New T. crocea clam: potential problem?

[mossanimal]

I'm on the second day of having a 3" crocea clam (from ClamMania) and has a wide open incurrent siphon (gaped?). You can see completely inside it. It responds really well to stimuli and the mantle itself looks great. My parameters are thus: 1.026 salinity, pH 8, alkalinity 8-9, P04 0.5 and N03 10. I'm told that the gaping is a water quality issue... but wanted to check with other folk before I take any action. Could this just be the adjustment to the new home??

 

[tzabor10]

Ask John. Pictures are always better

 

[mossanimal]

Well I spoke with them and they want me to do a large water change. I will try to take pictures when I get home. But it is wiiiiide open... with only about 1/4" of mantle extended. Like I said.. it still reacts just fine and the mantle that is showing looks good. But... I'm worried.

 

[mossanimal]

One thing I'm noticing is that in the morning the clam looks great. Mantle extended, incurrent siphon a slit. It starts to gape as the day progresses.

One issue is that my tank is in a crowded classroom and pH probably drops throughout the day with C02 buildup. At night time, my chaeto is lit and growing throughout the night. So maybe a pH issue during the day maybe? Maybe I will have my students monitor the pH today.

But it's getting warm enough now that I can open up windows during the day.

 

[OrionN]

Wide open siphon is not the same as gaping. A picture(a) would really help us decide which is which

 

[stan255]

Wide open siphon is not the same as gaping. A picture(a) would really help us decide which is which

What does gaping look like? I think a lot of people including me think gaping = enlarge exhalant siphon.
However, according to James Fatherree, gaping to him looks like the below. Source: https://reefs.com/magazine/a-look-at-mysterious-clam-deaths/

 

[OrionN]

Gaping clam need to have retracted mantle. The retracted mantle result in round oval incurrent siphon. If the mantle is well extended then it is not gaping.

 

[mossanimal]

What does gaping look like? I think a lot of people including me think gaping = enlarge exhalant siphon.
However, according to James Fatherree, gaping to him looks like the below. Source: https://reefs.com/magazine/a-look-at-mysterious-clam-deaths/

Well whatever mine was doing it looks great now and growing