Urgent problem...

KErickson978

KErickson978

New member
Alrighty... i woke up this morning and found this.. :(
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i had no time to take care of it before work so i left and was worrying all day. so i got home about 30 min ago and am wondering what to do? i am about to do a 25 precent water change here in a few.. should i change the carbon out? its been in there for about a week and a half. oh and in the picture the clam isnt in its normal position. i moved it to make sure its alive then placed it like that for the moment so i could take a picture. it didnt react hardly at all from being moved. but i noticed over the past few days peices of the shell missing... its in the red boxes in the picture. could that be from the lawnmower? or the boring urchin? and if so could this be entirely stress related? and if thats the case then is there a chance i could reverse this? heres what the clam looked like yesterday. picture is about a month old but it looked as healthy as it does in the pic.


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All help is greatly appreciated... and i apologise for bein a pain... im guessin these incidents are all novice mistakes and could have easily been avoided..:(
 
nether actually. i dont know what they are, some kind of barnicle of something.. duno. the clam is about 4 inches across if that helps.
 
has the clam moved at all lately, I mean has it actually fell or had anything fall on it? That shell is beat up bad.
 
the fish in the system are 1 bangaii cardinal, 1 lawnmower blenny, and 2 blue/green chromis. i also have a pincushion urchin, a boring urchin, a huge turbo snail that yes did knock the clam over recently.. and two pepermint shrimp. the damage to the shell edges are what those boxes are outlining... i am wondering if this is caused by the lawnmower.. or maybe the drop the clam took from the fall. but to me it looks like bite marks. ooh quick question, is it easy to have to much calcium in the water?
 
I have seen lawnmowers bite the mantle. I guess it could be making those marks on the shell biting at algae. The scutes can be fragile so it could be the blenny or from the fall. The way the mantle is retracted it may be the blenny biting at it. Can you isolate the clam or cover it with a clear container with holes in it for flow and see if it gets better in the next day or so?
 
i dont know if isolating the clam will help or not... its pretty bleached in the center now and is expelling white mucus lookin stuff.. maybe zooanthellae? and its still really retracted..

ok i just tested my water and heres the resuts
Ca... off the charts.... no clue how but using API's test kit it took 17 drops for the fluid to change... so im guessing calcum is probally a large part of the problem. so around 600 ppm
KH was 7
PO was undetectable
NO was undetectable
temp 78
mg duno
4 T-5 lights (three 10,000k bulbs and one atinic)

the calcium supliment i have been using is called purple up and kents liquid calcium. i alternate these and dose to the refugium/return area with a syringe so it mixes before it gets to the display. also i am using kent superbuffer-dKH just started on that. and just followin directions on that one. disolve with ro water and add to sump.
 
My cal used to hang at 600ppm I don't think that is the problem. Your clam may be spawning. They do this due to stress.
Can you get a clear pic?
 
unfortunately.. no i looked again and its gone.. now it looks like the pic i already posted again. if it starts doing that again though i will get a picture but for now i am wondering what to do next. i think any sort of dip would just cause more stress and have no idea if it would help...
 
I don't think high clacium is the problem. The blenny is the most likely suspect. However, Clams and other organisms such as corals use calcium and bicarbonate not calcium by itself. Your high calcium if your test is close to accurate coupled with relatively low alkalinity could create a situation where the calcium is not useable for calcification. If your dkh is accurately at 7dkh that might be ok but it is borderline low. you may wan't to buffer it up to about 9 or 10 and hold back on clacium dosing untill you get under 500ppm.
 
Alright heres the above shot. thats as clear as i can get for now, when i changed the water it kicked up some dust and the water is slightly clouded for the moment..
IMG_1929.jpg
 
Those smal spiral worms can be irritating the mantle. I would consider cleaning them off.
 
if this problem is stress related, then how long will it take before the clam ether fills its shell again, or does something? cause right now its like that picture exactly. still far receeded into its shell and doesnt react to lights being turned on or off.
 
You can clean those worms off with a stiff piece of plastic.

In my experience, once a clam stays destressed for several days exhibiting pinched mantle and no reaction to light /shade movement, it is likely to die Watch it carefully, since you don't wan't it to decompose in the tank if it does perish.

Good Luck
 
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