Need advice from experienced clam keepers

reefwiser · Sep 16, 2016

What ever you wish. [emoji3]
You see I have Kessil's , Radions, Back boxes, t5's and MH fixtures.
When you have need in the hobby since 1985. You end up with them all. An I have kept clams since 1989. Best results where with t5's and MH.

salttanklife · Sep 16, 2016

How long has the claim been in the tank? Did you expose it to air when putting him in the tank? Did you burp him when you put him in?

I've got my claim under a Maxspect Razor r420r led lighting. I got it around 1 3/4" and 3 months ago and it's around 2.5" now. It's very happy and very responsive to a change it light. I did move him from the sand bed and put him on the lr about middle ways up the tank to get him a little more light.

lakereef · Sep 16, 2016

hart24601 said:
I would clean off the shell at least and inspect it. Does the edge show any growth? That is really important to be objective with that and look for real growth since you have had it. Clams don't really show much decline or sickness until they die, but stop growing. It's very possible it wasn't in good shape when you got it and is now on its last legs, so to speak.

IME it will die as is since it's been going downhill anyway so a FW wouldn't hurt, but I fear it might be a goner, keep us updated!

Not much is known about clam issues and disease compared with fish. I never really did much to qt clams, but I had one I did a short qt with and it introduced a mystery disease and killed the other clams - not PM or anything like that, but I tried everything to stop it and nothing worked. This was a long time ago, but now if I add any new clams they get qt until I see new growth and am 100% sure they are growing.

EDIT: looking more at the pic that doesn't look like PM to me personally, and I don't see growth. I think the poor guy has just been going downhill. Do the other clams in there have nice fresh growth on the shells?

I can't really see much growth. I should add, this clam as well as the 5 others were in QT for at least 3 months under T5. I didn't see much growth of any of the clams in QT except a dersa which has almost doubled in size. I hear so much about pinched mantle but feel if I ask 10 people is this pinched mantle 5 will say yes, 4 will say no, 1 will get distracted and say you need to use MH only.

It frustrates me that it seems there's nothing that can be done. I'm tempted to try the FW dip but also wondering if that's just further stressing out already stressed out clam. I appreciate the imput, really just trying to learn.

I will add this tank is in a southern window and is getting at least 5 hours of direct sun. Granted I live in wisconsin so it's not super strong this time of year. That and running my Kessils 360 at 45% for 8 hours, should be getting enough light.

EDIT, I did change out the carbon in the tank tonight and will watch for a couple more days. I find it hard to believe it's something in the water since I'm growing hundreds of sps, lps, nps, and zoas I the same water. I used this water for water changes in qt as well. All I can figure is the quick lighting change from T5 to LED/Sun which is more intense has stressed them out.

mcarroll · Sep 17, 2016

lakereef said:
Light is primarily sun with Kessils for 8 hours at 40%. They are not light starved, if anything they're acclimating to the increased lights from t5s in quarantine.

They need brighter light than many corals...>30,000 lux.

It's possible they were light-starved in quarantine and this guy may have starved more than the others. Can you take a lux or PAR reading on the QT lights?

I'm not sure about light stress in clams...they seem to be able to take unlimited lux (>100,000 lux), but the transitions from low to high light (and/or high to low) may still not make them happy. U of Hawaii has a lot of clam info online....maybe something in there. That's where the 30,000 lux number is from.

2¢

(lux meter apps are free if you don't have a meter....but for gosh sake order a $15 handheld lux meter to have around at minimum. Google for the "LX-1010B" for example.)

mcarroll · Sep 17, 2016

mcarroll said:
They need brighter light than many corals...>30,000 lux.

(Sorry to self-reply, but I forgot to add the coral number for perspective.)

Many corals only need >10,000 lux. Sometimes even less depending on circumstances.

lakereef · Sep 17, 2016

mcarroll said:
(Sorry to self-reply, but I forgot to add the coral number for perspective.)

Many corals only need >10,000 lux. Sometimes even less depending on circumstances.

I've heard over and over that clams need tons of light to do well. I setup this tank in the hope I could give them all they need. The tank is only 1' deep getting 5-8 hours of sun. I can turn up the Kessils too but I didn't want to do it too fast and shock he clams more than they already are coming out of qt.

So how fast should I be increasing intensity?

Gets some pictures of the others I took today under sunlight w/Kessils on.

steve&mari · Sep 17, 2016

How are they reactions to shade as in waving your hand over them. Do they retract quickly as they should ?

lakereef · Sep 17, 2016

steve&mari said:
How are they reactions to shade as in waving your hand over them. Do they retract quickly as they should ?

Reaction is instant.

mcarroll · Sep 17, 2016

Can you take a PAR or lux reading of your QT lights as well as the current situation?

Lux is fine if you don't have a PAR meter. Get a free app for your smartphone, such as "galactica luxmeter" for IOS (there are lots of them), to begin with and let us know what you get for readings.

I would recommend getting a $15 "LX-1010B" lux meter, or similar, just to have around though. Much safer to use around your tank that your smartphone and it'll give better readings.

lakereef · Sep 17, 2016

mcarroll said:
Can you take a PAR or lux reading of your QT lights as well as the current situation?

Lux is fine if you don't have a PAR meter. Get a free app for your smartphone, such as "galactica luxmeter" for IOS (there are lots of them), to begin with and let us know what you get for readings.

I would recommend getting a $15 "LX-1010B" lux meter, or similar, just to have around though. Much safer to use around your tank that your smartphone and it'll give better readings.

I ordered a lux meter and will let you know in two days.

Qt was 4 t5s in a 40 breeder and clams were few inches below the surface.

mcarroll · Sep 17, 2016

Seems like that would be decent light, but putting a number to it and maybe the comparison with the daylight+Kessils setup will be interesting. (Could turn out to just be something with this clam, of course.)

hart24601 · Sep 17, 2016

I am concerned with lack of growth - that's a big problem. Because of the derasa having growth my initial suspicion would be not enough light.

Just fyi clams close up when they have gotten enough light ime. I have blue Maxima's under intense led that will start closing after 6hr of full power. Not a lot, but I have noticed it's based off intensity and photoperiod.

Based off that info I would not dip, I would crank up the light. But that one might be too far gone.

hart24601 · Sep 17, 2016

I'm sorry, just noticed they are now in the sun and led. Missed that earlier. Should be plenty of light now. Watch the others to see if any growth. Is there any source of phosphates or nitrates for them? You said it was fishless correct? Clams do need some nutrients in the water. According to a clam book I have some farmers add ammonia and even pee in the raceway to accelerate growth.

lakereef · Sep 17, 2016

hart24601 said:
I'm sorry, just noticed they are now in the sun and led. Missed that earlier. Should be plenty of light now. Watch the others to see if any growth. Is there any source of phosphates or nitrates for them? You said it was fishless correct? Clams do need some nutrients in the water. According to a clam book I have some farmers add ammonia and even pee in the raceway to accelerate growth.

It's plumbed into my coral/fish system nitrates 5-10, phosphates .1 last I tested.

Shares water with this tank.

hart24601 · Sep 17, 2016

That's good news! And a beautiful tank. Has it changed at all in past few days? Did the QT tank have nutrients?

lakereef · Sep 17, 2016

hart24601 said:
That's good news! And a beautiful tank. Has it changed at all in past few days? Did the QT tank have nutrients?

Thanks. This tank is stable no changes.

50% water change in qt weekly with display water and there's a couple fish in there so was probably higher nutritients in qt. I usually have sps brown out slightly so I'm guessing lights aren't bright enough there. I thought it'd be ok for the short amount of time they're in qt but ended up being longer than planned.