Crocea clam in critical condition (?)

[minus9]

Really kicking myself about this. <1> Put off the par meter for way too long thinking the AI Prime was good enough (will just "double check" when I get around to it). <2> Didn't spend enough time reading the James Fatherree book I downloaded.

All avoidable errors. I'll finish the clam book before I think about getting a new one.



Not sure how I'd find out about something getting lodged in it. It seems like the clam went downhill super fast. As I said in OP, it had a bright and fully extended mantle yesterday. Now, it looks like it has a hole in the bottom of it and is twitching inside of it's shell. Horrible to watch. Does a starving clam usually take such a fast turn for the worse?

Thinking ahead, maybe a Noopsyche K7 mini with a long-ish narrow shade might focus enough light onto a clam (without blasting everything else) to have it living happily and well energized in a mixed soft/LPS/beginning SPS reef?

Thanks for the help!

They usually will look fine until the end, then they’ll take a turn for the worse in a very short period of time. If it were PMD or something lodged inside, then there would be obvious signs for both. I had a blue maxima that had a big part of its mantle eaten by a yellow tang that survived for a year and a half. I thought it was going to recover, but it turned overnight and that was it. There was new shell growth, but it wasn’t on the entire upper shell, just where the mantle was fully open and untouched. This clam was directly under a 250w halide bulb, so light wasn’t an issue, but the injury it sustained from the fish was enough to alter the outcome.

 

[minus9]

Isn't it true that clams under a certain size like 4-5 inches need supplemental feeding besides the lighting?

No, that’s a complete myth. The only species that requires supplemental feeding is gigas and that’s when it first settles out and is only a few millimeters big, which is tiny, super tiny and never the size you would find in the hobby. Don’t feed clams, feed you fish and feed your tank. There will be enough food left over for the clam to filter through if it chooses. Clams are very particular in what they actually consume, which is quite random. They have gills that filter out what they want, they rest gets pushed out through their exhalent siphon.
If you are keeping out thinking about keeping clams, do yourself a favor and buy James Fatherree’s book.

 

[anthonygf]

No, that’s a complete myth. The only species that requires supplemental feeding is gigas and that’s when it first settles out and is only a few millimeters big, which is tiny, super tiny and never the size you would find in the hobby. Don’t feed clams, feed you fish and feed your tank. There will be enough food left over for the clam to filter through if it chooses. Clams are very particular in what they actually consume, which is quite random. They have gills that filter out what they want, they rest gets pushed out through their exhalent siphon.
If you are keeping out thinking about keeping clams, do yourself a favor and buy James Fatherree’s book.

I have never fed my clams direct, just the broadcast food for corals and fish. Usually just phyto, amino acids and maybe a few others, and sparingly a few days a week. I have always seen new growth but then it just up and dies for no known reason, even with good and stable parameters for at least 5 years. That is why I have given up.

 

[JoJosReef]

I have never fed my clams direct, just the broadcast food for corals and fish. Usually just phyto, amino acids and maybe a few others, and sparingly a few days a week. I have always seen new growth but then it just up and dies for no known reason, even with good and stable parameters for at least 5 years. That is why I have given up.

I'm sorry to hear that. Very discouraging, but bearing in mind we strive to recreate a nearly impossible environment. Hopefully can achieve that, because tridacna clams make such a great part of a reef aquarium.

 

[Tcook]

As others have said there is no growth on the shell. Are you getting plenty of coraline growing in the tank? I run a kessil 360 on my IM 20 and IM 14. I think that would be a good light (narrow focus) for your tank if you want to keep clams. You also want to know what your PO4 is. Is it .05, .2, or 2?

 

[JoJosReef]

As others have said there is no growth on the shell. Are you getting plenty of coraline growing in the tank? I run a kessil 360 on my IM 20 and IM 14. I think that would be a good light (narrow focus) for your tank if you want to keep clams. You also want to know what your PO4 is. Is it .05, .2, or 2?

Coraline grows well. I add 2.5-3ml AFR daily. PO4 is somewhere between 0.03 and 0.1, my best guess based on Salifert. Hard to tell at those levels. I'll do quite a bit of research on lights before getting another clam, but kessil seems like a good light for focusing on a clam.