6" Maxia w/ PM

xmetalfan99 · Jul 14, 2011

I just noticed one of my 6" maxias has PM. I will be changing the carbon tomorrow. What else should I do? FW dip (how long should I dip for)?

skinz78 · Jul 14, 2011

I wouldn't do a dip just yet, run carbon and run it hard changing it every other day.

Can you post a pic, params, and all of your fish and inverts?

xmetalfan99 · Jul 14, 2011

skinz78 said:
I wouldn't do a dip just yet, run carbon and run it hard changing it every other day.

Can you post a pic, params, and all of your fish and inverts?

Give me about 15 minutes for a pic.

params:

Cal: high at 640. I am slowly bringing that down
pH: 8.33
Alk: 8 DKH
Ammo: 0
Trite: 0
Trate: 5ppm
Salinity: 1.024
Mag: 1220

Fish:
Yellow tang (I have seen him picking either at the clam or the clam shell)
Hippo tang
2 green chromis
1 lyretail anthias
1 purple firefish
1 neon cleaner goby
2 true perc clowns
1 fairy wrasse (I forget the name)

Inverts:
elephant slugs
dwraf ceriths
FL ceriths
astraea snails
trochus snails
nassarius snails
limpets
maybe some turbos
2 emerald crabs

xmetalfan99 · Jul 14, 2011

Sorry for the poor photo quality.

skinz78 · Jul 14, 2011

Can you get a better top down pic?

It doesn't look like pm to me but it is really hard to tell in that pic. Can you make a cage out of egg crate to put over the clam? I wonder if your Tangs might be picking on it.

xmetalfan99 · Jul 14, 2011

skinz78 said:
Can you get a better top down pic?

It doesn't look like pm to me but it is really hard to tell in that pic. Can you make a cage out of egg crate to put over the clam? I wonder if your Tangs might be picking on it.

I will get a top down for you when i get home from work. I think I saw the yellow tang nipping at it, but didn't see where it was nipping exactly.

skinz78 · Jul 14, 2011

I bet that is what is making it retract. I would get some kind of shield over the clam to keep the Tang away or maybe even place it in another tank if you can? I normally recommend taking a Gatorade bottle and cutting it in half and then filling it with holes for circulation but it looks like that clam wouldn't fit inside a bottle....

xmetalfan99 · Jul 14, 2011

I will remove him and throw him in the tank in the bedroom.

GR808 · Jul 15, 2011

what is PM?

skinz78 · Jul 15, 2011

Yeah I don't think it is pm, I'd put money on one of the Tangs nipping at it.

xmetalfan99 · Jul 15, 2011

skinz78 said:
Yeah I don't think it is pm, I'd put money on one of the Tangs nipping at it.

Since I saw the YT nipping around the clam before, I will assume that it is him. Thank you for the help.

turbo21 · Jul 15, 2011

GR808 said:
what is PM?

pinched mantle

xmetalfan99 · Jul 15, 2011

I took the tang out and the clam seems to be opening up more now. The tang was easy to trick, so I didn't have to tear the tank apart to catch him.

skinz78 · Jul 15, 2011

Nice! I have seen clams do a complete turn around within hours before when removed from nipping fish.

Murfman · Jul 15, 2011

I bet the tang is going for the algae growing around the top of the clam and gets the mantle on occasion.

xmetalfan99 · Jul 16, 2011

Murfman said:
I bet the tang is going for the algae growing around the top of the clam and gets the mantle on occasion.

Before I took him out I witnessed him bite the flesh which was nowhere near the shell. IDK if he thought it was algae or not, but he will be in time out for a while.