Hello,
I have a crocea clam that has been the centerpeice of my aqaurium since I got it about six months ago. It has always been healthy and was completly open almost all day. I have finally stablelized all of my tank parameters after a long battle with nitrates. Since my nitrates have been below 5ppm my clam has not opened fully and is starting to lose some color. I see little spots of lost color developing more everyday. My lights are also past due to be replaced. Any thoughts on what could be happening??

is your tank running hot?

how past due are the lights?
also, whats your Ca level

maybe its because you won your nitrate battle. nah that shouldnt be it, in know you said your parameters are in check but what are your parameters. im interested to know what you test for.

Ok.. I believe we might be on to something. First off my tank temp has been higher than ever due to the summer heat tank temp ranges from 78.3 in the morning to a high of 83.5 after 8 hours of light. It used to only get to around 81 degrees. I don't think that is enough to cause this but i'm no clam expert. Tank parameters are as follows:

Alk 7
PH 8.2
Nitrate less than 5ppm
Phosphate 0
(but I have noticed a small outbreak of green hair algae since I added live rock so the phosphate could be used up in the algae)
Calcium 480 ( last week I added too much buffer and it precipitated took three days to get PH back to normal)

The lights are about 18 months old and will be replaced next week. I will also be adding a fuge in about 2 weeks. The funny thing is that my other two clams are as happy as can be. This leads me to belive that it is the heat due to fact that the clam that is affected is the one closest to the lights and therefore in somewhat warmer water?

could be due to the heat, also check your amonia levels since you just added new live rock. also because of the live rock, check your tank at nite to see if any new hitch hickers are bothering your clam.

my clams have seen temperature higher than what you have, but i understand that shippers find clams the most fragile to transport in the hot season. have you inspected your clams for parasites?

I have not seen any parasites on my clam that I know of. I have looked to see if anything has been bothering it and the only thing that touches it is a few hermits from time to time. If I were to see some parasites what would they look like? I will check AM levels right now although I would think my other clams would also be affected. Be back with results soon.

check at night time also. most common is these tiny snails. if you can pick up the clam, check the bottom. certain bristleworms can get into the clam from the bottom. make sure your clam is not attacked by algae. if algae gets foothold on the inside side of shell under the mantle, the clam will be in big trouble.

I have seen bristleworms that came on one of my new pieces of rock but it looked just like the kind that everyone has said were harmless. AM is at O but this is the only test kit that is not Salifert. The test kit is from Aquarium Pharmeceuticals. This very weird!! My clam that has made it through all of my mistakes is not doing well but my monti-caps that I almost trashed are doing awsome. My green monti that totally bleached out and started to cover in coraline is now starting to get its color back and combine with the red monti next to it. If I had a choice i'd pick the clam. I guess I will plan on a water change tomorrow.

i think it is more than likely the temperature increase, but still try to inspect clam.

I will inspect the clam tomorrow when I do the water change. I might also move the clam to a lower point in my tank to see if that helps. Can't wait to get my new lights! i went with 14000K hamiltons. LFS said they might be in by this weekend.
Thanks for all the help everyone. Hopefully things will get better.

HQI or mogul? wattage?

if all else fails and you get desprate, a fresh water or hyposalinity dip may solve pinching problems

Mogul 3 x175watt with four 65 watt power compacts. I was also thinking about adding my old VHOs to the mix. I could run 4 X 110watt VHO for two hours before the MH and two hours after MH. This would allow me to cut down on total time my MH were on and provide a better dawn to dusk effect. Just a thought

I would consider hyposalinity or freshwater dip. I also might put this clam in a small ten gallon tank for a while to see if it is being botherd by something or if it is just water problems. I have a Coralife 65watt power compact unit that would provide plenty of light.

Mogul 3 x175watt with four 65 watt power compacts. I was also thinking about adding my old VHOs to the mix. I could run 4 X 110watt VHO for two hours before the MH and two hours after MH. This would allow me to cut down on total time my MH were on and provide a better dawn to dusk effect. Just a thought
fantastic idea. i do that myself, but no hamilton for me.

I almost went with XM bulbs but decided to stick with the bulbs reccomended by my ballast manufacture.

I almost went with XM bulbs but decided to stick with the bulbs reccomended by my ballast manufacture.
when i switched from hamilton to XM, i never bought hamilton again. why did the ballast maker prefer hamilton?

Because they are Hamilton ballasts. I might be switching to 3x250watt electronic ballast next year.

did u buy it from hamilton?

Yes, here is the link to the setup that I have. It is the second one listed


http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/shop/?shop=1&cart=176399&cat=43&

Yes, here is the link to the setup that I have. It is the second one listed


http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/shop/?shop=1&cart=176399&cat=43&
the light systems are pretty good, i've used them before, but hate their bulbs. be careful about buying any product ahead of time, they are very strict about the warranty starting from date of purchase, not date of use. if you buy spare bulbs from them, there will be no time left on the warranty by the time you use it. and the warranties are pro-rated toward next purchase price, not replacement.

I would replace the bulbs and try to correct that temp swing. How about some fans in the canopy or blowing on the sump? Evaporation goes up but a stable temp is quite important.

I got my bulbs through my LFS who sells both XM , Hamilton and other brand names. I called today and they said they would have no problem switching them out with XMs if I did not like the color. I guess we will see next week.

I want to put some fans in the canopy but the noise is a big concern. We were out of town last week and the house temp was set at 78 far higher than our normal 73. I can only imagin what the tank temp would be during this time frame. My canopy is completely open in the back allowing for excellent ventilation. If I do add a fan it will probrably be in the sump area. Thanks for all the help. I did a 12% water change tonight and did maintinance on my powerheads. Skimmer has not been producing much but Nitrates still remain below 5. Now all that is left to do is wait and see.

Jack

Do you already have new bulbs? That's what I meant by switching them out. If they are new already then they are probably fine.

If you get a 12 volt fan from a computer store, then go to radio shack and get a AC to DC adjustable voltage converter, hook the fans up to the converter and if they are too loud then turn the voltage down.

I can't hear my fans at all.

cool I'll try it