Clam not opening

[Reef Mongoose]

I don't know what is wrong but my Crocea Clam but it just won't open. It has been a couple of days now and it never opens more than like a third. I have a Dersa and Maxima clam right next to him but they seem fine. Any ideas on what is wrong and what I can do to get him to open up?

 

[skinz78]

Can you post a pic?
What fish and inverts do you have?
What are your water params?
What lighting do you have?
What do you dose and how do you add it?

 

[Reef Mongoose]

will post a pic when I get home from work
Fish: Hippo Tang, Scopas tang, powder blue tang, bullet goby, three percs
Inverts: H. Magnifica Anemone, cleaner shrimp, various snails and hermits, about 6 emerald crabs
Lighting: 2 x 150DE 10K metal halide, 4 x 95watt VHO (2 attinic, 2 daylight)
Chemicals: 2 part (alk,cal) each night, the rest everyother night or less; essential elements, coral vite, Strontium and Molybdenium, and the kent three part plankton (zoomax, phytomax, chromamax)

 

[skinz78]

the tangs and emerald crabs are suspects.
Need to know your params too

 

[Reef Mongoose]

they have all been in the tank together for at least 3-4months, plus the other two clams right next to it are fine, will test params tonight

 

[skinz78]

sometimes tangs pick at clams to get algae off the shell, some clams have a bad reaction to this.

 

[macreefster]

clams are as unpredictable as women...... maybe thats why i like them! while i've always had great success with clams, there are times when one inexplicitely succumbs to some unknown factor. i recently had a 5" derasa all of a sudden "attacked" by my cleaner shrimp after months of being together. i suspect the shrimp weren't actually attacking the clam, but maybe something on the clam?

skinz...i like your clam collection. i have one crocea ( wish we could get the quality of crocea that were available 15 years ago), one teardrop max, four small max and one derasa. picking up two good size squamosa tomorrow and am going to set up a clam tank just for a 14" gigas my LPS has. can't ever have too many clams, right? i justify having so many clams by exhorting their filtering capabilities. arent they one of the few animals to be able to absorb ammonia directly? sounds good to me even if it's not true, but i think it is.

 

[skinz78]

Yes they do use ammonia and some nitrate too, thats all they need other than what they get from photosynthasis.

 

[Reef Mongoose]

will have pictures up tonight, clam is almost completely closed with none of the mantle extended past the edge of the shell

 

[Reef Mongoose]

ok how am I supposed to post pictures when the limit is .5mb and my pictures are all 3.50mb?

 

[Reef Mongoose]

alright, here is the picture, had to cut the size and quality way down but here it is
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/179253DSC00023.JPG

 

[mbbuna]

whats dumping sand on it?

 

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12367555#post12367555 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by macreefster
clams are as unpredictable as women...... maybe thats why i like them!

:lol: im stealing this for my sig

 

[Reef Mongoose]

I have a bullet goby that gets sand on the clam sometimes, but they have been in the tank together for like 4 months, never bothered the clam before.

 

[skinz78]

What are your params?
So far I am thinking the fish are picking at it. Cut a plastic bottle in half and fill it with 1/4" holes for circulation. Place the bottle over the clam as a shield, if the clam opens up in the next day or two it is one of your fish picking on it.

 

[skinz78]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12380481#post12380481 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reef Mongoose
I have a bullet goby that gets sand on the clam sometimes, but they have been in the tank together for like 4 months, never bothered the clam before.

Sometimes it takes time to show signs of damage.

 

[Reef Mongoose]

copy that, one bottle shield coming up

 

[skinz78]

what are your params?