Holy Clamshell, Batman!

[LCDRDATA]

I hadn't really noticed this before, but tonight I spotted a hole in the shell of my crocea clam:

I don't know if it goes all the way through to soft tissue, mainly because I didn't want to go poking in it and do additional damage if it did. I'm not sure how it got there, and haven't seen anything else in my tank exploiting it. Is this a problem?

If it is, can it be "patched"? I was thinking about perhaps some of the putty-like reef epoxy (aquastik) partially filling and extended around the edges. Sort of like fixing a hole in the wall with drywall patch compound. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[T Man]

It looks like a hole in the encrusted coralline, not the shell. T

 

[LCDRDATA]

I'll try to get a clearer photo, but it's definitely deeper than that.

 

[mscarpena]

It does not look like anything to worry about because it looks old. You can brush on some formalin at 1-2% incase it is some sort of boring critter. Also rinse off the formalin before placing back into your reef. Let the clam sit out for for 15 minutes.

 

[LCDRDATA]

Well, I think I may have bigger problems. I went to brush off the clam with an old toothbrush I've been using to clean stuff in the tank and found it wasn't attached at all. I turned it around a bit and found this on the opposite side (where it wasn't visible before):

I was also concerned a bit about it not being attached, since it used to be, and when I turned it over the foot didn't look right to me (overview and closeup):

I really don't think it's supposed to be anything but more-or-less white, much less black.

I set it on the sand in case I needed to do anything else with it (in case it decided after being manipulated around it should glue itself to something), and did get one final shot of the hole that's better than the previous one:

In short, how bad is it, and what (if anything) can I do?

 

[ludiNano]

The first of the new pics is just some red coraline, clams will stop ataching after sometime, when it gets big enough, and theres not much you can do directly for the foot.

Im not sure about the hole i would poke it make sure it stops at a hard surface and not hit soft tissue, then i would fill it w/ super glue.

What are your water params.

ph, nitrate, nitrite ammonia, calc., alk, mag., saltinity? how often do you change water? lighting? hows it reacting?

How big is it, i don't see any new white growth to the shell?

 

[ludiNano]

I have a great suggestion for you, i wish i had done it so much earlier.

Open a www.photobucket.com account its free and you don't have to resize pics or mess with any of that.

The pic come out clear and very large. You just copy the HTTP code from photobucket right to same place you do HTTP code from your gallery.

 

[LCDRDATA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14669563#post14669563 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ludiNano
Im not sure about the hole i would poke it make sure it stops at a hard surface and not hit soft tissue, then i would fill it w/ super glue.

What are your water params.

ph, nitrate, nitrite ammonia, calc., alk, mag., saltinity? how often do you change water? lighting? hows it reacting?

How big is it, i don't see any new white growth to the shell?

I'll check the hole as you suggest after work tonight. If I do hit soft tissue, then what? Can I use "generic" super glue or do I need to get some specialized stuff from the LFS?

I should have remembered to give params:
pH - 8.2
Nitrogens all 0, same w/phosphate
Alk - 3.0 meq (8.4 dKH)
Calc - 475
Mag - 1350
Salinity - 1.025

I've done a couple of large (~35-40%) water changes in the past couple of weeks as things are generally not thriving; usually changing ~5% a couple times a week.

Lighting 4xT-5HO (2x10k, 2xactinic) 12 hrs/day, second bank (2x10k, 1x6700k, 1xactinic) 4-8 hrs/day. It sits up near the top of the tank (~5" down), although I moved it down as I noted. If letting go is relatively normal, I'll move it back up tonight.

It generally reacts pretty well, but has sometimes been a bit sluggish, particularly lately. I feed it well at least 2x/week with DTs phyto.

It's a bit larger than fist size (filled my palm last night while moving). I was wondering about not seeing much of a white rim myself.

Per your second post (not quoted), I'll look into photobucket.

 

[ludiNano]

I will say im not sure about hiting soft tissue. I use the regular GEL super glue. Your prams look good calc. a little high but not bad.

What do u use for calcium alk supplement? Even if those drop out of good ranges for a very sort time inbetween doseing, can halt new growth.

And doing 1- 10% change a week would be better then 2- 5% changes. I cant expain it my self but i've read many post about it explaining the math to it.

 

[LCDRDATA]

I use Kent Liquid Calcium and Pro Buffer dKH, respectively. I could be wrong but I don't think I'm having extreme swings.