unhappy clam

[scytale]

I have a T. Crocea that started gaping earlier this week. (has been 3 days straight now.)

Has all the bad symptoms: poor mantle extension, little/no reaction to shadow/shade.

Tried to do everything correctly:
-slowly acclimated it to my 250W MH over a 10 day period.
-put in on the sandbed, to start
-in an area of moderate-low flow
-water parameters as close to "text-book" as they've ever been.**

It wasn't very "happy" on the sand bed (kept flopping over on it's side.) So I placed a piece of dead rock under it on Sunday (flipped itself right off that night.)
decided that since it was a crocea, maybe it was best just to move it up to the rockwork, earlier this week.
I put it on the rockwork in the morning, but when I came home from work it was on the tank bottom. (not on "sand"-- because it landed right in my maroon clowns' favorite, sand-less spot.)

And based on the path of travel, the clam certainly had to have come in contact with, and was probably stung by, my big LTA...

Is there anything I can do to help this guy?

Travis.

**I pulled out every test kit I have tonight and tested:
NH3, NO2, NO3: 0
Phos: < .03
Salinity: 34ppm
Alk:9.5
CA: 420
Mg: 1425

 

[returnofsid]

One more suggestion....try contacting Barry through here http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~filters_two_little_fishies_phosban_reactor.html He's also available by phone. http://www.clamsdirect.com/store/help.php?section=contactus&mode=update

 

[skinz78]

What fish and inverts do you have?
Can you post a pic?
For now leave the clam alone, it sounds like there is a possibility that it is getting unnecessary stress from all the moving around.

 

[tri_pod_rod]

im goona go with skinz dont move it, its already stressed like crazy from all the movement when your clam feels comfortable it well open up and attach itself where ever he feels theres the proper amount of flow, my corcea did not open up for about a week due to where i was placing him and every time he moved i kept reaching in the tank and placing him in the same spot or area, let him do his thing

 

[scytale]

Thanks!
Yeah I guess I'm going to let him rest a bit.

Here's couple pics from last night--sorry for the bad camera work.
(basically it's just showing that his mantle is barely extending past the shell.)

The tank-mates are:
blue tang, yellow tang, small school of chromis, pair of GSM clowns, green target mandarin, couple of peppermint shrimp, and zillions of mini brittle stars. (and pyram crabs; see my other clam thread http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45539&highlight=pyram+crabs )

None of the other tank mates pay much attention to the clam--the mandarin gets close sometimes, but I've never seen it nip at it.
It is placed "down-wind" from the blue tang, so it does get a face full of poo sometimes. (big tang, big poo ) And everytime time I've had to move or flip the clam I've checked for pyram snails, and haven't found a single one.

My guess is that it got stung by the LTA during it's journey off the rock-work (and then probably got pushed around by the GSMs because they don't let anything land in their space!)

 

[scytale]

oh, and that's a clove coral on the left, an open brain on the right, and the red dots on the rock "above" are just colored-epoxy.
(that's the piece of formerly-alive-rock that I 1st tried to bury and have it attach to; right now it's "attached" to a small shell fragment, about 1/2-dime size.)

 

[skinz78]

Just let it be for a few days. One other thing is that I have seen Peppermint shrimp bother clams.