signs of clam health

[kevensquint]

Hi, a fellow reefer and I, bought each our first clams..Croceas 2 weeks ago. Their behavior is very different, mine is open all day and the mantle is very full. At night it closes but not totally, maybe 75% retracted. My buddy's is sometimes open and sometimes closed...as in you can barely see the mantle, however it does open fully from time to time. Are both types of behavior normal? I know that he is a little concerned, but I have no idea if clams have different behaviors or if they should be almost always open.

 

[mbbuna]

all clams are different.can you break down the conditions of your friends and your tanks. most of the time they wont close all the way at night because they still need to pump water

 

[kevensquint]

My tank; 65 gallon, 2x250 xm 20k on together for 5 hrs followed by 1x 250 Iwasaki for 5hrs. Temp 78-80F Ca 460ppm Alk 8 DKH S.G 1.025 Mg 1275ppm PH 8.2 amm.nitrite,nitrate and phos are undetectable.
I don't know all his params. but this is what I can say for now, I'll get him to post all the details tonight. light is 1x250watt xm 10k and 2 PCactinics, 150 gallon tank (tall) mixt reef.- watch for "steve the plumb", he will surely say more later, thanks.

 

[steve the plumb]

I am kevins friend.I am using a 250watt 10 000 k bulb(xm) and 2 65 watt pc actinic.My paramaters are as follows temp today was at 84 but it is usually at 82(forgot to turn on ac)PH 7.86 I added some of Randys recipe #1 and brought it to 7.97.DKH 6.4 or 7 hard to tell(is a little low went down the last 3 days) ALK 2.28 or 2.62 also hard to tell (also went down the last 3 days).MAG is 1400 salinity is .26 Cal is 440 ppm with seachem test kit and 540 ppm with Salifert test kit.I don't know witch test kit is right but both are new.I have 150 gal tank with 2 power heads and and a sea swirl plus a 25 gal sump with calerpa and 3 to 4 inches of marine biosediment

 

[mbbuna]

ok Steve the temp is a little high for me (I like a max of 80)but some will say otherwise.where is this crocea under your 1 250 mh on your 150g tank?Alk is a little low and CA may be on the edge of being high.from the readings it looks like you are using a CA reactor???if you are stop looking at the PH and get your reactor set right

 

[steve the plumb]

I am using Randys calcium formula.I have not added cal in a month.My alk is a little low so I added more baking soda.The clam is up near the top of the tank.Tank is 36 inches high and I have him about 13 inches from the top of tank a bit to the left but it looks like the clam is getting enough light.I see that it opens up at night than when the lights go on it closes.I look at it now and it is starting to open(lights came on half hour ago) The light is suspended 12 inches above the tank.I have room to move the clam closer but when I bought it it was under 1 175 watt 20 000k bulb so I didn't want to shock it buy putting it right at the top.My ph is always low I have gotten used to it.I know my cal is high.It doesn't seem like the clam is doing bad maybe adjusting to my tank.

 

[mbbuna]

going from a 20k to a 10k will do thatgive it some time but if it dosent change sone you might want to screen the clam a little

 

[steve the plumb]

it seems to be doing ok I went down to look at it and it was open.I do notice that it opens and closes often.I don't know how to tell if the clam is healthy but it seems to be ok.The tissue seems fine and I try to feed phyto every 2 days.

 

[steve the plumb]

clam is doing fine.It opens and closes.I don't know if this is normal.sometimes it is fully opened sometimes partcialy opened.I do not know if this is normal.plus when i bought it it was in a small tank with two other clams.I have alot of fish so more movement in the tank,This may take some getting used to. I also have more current than the tank it came from.

 

[mbbuna]

sounds normal

 

[jay24k]

If you run your hand over the light above it, does it react? It's another sign of a healthy clam. I wouldn't worry about temps. Mine this summer are in the 84's at time. I have 6 clams and all are doing well. My Squamy gets upset and closes sometimes. As long as you don't see gaping and it's mantle comes out nice, I wouldn't worry.

Are they in the rocks? or in the sand? They generally like the rocks and stay put. Your lighting should suffice. How far off the water is the lighting? If over 12", you might want to move the clam up a bit. I keep my croceas about 6" off the bottom of my tank.

HTH

 

[steve the plumb]

I have the light 12 inches above the tank.It has a reflector.The clam is open seems happy.I just bought another 2 clams I have all of them on rocks.I got a Vanuatu maxima and a Crocea with some bown and green thats looks differant from my other crocea.Its nice but the maxima is a stuning blue.The crocea is nice because of its colour my other one is brown thia one has a pattern.Can I take a pic and show people.I dont know how to upload it to this site.I don't know how to add it to my gallery,never tried