Corcea problem?

[Rockhead21564]

I recently gave a freind of mine a 3" corcea tha had been in my tank a couple of weeks. Everything looked good until tonight. He says that it'll open it's mantle,but when it closes it doesn't shut tight. He's running 192W of PC's in a 40 gallon tank and the clam is sitting 12" under the lights. All water tests look good. No fish problems, foxface, and some damsels. It flexes its mantle and pulls it back in, but the shell isn't closing. Any help?

Thanks
Thomas

 

[twon8]

croceas are the most light-demanding of the tridacnas, and they really should have metal halides. pcs wont keep it alive and happy long term.

 

[mbbuna]

my clams very rarely fully close

 

[critterkeeper]

Probably not a problem. Many only pull in and close part-way even in the wild when approached while diving, etc.

 

[ucsb_irishman]

I would not keep a crocea clam under PC light. However, I rarely see my crocea clams close up and I doubt there is a problem with yours. The clam is probably healthy but for long term health, MH would be much better.

 

[Serioussnaps]

You need to slowly move the crocea up towards the light if you want to be successful. I would say an inch every week or two. Make sure the pc's are right on top of the water. These lights will not penetrate with enough intensity for the crochea to reach its satiation for photosynthesis. This being said, slowly move the clam up in the tank/ rockwork. Also, you probably dont have a problem with the closing thing. And--if you want to keep a crocea long term(like 5,10 years etc....) you are going to need to upgrade the lighting to MH, but of course this is my opinion not a set in stone fact.

 

[Rockhead21564]

I understand about the MH's, he's going to move up tank sizes in the near future and I told him it'd be okay short term to use the PC's. I had told him to get him as high as possible. It's probably to late now, as now the mantle isn't coming back and he says there's a shrimp inside the the clam, through the gape. He'll wait until the 135g comes in. Thanks severybody

 

[Newreeflady]

Clams can have symbiotic shrimp...

http://www.clamsdirect.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1173&highlight=shrimp

Don't give up... I'm not clam expert (don't have one myself) but you should at least try.

-A