Help! Clam is dying!

[tctconsulting]

Hello. I have a 37 gallon reef tank with some corals and a couple of clams. It has 60 Lb's live rock and 40 lbs live sand. I am running PC lights, which my LFS said would be okay as long as the clam was closer to the top of my aquarium My clam has never attached itself to the substrate, and was fading a little so I put it near the top to try and help it out - but I set it where the return for my skimmer was and now it looks even worse - the mantle is not fully extended and it responds very weakly to light changes. it won't close all the way either. Is there any hope for it? My LFS said I should try closing it with a rubberbnad for a while to see if it helps the clam any. I really don't want it to die in my tank. I've been feeding it Liquid life bio plankton, my calcium is a little low, around 300, my alkalintiy is around 6, all others param's looking good. I just installed a 30 gallon sump. Any suggestions? Should I put it down or wait it out or what?

 

[pastelball]

try moving it to a low flow area in the tank that is close to the lights. Need a littel more info on the type clam you have and how many watts your light are.

 

[mbbuna]

yes more info. also if you took the LFS advise about the rubber band, remove it. you want to let the clam open and close as it wishes

 

[Bebo77]

what size is the clam? if its smaller than 4" you ned to feed it.. if its larger than is need light.. alot of light... put it as close to the surface as you can.. here are a pic of mine.. my tank is 26" tall an i have 250 MH on the tank.. they need a lot of light to survive.. have you thought about using MH on your tank?

 

[Johnsteph10]

PC lighting is woefully inadequate for clams.

You did not mention the type of clam you have...can you post a pic?

Move it to the highest light/lowest flow section of your tank.

 

[kyleka.]

Need better lighting

 

[Omar H]

We really need to know what kind of clam you've got. Also, if it is right there where your skimmer effluent is, then check if microbubbles are bothering it.

Again, what kind of clam is it...oh, and I would change LFS, the rubber band advice is no good..

Omar