Help>> Lost 1 clam and another aint doing good

[GPhiAce]

I recently lost a T. Crocea. He started out with a partially opened mantle with retrated "skirt." I am not sure what to call the fleshy part that sticks out. I have had hime for about a year, but he never put his foot down, and only looked good for about 2 weeks total-- meaing good skirt extension. it took 3-5 days for him to die and it started when I noticed that a frag plug had fallen on and hit the outside of his mantle. Now my othe Crocea which is about 6 inches from where the old one is/was does not fully open his mantle-- just started today.

I have been battling high PO3 and hair algae for the past 2 weeks. Live stock is 2 perc clowns, Carpenter's flasher (added 1 month ago), yellow watchman goby, coral banded shrimp and my clean up crew. I am doing weekly water changes of at least 25% for the past 3 months. This tank was set up from an old established tank (which was up for 2.5 years) and has been up since Aug 14. Lights are on for 6 hours a day. 250w MH. my skimmer is always on- euro reef s series. Substrate is crushed coral. The tank itself is a 40br with a 20 high sump with no fuge. total circulating water is roughly 45g. New fragas were added on Sept 16th (zoas, ORA Duncan and a flower petal monti which didn't make it)

Parameters:
Salinity- 1.025
Mg- 1500 (dosing to help witht the hair algae)
PO3- 0.5-1
NO3- 2
Ca- 400
Alk- 6 Dkh (not sure why this is low)
Temp- 79.5-80.2 according to the AC jr

Previous Full tank. Clams are on the bottom middle

Close up of both clams From Sept 21

Today sept 30

Again from today

The clamm also has a nodule on the right mantle that has alwas been there. The source was Dr fosters and was purchased at a reef swap Aug 16 (I think that is the date) Thanks for any input

 

[GPhiAce]

Just realized how blurry these are-- sorry.

 

[Amphiprion]

Sometimes pinched mantle disease will manifest similar symptoms to this. I am in the midst of treating it right now--it came in on a new specimen (which died before I could help it) and now the crocea I've had for nearly 2 years is showing the same symptoms. A freshwater dip for approx. 25-30 minutes will usually remedy it, IME without too terribly much stress to the clam. I have saved about 47-8 out of 50 this way over the years. The key is to treat early--once they progress far enough, the dip will only speed their death along.

Before you suspect that, however, check for other irritants, pyramidellids, etc. Dip as a last resort and while carefully observing its behavior.

 

[a4twenty]

i doesn't look like PM to me, maybe more of an Alk problem......

have you looked for pyram snails?

how are you maintaining Ca and Alk??

what and how do you dose??

how long have you had them?

 

[Amphiprion]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13471327#post13471327 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by a4twenty
i doesn't look like PM to me, maybe more of an Alk problem......

have you looked for pyram snails?

how are you maintaining Ca and Alk??

what and how do you dose??

how long have you had them?

PM will actually manifest numerous potential symptoms beyond simply curled mantles, IME.

Also, IME, no alk issue causes this.

 

[dvmsn]

Even if it isn't pm but it doesn't hurt to try a freshwater dip. You would be amazed at how effective they are at treating pm, if that is what it is, which I am leaning against. You can also check for snails while you are at it. They are so small they look like grains of rice and the shells are pointy.

 

[a4twenty]

even though the OP hasn't responded, i still think this has more to do with the dosing of Mg ( in what form?? ) to deal with algae and its adverse effect on Alk and CA

 

[GPhiAce]

I may have over reacted to seeing the clam close-- it has not done that again since that day and has been fully open ever since. I think my issue is/was with the high phosphates. The phosphate were coming from base rock that I added to the system. Dosing was done using DT's 3 part solution- Ca, Alk and Mg. So the dosing was done manually and was judged on how much to add by monitoring using test kits. Phosphate was not done until recently, and Alk was stable and then dropped-- not sure why, but is stable now. here is a picture from yester day of the clam that is left. I am still not sure why the other clam died, but yet it never put down it's foot.......... The algae is on a decline. As long as the phosphates are still being leached the algae will still be an issue, but I don't think that it is a huge issue after I have taken a step back and looked at other tanks. My algae is not growing over corals or coming close to impeding their growth. Thanks for all the input and please keep offering suggestions, thoughts and comments.

 

[a4twenty]

glad to hear