Please help with clam gaping

[myfast]

I'm hoping someone can help me with my maxima clam. I purchased it from Pacific East Aquaculture on May 18 at a frag swap. It looked like it was doing great for over the first three weeks - mantle extended, responsive when the fish moved over it, new shell growth, intake siphon in a normal shape, etc.

This past Tuesday evening, I noticed the clam was holding its intake siphon open more than usual. I did some research and saw this could be due to stress. No corals are near the clam and my water parameters were in line, but the clam had moved a bit and it looked like the mantle was being moved by the powerheads. I moved the clam slightly back away from the flow on Wednesday morning and made sure it was sitting on a flat rock. Here's the picture after I moved the clam. It seemed happy the rest of the day, but Wednesday night, the intake siphon was open more than usual again.

On Thursday morning, I decided maybe the clam needed a little more light, so I increased the intensity of my EcoTech radion LEDs from 70% to 75%. I run the radions from 10am to 11pm in the natural mode. The clam has been placed directly below one of the pucks of the since I brought it home. I also added 1 tsp of reef buffer and 1 capful of AquaVitro calcification to bring up alkalinity and calcium slightly because they were 8.0 and 410, respectively, when I tested Wednesday night (my tank is 125 gallons) Magnesium was 1320 and specific gravity was 1.025. I use a chiller, so my temp is always between 77.5 and 79 degrees. The clam looked happy yesterday during the day, but in the evening, the intake siphon was held open again, as you can see in this picture below.

When I woke up this morning, the clam looked like this.

Once the lights turned on, the clam started to look a little better. Here are some pictures from about an hour ago. I also included some wider shots so you can see the placement in my tank.

I tested my water this morning with these results:

Temp: 78
SG: 1.025
pH: (in am) 8.17 (apex probe)
Ammonia: 0 (API)
Nitrite: 0 (API)
Nitrate: 8 (Salifert)
Phosphate: 0.5 (API)
Alk: 8.3 (Salifert)
Calcium: 405 (Salifert)
Magensium: 1350 (Salifert)

Any ideas what may be wrong with my clam and what I should do to help it? Thanks for any advice.

 

[moliken]

don't know if mag is a cause, but it shou;d be a bit higher and if you have .5 phosphate on a regular api test kit, you prolly have much more. any chance of getting something like a hanna checker

 

[myfast]

Thanks, moliken. What magnesium level do you recommend? I can look into getting a Hanna checker, but I think I'd have to order one. In the meantime, would switching out my ChemiPure elite help bring the phosphate level down? Thanks!

 

[moliken]

mag should be 1275 or close to it. cannot answer the chemiPure question, as i am unfamiliar w that product. phosguard worked for me. it's also quite possible the coral beauty is a nipper, causing the clam to have fits. i'd never have a cb and clams

 

[myfast]

I'm a little confused - are you saying you recommend decreasing the magnesium to 1275 from the 1350 I currently have it at?

I'll keep an eye on the coral beauty. I'm home all day during the week and I haven't observed him nipping yet, but I'll watch for it.

Thanks!

 

[ca1ore]

Frankly your water parameters seem fine. Doubt that is your problem. I'd be inclined to look for external irritants - pickers, pyramid snails, etc.

How is the 'gaping' now? Your pictures didn't look that bad. Clams typically recede into their shells a bit at night, and the gaping in the other photos seemed minimal?

 

[myfast]

Thanks for the suggestions and for letting me know you think my parameters are ok. I'd say the clam looked a little worse during the day and looks better now at night as compared to yesterday.

We inspected the bottom of the clam closely yesterday for Pyramidellid snails or other predators, but didn't find any. I did find two small snails (not Pyramidellid) on his shell yesterday and a flattish small snail on his shell today. I removed all of them (sorry, snails).

I'm continuing to observe for anything else that may be bothering the clam. My fish and other inverts leave it alone, but I'm on watch for snails, worms, or anything else.

Please let me know if anyone else has any tips.

 

[moliken]

woops. really sorry i completely misread the mag. cb is still my choice as culprit.
the thing about coral beauties, though, is like any angel, they may like clam meat. and they may nip whenever they feel a bit hungry, u cannot watch the tank at all times.

 

[myfast]

Thanks, moliken. I'll continue to keep an eye on the coral beauty. She definitely likes to nip at the other fish in the tank, but fortunately she's totally stayed away from the clam (as far as I can tell). I'll keep observing.

The clam's looking a little better today, so I'm just going to let it be for now, keep my parameters stable, and hope it stops stressing.

 

[ca1ore]

I know people have reported cb as a model citizen, but the one time I had one it was a nightmare.

 

[myfast]

Thanks for the advice. The clam's hanging in there, so I'm just continuing to observe him.

 

[anthony27]

I have four 1/2 foot to 1 foot clams in my tank my mad is 1500 and I run chemi pure and they are as happy as can be. Clams do not care that much about dirty water. If the nitrates are to high in the tank that can cause them to die. It looks like you might have something picking on the clam and then goes away when the lights are on in the tank. :idea:

mag should be 1275 or close to it. cannot answer the chemiPure question, as i am unfamiliar w that product. phosguard worked for me. it's also quite possible the coral beauty is a nipper, causing the clam to have fits. i'd never have a cb and clams

 

[anthony27]

if you have egg crate put a wall around the clam with out stressing it ( hence hitting it) see if the clam displayes the same behavior as before with the lights turned on and off and then see from there you will limit the possibility of it being the fish very fast that way.