Happy Clam?

[mrcrab]

I think this might qualify as clam porn. I caught this dirty bugger going at it last night, just before lights out.

It is spawning isn't it?

 

[iCam]

Is it bad that I'm turned on?

Seriously, though, it does appear to be trying to spawn. Very neat photo, and beautiful clam.

What's the white string looking thing going up behind the clam?

 

[mrcrab]

There's a little something irritating it in that area and it seems to always have a bit of slime there.

The slime was catching bits of the orgy making it white.

 

[coralfarmer84]

thats a really cool picture. how long did that go on for?

 

[sundance1]

Nice picture.Did it have any bad effects on your tank?

 

[mrcrab]

coralfarmer84,

went on for about 1/2 hour.

 

[mrcrab]

sundance1,

Made the water a bit cloudy, but all the inhabitants seemed to be as excited as the clam!

I turned the skimmer off for about 2 hours and the corals had a feast.

I was pretty excited as this is what my tank looked like 4 months ago,

 

[Tyrosinase]

I have heard that it is best if you do a water change after a clam does this sort of thing because it could cause water quality problems.

 

[Barry N.]

Spawing is triggered by some sort of stress.

I would recommmend doing a small water change and adding some activated carbon to help clean up the water.

 

[mrcrab]

Tyrosinase & Barry N.

Thanks for the advice. I don't know what could have triggered a stress response. The tank is very stable. ph runs at 8.3 to 8.1, NO3, NO4 & NH3 +4 are undetectable. I also run carbon all the time and ozone on a controller with an orp of 380. Orp started at 265 Thursday 1/12 and I have been increasing it slightly, daily since then.

The ozone is a new addition over the past 2 weeks. Could the change in orp have triggered the response?

 

[Tyrosinase]

If the addition of ozone to your tank is the only thing that has changed, then I am willing to bet that this is the culprit. It is possible that the clam did not take well to the increase in the ORP. The ORP may have been increased to quickly for the clam.