chend2
Achilles Reef Nugget
I love grammar.
HELP clams all dying
- Thread starter daReefPeep
- Start date
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So how are the clams now?? And did you isolate the issue on what is causing such a high nitrate count?
Reef store owner I know said to me that 40 Nitrate was high and the usual rule of thumb is trying to keep your nitrate build up below 20 in salt and 40 in fresh.
Seeing that 80 count is high..though im a newbie...ive been reading my arse off...and I have to agree even I would freak if I saw 80 nitrate readings.
Thats pretty high....How often do you change water? What %? And if its regular weekly 20% changes.... holy smokes man..something bad is going on to have such a high count with regular changes...
I dunno... I agree with Don... to get 80 Nitrate reading ..thats bad.. the cause of the count is what is concerning...not the actual nitrates.
Reef store owner I know said to me that 40 Nitrate was high and the usual rule of thumb is trying to keep your nitrate build up below 20 in salt and 40 in fresh.
Seeing that 80 count is high..though im a newbie...ive been reading my arse off...and I have to agree even I would freak if I saw 80 nitrate readings.
Thats pretty high....How often do you change water? What %? And if its regular weekly 20% changes.... holy smokes man..something bad is going on to have such a high count with regular changes...
I dunno... I agree with Don... to get 80 Nitrate reading ..thats bad.. the cause of the count is what is concerning...not the actual nitrates.
plack
Sea Otter
For what it's worth in post #10 that picture shows a Bleached clam wich by and of itself If it was /is in good water and lighting can recover fully. Acording to Fatherree's giant clam book.
Your tank looks awesome da reef peep !!
However I did not know about your nitrates wich is sompthing almolst anyone/everyone deals with at one time or another myself included.
Some get/build nitrate reactors or get larger skimmers to deal with it others have big refegiums in addition. One things for sure A shark is rarely kept with corals for the basic reason that the shark has too much waste to filter out of the water and sandbed.
Oh yea did anyone mention that when you do a water change filtering the sandbed to remove the waste may lower your nitrates lower than just the huge water change alone.
In fact you could do a 90% change and not see much if any change in your nitrates because allot of it is in the sand bed.
I hope this helps and does not annoy.
Paul
P.S. God I love the look of your tank !!!!!!!
Your tank looks awesome da reef peep !!
However I did not know about your nitrates wich is sompthing almolst anyone/everyone deals with at one time or another myself included.
Some get/build nitrate reactors or get larger skimmers to deal with it others have big refegiums in addition. One things for sure A shark is rarely kept with corals for the basic reason that the shark has too much waste to filter out of the water and sandbed.
Oh yea did anyone mention that when you do a water change filtering the sandbed to remove the waste may lower your nitrates lower than just the huge water change alone.
In fact you could do a 90% change and not see much if any change in your nitrates because allot of it is in the sand bed.
I hope this helps and does not annoy.
Paul
P.S. God I love the look of your tank !!!!!!!
jnarowe
Beer-a-holic
So I have been seeing these threads a lot and have been battling a clam issue for about 3 months... I can't really do all the work to post water params etc. but low alkalinity was a problem. But, I wonder if option 3 has any meaning to you clam experts?
--
So the last clam in QT is on the way out. That's 7 clams in about 1.5 weeks. The one in QT looked just fine too. I really am puzzled by this and think it could be one of three causes:
1. Harassment in the display caused irreperable damage.
2. The clams contracted some disease.
3. Maybe there is a connection to my dosing of baking soda during the Winter.
I have not read anything about this being a possible cause, but as I was mulling over past events, the way the clams reacted, etc. it seems to me that they started having problems around the time I added the cleaner wrasses. I did see them picking at the clams 2 - 3 months ago, although I have not recently.
But that was also about the time I started dosing baking soda to boost alkalinity and raise the pH so the Ca reactor would start up. As I was thinking about it today, and my attempts to revive them in the QT icluding feeding, I realized that these are filter feeders and that maybe the baking soda was giving them some problem.
Anyone have any comment on this?
--
So the last clam in QT is on the way out. That's 7 clams in about 1.5 weeks.
The one in QT looked just fine too. I really am puzzled by this and think it could be one of three causes:1. Harassment in the display caused irreperable damage.
2. The clams contracted some disease.
3. Maybe there is a connection to my dosing of baking soda during the Winter.
I have not read anything about this being a possible cause, but as I was mulling over past events, the way the clams reacted, etc. it seems to me that they started having problems around the time I added the cleaner wrasses. I did see them picking at the clams 2 - 3 months ago, although I have not recently.
But that was also about the time I started dosing baking soda to boost alkalinity and raise the pH so the Ca reactor would start up. As I was thinking about it today, and my attempts to revive them in the QT icluding feeding, I realized that these are filter feeders and that maybe the baking soda was giving them some problem.
Anyone have any comment on this?
OldFishMan
Well-known member
Hello;
Well, Nitrate is way too high for clams. You need to get that down below 20-ppm and try feeding them good raw seafood juice you whip up in the blender (bullets are nice). I add a little vitamins and suppliments to it and 4-drops of Iodine (medicinal stuff) you can add whatever you desire. I then dose it with only one circulating pump running for 30-minutes.
How is your lighting ?
This is just a suggestion, I wish you well
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"Of interest to many hobbyists is one of Alo's observations - those clams maintained under the 10,000K metal halide lamps never expanded their mantles as fully as those exposed to natural sunlight of any intensity. His work suggests spectral quality was in play, and he attributes statistically significant high clam mortality to the UV-A spike at 365nm in the metal halide's spectrum (which is an interesting observation, since other researchers have suggested refractive/reflective qualities produced by iridophores protect mantle tissues/zooxanthellae from UV-A radiation. Since the metal halide lamps were suspended 20 cm (8 inches) above the water surface, is it possible that infrared radiation - heat - generated by the lamps was transferred to the clams resulting in stress?). For those wondering, Alo keep careful records of nutrients within his systems."
Full Article: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/1/aafeature3/view?searchterm=clams
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoy!
OFM
Well, Nitrate is way too high for clams. You need to get that down below 20-ppm and try feeding them good raw seafood juice you whip up in the blender (bullets are nice). I add a little vitamins and suppliments to it and 4-drops of Iodine (medicinal stuff) you can add whatever you desire. I then dose it with only one circulating pump running for 30-minutes.
How is your lighting ?
This is just a suggestion, I wish you well
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Of interest to many hobbyists is one of Alo's observations - those clams maintained under the 10,000K metal halide lamps never expanded their mantles as fully as those exposed to natural sunlight of any intensity. His work suggests spectral quality was in play, and he attributes statistically significant high clam mortality to the UV-A spike at 365nm in the metal halide's spectrum (which is an interesting observation, since other researchers have suggested refractive/reflective qualities produced by iridophores protect mantle tissues/zooxanthellae from UV-A radiation. Since the metal halide lamps were suspended 20 cm (8 inches) above the water surface, is it possible that infrared radiation - heat - generated by the lamps was transferred to the clams resulting in stress?). For those wondering, Alo keep careful records of nutrients within his systems."
Full Article: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/1/aafeature3/view?searchterm=clams
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoy!
OFM
