Help

HuBu

New member
i have a blue/green maxima, about 2". i left if in a friends care over a 2 wk break. my friend feed it once per week. when i got back, the clam has lose some of it colors yet its still open up. the one thing that bothers me is the fact that it doesnt close up immediately when theres a shift in light (as in when i open the hood). it doesnt close up much at all. my calc lvl is at 450 and my alk is at 5 dKh.
 
Lost color? Something could have stressed him and he could have expelled some zooxanthellae. Do what Dr. Beer says, but as always, make changes gradually. Wild swings in Alk will stress your other animals.

No photo reaction isn't good. He might be too far gone.

But I like to look on the bright side of things: If he passes away at least you'll have a nice artsy calcium carbonate paperweight! :eek:
 
I have 1 175W MH, its does react to change in light, it will retract the mantle a little bit and thats it. i feed it Roti-Rich, which was recommended to me for all filter feeder.
 
From what I've read there is little you can do for a sick clam. Make sure it stays unstressed (raise your alk slowly. 1 or 2 dKH per day at most) and has good lighting. If you aren't feeding DTs or something like that, start feeding some to give it extra energy to hopefully heal. If you are feeding, feed a bit more.

forgot to add

I feed Koralvit F mostly, but sometimes I use DTs.
 
Oh, I hate to hear that man :( I had a thought....I've never heard of anyone feeding roto-rich to a clam. Since they need smaller particles than most filter-feeders, I wonder if he didn't choke on it? 99.5% of clam keepers use DTs or some other live phyto. The rest (which is not many) use a yeast suspension or somehing like tahitian blend. For best care of a clam that small they need bowl fed live phyto every few days. Check this out before you try a clam again.
Again, sorry :(
 
eh well it has only been one day since it looked bad, it wil have to look consistently better for a few days before I decide that it is definitely improving.

I am guessing by level you mean never? :D
 
Peabody said:
Oh, I hate to hear that man :( I had a thought....I've never heard of anyone feeding roto-rich to a clam. Since they need smaller particles than most filter-feeders, I wonder if he didn't choke on it? 99.5% of clam keepers use DTs or some other live phyto. The rest (which is not many) use a yeast suspension or somehing like tahitian blend. For best care of a clam that small they need bowl fed live phyto every few days. Check this out before you try a clam again.
Again, sorry :(

thanks for the info, i m sure ill try DT once i get a new clam.
 
Hubu, just a thought, if clammy lost color, it is possible he exhibited signs of general bleaching. Since lighting was fine, I think you should keep tabs on nitrates, because if they measured at or near 0 for a while, your clam could have bleached since he couldn't keep his symbiont algae alive.

Just another thing to check.
 
wait a minute...

wait a minute...

Re: what Cromax said about nitrates being at /near 0. Every time I test for nitrates it comes up 0. Is this possible. I use Salifert NO3 test. I've been keeping clams for about 5-6 months and then...poof ! they die. One person told me I wasn't feeding them enough. I've remedied that situation by adding LiquidLife Phytoplankton but what about nitrates? I did read somewhere that they do like nitrates. Does my tank really have no discernable amount of nitrate?
 
You cannot get away with having 0 nitrates in your tank and have any long term success with clams. Granted, clams can die slowly over the course of a few months or a year, so do keep nitrate levels acceptable. Phosphates are also necessary for shell growth, so if you have a problem keeping both to acceptable levels, (as I do) consider adding more fish.
 
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