Maxima light damage

[Jwey]

I was out of town and my clam moved himself and the light was blocked from a rock above.
I moved him and found some of his flaps are now white.
Is there anything I should do to get him healthy again or is there anything else to worry about?

 

[DSC reef]

Almost looks bleached from to much light, that's strange, they can loose zooxanthellae from under illumination too. The clam looks healthy besides the loss of zooxanthellae. Sometimes clams can move if unhappy in there current spot. It should recover, just keep a close eye on it in the original spot it was in.

 

[Jwey]

Thanks DSC
Glad it’s nothing more major.

 

[DSC reef]

Your very welcome. Post some pics as it's recovering.

 

[jda]

They digest zoox - unlike corals who do not have a digestive system. I remember knop? maybe? saying that they can do this in low-light situations to prolong their life. I have literally never seen this in a tank. Please keep us updated. This is a first for me in a more than 2 decades of reefing. This is a good case to document, IMO.

 

[Jwey]

Here it is 2 days later.
You can see in the top left, second flap up,
that the color is slowly coming back.

Yes he moved again....

 

[Jwey]

It’s a slow process....

 

[DSC reef]

Glad to see progress. That's a real nice clam.

 

[jda]

That is really cool. Has it grown at all during this?

 

[Jwey]

I was away for a week with work but Believe it’s still trying to get back to full color.

The discoloration is the same where the other flaps lay on top of each other.

 

[hart24601]

Wow. What a cool thread to see. Glad it’s recovering.