HELP! don't know whats going on!

M

mdcoblentz

Premium Member
I have had a maxima and a crocea in my tank for awhile and both were doing just fine! I saw that the maxima clam was withdrawn a few days ago and within 4 days it died! but my crocea was ok and still looked great! I noticed this morning that the mantle wasn't extended but figured i'd keep an eye on it for the rest of the day. well I went away today and came back and it still wasn't extended. I picked it up tonight and I can see straight through it where they bysal threads usually are! I've had this clame for over a year and its grown considerably. Is there anything I can do? freshwater dip? I don't know what all of a sudden happened to have both clams die within a few days! Please help. :(
 
just to let you experts know, I just checked my water and
nitrates-undetectable
phosphates undetectable
alk looked to be a little low but not anything to be worried about
PH 8.2
salinity is around 1.024
didn't check ammonia or nitrites - figured if nitrates were in check those should be too!

waiting on some responses. don't feel like I have much time here...
 
just checked the calcium and its around 410. Fish are as follows

banana wrasse
purple firefish
2 ocellaris clowns
hawaiian tang
spotted mandarin

also have a sandsifting starfish and a serpent star. Tank has been set up for over 2 years. 72 gallon bowfront with about 120 pounds of liverock. I have 2 250w metal halides over it and its a mixed reef. only pests i have are some flatworms but they are slowly fading away. I am guilty of not doing many water changes but i do add some additives. water changes happen usually once a month...
 
What kind of fish and inverts do you have?
What kind of lighting do you have?
What kind of additives do you use and how do you add them?
Can you post a pic of the clam?
 
well ya must have done some editing while I was typing lol. Answered some of the questions. I am not too sure about the bananna wrasse, It may be a suspect. Do you have any shrimp or crabs? Also flatworms are a clam predator too.

You said your alk is low? How low? Also what is your magnisium at?
 
ok. i'm still uploading some pics but heres a first one when it was healthy
Picture002.jpg
 
I would definately watch the banana wrasse. Maybe he got hungry and found that clam tastes good to him. I have a radiant wrasse that started biting my clams mantle to get a snack or get clam to retract to scope out the shell for goodies. How long have you had the wrasse? Can you cover it(clam) with clear container with small holes for flow for a few days to see if it gets better at opening up? Or observe tank from a distance and see if the wrasse picks at the clam.
 
ok. heres what he looks like now!
Picture008.jpg


Picture007.jpg


Picture006.jpg


like i said i can see through him where his bysal threads used to be.... is it too late?
 
the wrasse has never seemed interested in the clam and has never been bothersome in my observation... heres a full tank shot i took awhile back....

Picture004.jpg
 
my test kit doesn't have actual readings. it just shows where normal alkalinity shade of color looks like, what high alk shade of color looks like and what low alk shade looks like. It was on the lower shade of normal or high shade of low alk. so it wasn't very far off. I need to get a better test kit i know but none of my other coral seems to be suffering at all. I have a home made kalk reactor that I use to help with calcium levels. I went ahead and put a little buffer in to help the alkalinity but when I woke up this morning the clam didn't look any better. I just really want to know what is going on? whether its a predator or the water chemistry... its so frustrating and I really don't want to lose him....
 
if you have a sump add the buffer in the sump not in the kalk reactor.

from the first few photos it looks like the clam is being nipped at just by the way its holding its mantle
 
i just did some reading on the Bananna Wrasse (Thalassoma lutescens) every suggestion was for this fish to be kept in an aggressive "predator" tank
 
The wrasse I have is the Halichoeres chrysus. also known as yellow wrasse or yellow choris. I was told it was also called a banana wrasse so I'm sorry for the mistaken identity... and I did add the buffer to the sump... I'll try getting a two liter and putting holes in it to try to see if its getting nipped but i don't think thats the case....
 
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