Is there anything wrong with my clam?

[eamike261]

Hi guys, I've had this clam for about 2-3 months now. He's not dying from what I can tell... but he often seems to not be doing great... meaning not fully open. I took the best possible video I can to look for pyramid snails but I don't see anything suspicious. HOWEVER, at the 15 second mark something funny looking crawling across, I have no idea what that is. Watch in 1080p for the best detail.

I believe he is getting enough light. I have a AI Hydra 26 HD mounted 9.5 inches off the surface and the clam sits about 14 inches below the water surface, about 5 inches away from the center of the fixture, with the following peak settings:
UV 30%
V 65%
RB 65%
B 30%
G 0%
R 0%
CW 24%

A few weeks ago I started dosing a little bit of PhytoChrom from Brightwell Aquatics because I read they like to eat phytoplankton. I don't think it's had much impact.

Params are generally good and stable. Alk is 9 and Calcium is 440-450. Back wall has become heavily encrusted in coralline algae over the last couple months as evidence that water is doing well.

Do clams just often not look great? Sometimes I see snails crawling on him if that matters.

 

[JoshH]

#Reefsquad any clamsperts out there?? All I know is the smaller they are the harder they are to care for and have thrive...

 

[NY_Caveman]

#Reefsquad any clamsperts out there??

You just beat me to it! I know nothing about clams.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

They thing crawling around looks like a copepod. What kind of snails have you seen on it? Have you looked up pyramid snails? Sometimes clams don't extend there mantles out all the way and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Do you have any pictures of it while it's open?

 

[Crabs McJones]

@DSC reef is the clam expert ;)

 

[Scotty Buttons]

I'll also add that I don't see any white around the top of his shell which means it hasn't been growing recently.

 

[JoshH]

@DSC reef is the clam expert ;)

Edit: "Clamspert" :cool: :D:D

 

[VIN6]

I can certainly say not enough light and small clams require feeding to survive.

 

[reef lover]

What size tank? Your light settings are very low for that light..i run 52s over my clam at these %

but do go slowly if you ramp them up.

 

[DSC reef]

IMO, the clam looks like it's been unhealthy for some time. There is no new growth on the shell at all. Most likely starving from to little light. You do not need to feed the clam, it needs light. Lots of good advice in this thread. I'd recommend ramping the lights up slowly and hope it turns around.

 

[TheSilentReefer]

Maximas need target feeding till there around 2” as they don’t fully photosynthesise for the food from the light till this point

 

[DSC reef]

Maximas need target feeding till there around 2” as they don’t fully photosynthesise for the food from the light till this point

Do you have a link to this information?

 

[DSC reef]

@eamike261 I'd suggest reading some info from James Fatheree, he's a great author with vast knowledge on clams. Heres a little info on light for you.

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/3/inverts

 

[eamike261]

Thanks for the input everyone! To answers the questions:

They thing crawling around looks like a copepod. What kind of snails have you seen on it? Have you looked up pyramid snails? Sometimes clams don't extend there mantles out all the way and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Do you have any pictures of it while it's open?

I was hoping it was some kind of pod, just scared me when it crawled out from inside him. I see regular astrea, trochus type snails climb up him. I did look for pyramid snails to the best of my ability but I don't see any. I'll try to grab a pic today if it's facing the right direction when it opens.

I'll also add that I don't see any white around the top of his shell which means it hasn't been growing recently.

Yeah, I recall there was quite a bit of white when I bought him but they faded after a few weeks and there hasn't been any new white since then.

I can certainly say not enough light and small clams require feeding to survive.

Okay good to know, I thought it was plenty! In the next month or two I will rent a PAR meter but for now I'll ramp it up slowly.

What size tank? Your light settings are very low for that light..i run 52s over my clam at these but do go slowly if you ramp them up.

It's a JBJ30 so the display area is maybe 22ish gallons. Do you have your 52s at roughly the same height and how deep is your clam below the water surface?

IMO, the clam looks like it's been unhealthy for some time. There is no new growth on the shell at all. Most likely starving from to little light. You do not need to feed the clam, it needs light. Lots of good advice in this thread. I'd recommend ramping the lights up slowly and hope it turns around.

Will do. And I'll read that link, thanks!

Maximas need target feeding till there around 2” as they don’t fully photosynthesise for the food from the light till this point

I have been spraying him with a little PhytoChrom every few days for the last few weeks, would that suffice?

 

[reef lover]

's a JBJ30 so the display area is maybe 22ish gallons. Do you have your 52s at roughly the same height and how deep is your clam be

That tanks 18 inches deep with the 52s about 12 " off the water...

But on my 30 gal i have a hydra26 and it sits about 12" off water and my settings are as follows...this is a nem tank so if i had sps or clams id probably bump the whites up a tid bit...

 

[reef lover]

Ohhh and dont feed directly..put it in the water column.

 

[hart24601]

I totally agree with the above. No white growth for a long time on that clam, bad news. Really the only thing you can do is crank the light high as you can without hurting other tank inhabitants. Keep water quality high and don't mess with it. If I had white when you got it that is a good sign and hopefully you can bring it back around. I wouldn't add anything unless you were growing phytoplankton and it's not needed for just one clam. Nitrate and phosphate levels? Can you get a full tank shot? What else is in the tank for coral and fish?

 

[VSVP bet]

Also what type of clam is it. Maxima, derasa, sq? FTS would also help.

 

[eamike261]

That tanks 18 inches deep with the 52s about 12 " off the water...

But on my 30 gal i have a hydra26 and it sits about 12" off water and my settings are as follows...this is a nem tank so if i had sps or clams id probably bump the whites up a tid bit...

Thanks for sharing your settings! My lights are a tad closer to the water level than yours but I guess mine are still turned a lot compared to you. I'll increase them a bit over a couple weeks.

Ohhh and dont feed directly..put it in the water column.

Ah, oops lol.

I totally agree with the above. No white growth for a long time on that clam, bad news. Really the only thing you can do is crank the light high as you can without hurting other tank inhabitants. Keep water quality high and don't mess with it. If I had white when you got it that is a good sign and hopefully you can bring it back around. I wouldn't add anything unless you were growing phytoplankton and it's not needed for just one clam. Nitrate and phosphate levels? Can you get a full tank shot? What else is in the tank for coral and fish?

Nitrates are 2-3ppm. I don't test phosphates but I'm pretty confident they're in a good range. I have 2 clown fish and quite a few coral in the tank: 8 acros, 1 digi, 1 birdsnest, 1 hammer, 1 torch, 2 favia, 1 duncan, 2 alveopora, 1 acan, 1 blasto, 10ish zoas. For the most part everything else has been doing well. I've had a little case of (probably) AEFW which I've got another long thread about but that is going very well so far. No evidence yet that it has spread to more than just 1 acro.

A few of my acros (particularly the ones in the center of the FTS) have been in the tank for about 4 weeks now and have yet to begun showing any noticeable growth or encrusting so I was beginning to think it was due to low lighting. But I needed to give them time to be sure.

Also what type of clam is it. Maxima, derasa, sq? FTS would also help.

Maxima, roughly 1 inch.

***** The pic of the clam is from about 3 weeks ago, I don't have one yet from today. But that's about the best he would look, most of the time he's not open that much. And I do not think that pic is actually "fully" open as he should be.

 

[hart24601]

Good looking tank!

Just eyeballing how the corals are extended I suspect lack of light with clam being on bottom. They need far more intensity than anything else in that tank. Can you put it on the top at all?