Will clams bleach because of too little light?

[weefishman]

I've got a crocea clam that I've had in my tank for 5 days, it's about 4 inches long and I brought him home with a significant amount of central bleaching. Can moving a clam from a tank with 400w MH's to a tank with 175w MH's cause bleaching. (Sorry if this is a dumb question or has already been asked.) I was just wondering if you guys have heard of lower lighting directly causing bleaching, I do realize that stress of the move or tons of other factors can cause it, but can moving to lower lighting directly trigger bleaching? I just never never really considered this before so I thought I'd ask the experts.

Again I apoogize is this is a dumb question.

-Jonny

 

[dragon_slayer]

normaly clams do not bleach from lack of or lower light. they will most often darken when placed under less then ideal lighting. bleaching comes with more light then the clam is normaly used to.

it can also come from elevated levels of ammonia in the system.

kc

 

[firechild]

I had a few clams bleach when the lighting on my tank was changed from 400W to 150W. The bleaching occurred over a period of about 3 months after the change but in the subsequent months the clams all recovered.

 

[wld1783]

Tagging along...One of my clams started to bleach when I reduced my total lighting by 50%. The bleaching started on one side and now is about 25% of the mantel. Everything else is showing good growth even my SPS.

The only changes made to the tank was an addition of small amounts of ozone and a reduction in lighting due to improved water clarity.

I hope this is a normal reaction to a lighting change and the clam recovers.

 

[weefishman]

Thanks for the responses, good to know I'm not alone. I knew that increased lighting is a common cause of bleaching, but had never considered if decreasing lighting could do it too. I didn't know if I should be looking to this as a factor of the bleaching and try to increase the light the clam is getting, I'd just rather leave it alone to prevent any further changes and stress on the clam. As of today the clam SEEMS to be looking better, kinda tough to tell if it really looks better or if its just wishful thinking. We'll see...in the mean time just keeping fingers crossed. Thanks again for the responses.

-Jonny