Crocea in trouble. Can you please help???

MarineGirl411

MarineGirl411

New member
Hi everyone,
I purchased this clam last week. When I first brought it home I noticed under my lights that some of it's mantle is getting lighter. Today it looks really bad. I took pictures for you. My Alk is 180-300ppm, Calcium is 475, Nitrites, Nitrates, and phosphates are all 0ppm. This crocea is under a 150watt MH and 2 65 watt pc's. I am not sure what is causing his bleaching. I am dosing phyto to him to try and help him along. Can you please give me some advice? Is it too close to the light? I am not sure what to do. I'm really worried about him. Please help. TY
 
whoops I just noticed I forgot to attach the pictures. Sorry

When I first brought him home

MVC-024S-1.jpg


Today

MVC-032S.jpg


MVC-031S.jpg
 
Also I'd like to point out it's reacting very well to things passing over him. Even my hand. So he's not weak as of yet. It just looks so bad. =(
 
well the lfs store told me to just put it right under the MH. I did that. Now he wrote me back and told me it must be light shock. What do you recommend doing?
 
He said I should reduce the photoperiod. How much should I reduce it? I couldn't put him in the substrate. I moved him to a shadier spot of the aquarium. He is attached to that large rock and I can't stick it in the substrate. =( Is this going to be okay? He's more in the back not directly under the MH anymore. Please let me know. TY
 
I have the same problem with one of my clams and folks told me it was due to a lack of light. So not sure which to believe but I have turned up my photo period maybe we can share results later. Mine done this after a round of vodka in the tank to lower nitrates and phosphates so I think that I may have gotten too low. Not sure what the deal is but if you look back at my old posts you will see a pic of mine. Best of luck to you.
 
bleaching can be caused by both not enough light ( takes longer to show ) and to much light to fast ( appears rather quickly ).

i always take about a week to bring my new clams up to my current lighting schedule. i start the clam on the bottom of the tank ( 24" deep under 400w halides ) and reduce my photo period to about 4 hours. each day i increase the photo period by 1 hour until i am back up to 10 hrs a day. after this acclimation time i can move the clam anywhere in the tank.

i would also keep up with the phyto, it will provide some extra nutrients to help the clam recover.
 
Nitroq ty. A4 and Mb and anyone else reading. I bought Salifert's Alk/KH test today because I wanted to test my dkh to make sure my test strips were accurate. I guess for reading things like that, they are not good. =(
Well here are my recent tests and what they show, My calcium level is a little too low it's 400ppm, dkh is 9. Let me know what you all think. When he was under the MH he was realeasing his Zoo. =( I went back to the store I bought it from and that entire shipment did the same thing. Not just mine, thank god. I think it was due to too much light in the start or stress from shipping. Probably a number of things. They are supposed to be farm raised. Tougher/stronger/less prone to predators hitching a ride. The display in the LFS has 400watt mh with T-5's. Then it came to my tank where I put it a little under the MH. Then I remembered the LFS told me to try and get him as close to the light as possible. Maybe I didn't understand correctly and he didn't know I thought he was talking about what I should do when I bring him home. I figured if his was under a 400w then mine would be fine under a 150. The other ones at the store now, actually look worse than mine. =( Poor guys. I hope that they make it. He told me it takes about 3 months for them to get their color back. He told me not to do both. Reduce the phytoperiod and the position. He said just the position. Or vice versa. A4, do you think it would help if I did both? Also, when I dose DT's phyto should I cover him with a bowl? Or no? I've heard good things about both methods. I'd appreciate anyone's help. I need my baby healthy. My corals are turning a little brown. I wonder if it's because my DKH was so high. The first reading I did, was before I did my top off. It was above 10. Not much, but still pretty high. Higher than what the LFS store told me to keep it at. Do you think this could cause my corals to turn a brownish color and my clam to loose it's zoo in addition to light shock? Not all of them are brown though. Only some. =( poor guys
 
a dkh of 9 or 10 is fine, you just dont want it over 12 or under 7. Ca of 400 is fine also 420 is NSW. i would keep the photo period the same and move the clam to the substrate and just give it some time. even thought it came from 400w it still needs to be acclimated to your 150w. the spectrum will be different, the amount of UV will be different.

not that it matters but your clam is wild collected, not farm raised
 
Hay mbbuna, what are the tell tail signs that a clam is wild caught as opposed to tank raised?

I'm curious for the sake of the two I have.

Thanks
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9674464#post9674464 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bandsaw
Hay mbbuna, what are the tell tail signs that a clam is wild caught as opposed to tank raised?

I'm curious for the sake of the two I have.

Thanks
Click to expand...

first clue is its a Crocea. 99% of all Croceas we get here in the US are wild collected.

2nd clue is the shell is smooth/has no scutes. a cultured clam would be grown in concrete raceways and or floating cages and wouldn't be able to borough into rock. in the wild Croceas will borough into the rock so that only there mantles are exposed and there wouldn't be very much room between there shell and the rock. simply opening and closing day to day will keep the scutes from developing.

this is a wild Crocea with new shell growth that hasn't been ground off

img02272bq.jpg
 
Why would he tell me it was farm raised then? Okay just as long as my DKH is good. That is a good sign. Thank you. I can't move him in the substrate. =( His foot is connected to that large rock. I'll take a picture of him later today and can you tell me if it's alright? TY so much.
 
How long would it take for the clam to fade due to lack of light and how long due to too much light. Thanks
 
There are some farm raised clams .. ORA is one of the companies who do it - you might ask where his shipment came from in regards to that.

Good luck getting your clam back into health, I'm still new myself so don't really have any help to offer unfortunately :(
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9680168#post9680168 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisstie
There are some farm raised clams .. ORA is one of the companies who do it - you might ask where his shipment came from in regards to that.

Good luck getting your clam back into health, I'm still new myself so don't really have any help to offer unfortunately :(
Click to expand...

there are a lot of farm raised clams, there are a lot of farm raised Croceas, but we(North America) dont see them
 
Weird. Ok ty. I still have to post a picture of where I stuck him. I moved him yet again mostly under my pc's because he was releasing more zoo yesterday after I moved him the first time from under the MH and PC's. Now he's mostly under the PC's. He will not be getting much MH light. Do you believe this is what I should do for the time being? Then in a week move him a little closer to the mh? Not directly under it of course. I went back to the store the other day and all those clams did the same thing mine did. They looked even worse than mine though. =( Poor guys. I hope he makes it. If you could tell me step by step what you'd do let me know. LFS said it's going to take 3 months for his mantle color to come back. So do I wait 3 months to move him into the mh? Just wondering. Let me know. Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate your help.
 
i would keep him under the MH, just down on the sand bed. give him a week or so and watch if he is still losing zoox. if he appears to be stable or recovering by then you could start moving him back up. ( slowly )

i'm not sure about taking 3 months to recover but he should be able to acclimate to the light sooner than that :)
 
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