Clam Bleaching

[apedroza]

I was wondering if anyone has some ideas on how to help my clam. I have noticed that over the past couple of weeks the mantle on my clam appears to be bleaching. Small white spots have showed up. I am running 2 250watt MH on lumenarcs. The clam is on the sandbed and still appears to react to movements normally. Should I move it?? And if so should I move it up for more lighting or away to less lighting. The mantle appears a little over extended so I'm leaning towards moving it up. If anyone has any ideas please help. I know there are a couple of clam people out there.

[cpreefguy]

Try spot feeding it phyto in a container

[discuspro]

How big is the clam and what type? Also, check it out at night all over it's mantle, shell, and shell hinge. There are all kind of creatures that love to prey on clams. If that is not the case something in your water is off or you need to feed it. Hopefully that is not too vague.

[Louis]

Is the clam directly on the sand? Some critters can be detered from bothering the clams foot by placing the clam on top of a half shell or flat rock. Watch for pods and/or snails bothering the mantle. A freshwater dip will help rid the clam of unwanted hitchhikers. Good luck!

[apedroza]

The clam is a crocea about 4". It is directly on the sandbed. I noticed at night that it is closed so its not having problem closing up. During the day the mantle appears to be fully exposed could this be an indication fo not enough light?? I haven't noticed any small pest except pods at night. I do have a serpent star that crawls over it from time to time. Could this be a problem? Sean should I put it directly in a container??. I currently spotfeed marine snow, phty and zooplex. Anymore help is appreciated.

[matt]

The only thing clams are proven to eat is live phyto, like DTs. There are some phyto pastes that claim to be accepted by clams, but I don't know how much truth there is to those claims. It is true that croceas are found on rocks in nature; one of mine that's doing great has really burrowed into a hole in live rock I put it in. So moving it onto a rock might be a good idea.

Whether you have enough light would depend on your bulb and how deep the tank is. Lumenarcs are very efficient, so if you're running a high par bulb like a good 10k and you have a normal depth tank (not more than 24") I'd be very surprised if you don't have enough light.

[apedroza]

Iam running 2 14K coralvue bulbs. I feed marine snow every other day phyto and zoo plex in between. I spot feed the clam on the days I feed Marine snow and the clam really seems to open up when I do. My water parameters are fine, and all my other corals are doing great.

[matt]

What kind of phyto are you feeding? You might go to clamsdirect.com and read up on clam feeding. There are also photos of clam predators and diseased clams so you can get a comparison. It's not hard to confuse normal mantle extension with gaping.

[apedroza]

Well I move the clam up a bit and over the past couple of days I have seen a vast improvement. I think with the extra light and spot feeding it's going to be ok. Thanks everybody.