newly bought clam is this normal?

[fishnplants]

i just got a new maxima clam about 2 days ago and while it does look healthy and react well, it has these few brownish patches. im not sure if this is due to just acclimation or if maybe i hurt the mantle in some way, i was also looking to move it higher but was wondering when a good time to do that would be. any advice is appreciated

 

[dedragon]

It looks fine, most likely just its pattern but can darken a bit with age if. I dont like moving clams too much so find a good spot with a large flat area (clams can move around and accidentally toss themselves off rocks) and let it acclimate. I would dim the lights or optimally use acclimation mode of the light you are using

 

[OrionN]

The clam looks good but does not appear to have now growth on the shell. This may or may not be a bad sign. Good luck with him.

 

[fishnplants]

yea theyre brand new have only had him a fews days i just wanted to make sure he was acclimating properly and if that brown was something to look out for. he looks like hes fully come out, no gaping but what would stretching look like for a clam?

 

[dedragon]

no gaping but what would stretching look like for a clam?

What do you mean by stretching? Clams are usually open or closed and gaping is really obvious when/if it happens. Gaping usually refers to the the siphon that brings in water but again it is really obvious if it is gaping and also a really bad sign that it is dying

 

[fishnplants]

What do you mean by stretching? Clams are usually open or closed and gaping is really obvious when/if it happens. Gaping usually refers to the the siphon that brings in water but again it is really obvious if it is gaping and also a really bad sign that it is dying

yea that ive seen pictures for and its deffinitely not gaping, but i read somewhere that if the clam doesnt get enough light it would stretch its mantle/ body and get those brown spots from damaged mantle showing the zooxanthellae that was biggest concern initially. also im sure that this clam is over 4' but would a weekly feeding still do it good? i was also thinking of starting to dose Ca for it and was wondering whatre some good suppliments for them/ corals.

 

[OrionN]

If the clam is otherwise healthy, and it does not get enough light, it will try it's best to spread it's mantle out to increase light collection area. It would spread out instead of up.
If you think about it, in nature, the sun is so far away that a few cm different is dept had no impact on the light intensity due to distance from the light source (other attenuation as light passed though the water) which should be minimal also. If the clam wants more light, it needs to spread outward to intercept more sunlight beam not upward.

Plant and coral spread upward to get up above "stuff" higher than it. Clams do not grow like that, so they spread outward.

 

[dedragon]

also im sure that this clam is over 4' but would a weekly feeding still do it good? i was also thinking of starting to dose Ca for it and was wondering whatre some good suppliments for them/ corals.

TBH it wouldnt hurt and can help it to grow faster, but live phyto feeding under 4" is just a myth and you shouldnt be concerned about it at all if you feed your tank something like reef chili, reef roids, or a broad spectrum frozen like reef frenzy (or anything similar).
As for supplements I would suggest either a good 2 part dosing additive like BRS makes or using an all in one sort of dosing like all for reef from tropic marin. Both are simple to dose as long as you follow the calculator online and test tank levels with good test kits like red sea pro, salifert, or hanna. The all for reef does have a bit of carbon dosing to it as well but it is very light and as long as you test nitrate and phosphate every month or so to see that they arent bottoming out you will be fine.

 

[dedragon]

The reason for the 2 part or all for reef is to dose calcium and alkalinity as both are important for the tanks overall health.

 

[minus9]

I would probably move it closer to your lights near the top of the tank or place something solid under it if you're going to keep it on the sand, but regardless, you need to make sure you're providing it with enough light. I would shoot for 350+ micro moles minimum for 8hrs. As @OrionN mentioned, new shell growth is the key to a healthy clam. There should always be new shell growth no matter what.

 

[fishnplants]

awesomee, im not to sure how to check if there is growth or not. but ill keep this posted in a week, im trying to figure out what are some good invert tank mates. i have some hermit crabs, i was thinking about getting a cleaner shrimp or something like that, but i see on some forums that they will tear apart my poor clam any ideas/ comments are appreciated

 

[dedragon]

cleaner shrimp will only tear apart a dying/dead clam. They shouldnt eat it otherwise. I dont like them because they annoy corals especially if trying to target feed.

You can check for growth by looking at the edge of the shell where the mantle comes out. New shell will look white compared to the older growth

 

[fishnplants]

gotcha, ive just seen alot of bad reports of them damaging the clam or stressin them out. so was thinking maybe the fire shrimp are better, but ive always wanted a cleaner. and ill have to check, how long till i should see visible growth?

 

[dedragon]

there should always be some, they continue growing unless something is wrong

 

[dedragon]

your clam is super white on its shell for some reason so it may be harder to see

 

[fishnplants]

yea thats what i liked about this maxima, their shell is almost porcelain white which ive never seen before. but like u said its been hard to see any sort of growth. other than those doses and light is there any other way to boost growth

 

[MrGisonni]

Keep up and balance your alk, calcium and magnesium. Maxima's can take as much light as you can give them. They are comfortable on the rockwork. Give him enough of a nice flat spot and he will attach. I am also a believer that clams do better in higher nutrient systems. What lights are you running? What are your water parameters?

 

[DeniseAndy]

Looks fine so far. Maximas do need lots of light and they hate being moved too much. Good luck!

 

[fishnplants]

thank u for the advice and as far as parameters im still trying to get some readers for my cal and alk, but my nitrates/ites are all okay. im thinking of movin it up so we shall see. side note, i got a 2 skunk clowns and the bigger one is getting pretty nippy is this normal?

 

[minus9]

thank u for the advice and as far as parameters im still trying to get some readers for my cal and alk, but my nitrates/ites are all okay. im thinking of movin it up so we shall see. side note, i got a 2 skunk clowns and the bigger one is getting pretty nippy is this normal?

Yes, a lot of clowns get nippy. After all, they are in the damselfish family tree.