this at 11 for most of the tank's lifespan but have lowered it during water changes to avoid swings about a month and a half ago)
Nitrate <5 ppm
Phos undetectable
Calcium 400-420
Ph 8.1-8.3
I know there's likely SOMETHING wrong, but I have absolutely no idea what, I'm totally-stumped.
Right now the only things I can think to do are remove the damsel despite being almost positive the fish has nothing to do with this behavior, freshwater dip, monitor nighttime PH, Cal, and Alk for evening mystery swings and try to buffer against them.
Thank you for your time, I can get some pictures uploaded tomorrow if it open back up, otherwise it's a closed clam with a colored-up and pristine looking mantle or an open-clam with a colored-up and pristine looking mantle... Nothing out of the ordinary...
Fast-forward to the present and the clam has had three of these incidents within the last month, closing up one day each of the last two weeks. And I'm getting concerned.
There are no signs of bleaching or browning, no signs of predation; ie. no bite marks, no pyramid snails, no bristleworms at all in the tank, we have some copeopods but I've not seen any amphiopods. It also isn't totally-closed and instead simply keeps its' shell mostly shut with bits of the mantle covering its' scutes (but showing all the pearly new shiny-growth on the far-edges) while it slowly expands back out throughout the day.
(and the clam has exhibited this behavior before any tank mates were introduced, plus from what I've read sheltering the clam would cause it to open back up within a few hours if it were being harassed - I made an egg-crate cage for it and it still didn't open until 8 hours later after I had given-up on and removed the cage *granted I was messing with rockwork at the time but this was at least 5-6 hours later*)
There is a single coral which may produce irritating mucus, a "pretty-pink" chalice, which is now (and has been) downstream from it.
The last time it closed up I noticed that it coughed up a fair bit of very thick mucus before slowly opening back up over the next few hours, this could have been a coincidence as I was forced to kick up a bunch of silt re-making my scape as, the potential irritant for this episode, a nerite snail decided to attempt a cross-mantle trip at night and was promptly flung across the tank as the clam slammed shut hard enough to make a ripple at the surface and totally knock-over the pile of rockwork it was on.
The only other things which may have changed:
I broke a new-growth scute about a month ago by dropping tweezers onto it
There is now a juvenile spinger's damselfish in the tank but it stays in the rockwork and is well-fed, that said I've seen him poke at the shell of the clam - eat its' waste - and also poke at pods or algae on the mantle itself (without the clam even flinching I'll add). On top of this the clam shuts tight late *AT NIGHT* (10-11PM) and then doesn't open the next morning, instead slowly displaying as if nothing was wrong the next morning.
I upgraded from a Normal AI Prime running a high-par custom setting to a Prime-HD running a 5-hr peak AB+ with heavy PM blues but much lower PAR for pop. (acclimated over 3-weeks using the built-in feature)
Added a clean up crew-supplementation from ReefCleaners, about half a dozen dwarf ceriths and a money-cowrie, all are accounted for and staying away from the clam, all were scraped with a toothbrush and dilute H202 before being added to the tank.
Water parameters are all perfect as best I can measure:
9-10 dkh (I kept this at 11 for most of the tank's lifespan but have lowered it during water changes to avoid swings about a month and a half ago)
Nitrate <5 ppm
Phos undetectable
Calcium 400-420
Ph 8.1-8.3
I know there's likely SOMETHING wrong, but I have absolutely no idea what, I'm totally-stumped.
Right now the only things I can think to do are remove the damsel despite being almost positive the fish has nothing to do with this behavior, freshwater dip, monitor nighttime PH, Cal, and Alk for evening mystery swings and try to buffer against them.
Thank you for your time, I can get some pictures uploaded tomorrow if it open back up, otherwise it's a closed clam with a colored-up and pristine looking mantle or an open-clam with a colored-up and pristine looking mantle... Nothing out of the ordinary...
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