Our New Clam
- Thread starter Uslanja
- Start date
Uslanja
Active Member
Clifford has made a break for the open sea. Prior to this point in time he had lulled us into a false sense of security by staying put for several days. But last night under the cover of darkness he made his break. When the blue lunars came on this morning we could clearly see the gouge he had cut through the substrate as he headed south toward heavier water current and flow. But now he is under a colony of zoas and we are not sure if we should allow him to continue on his quest or rearrange some rock and move him into the stronger currents. Any advice?
TylerHaworth
Active Member
I love the coloration of your adventurous friend Clifford!
Although he is wandering around, the mantle looks very healthy and deeply colored!
Although he is wandering around, the mantle looks very healthy and deeply colored!
Uslanja
Active Member
Hi TylerHaworth! Clifford is our first clam and like most new parents we are learning and concerned about his well being! Clifford has moved again and now he is under some macro algae that is infested with amphipods, so we are not sure if the pods will pose a threat to him or even if we should move him or let him be.
Clifford in his new spot.
Clifford in his new spot.
Uslanja
Active Member
Oh No! We lost Clifford! In the photo in the previos post taken on November 20/10 at 13:45 hrs, and then in the photo below taken on November 21/10 at 04:07 hrs. We had been concerned about Clifford being right in tight to the rock and under the macro algae where so many amphipods run about. We were concerned that they might do him harm but we didn't trust our suspicion and move him. 15 hours later we took a peak in the tank and Clifford was clearly beyond help. We have witnessed the amphipods devour our "Cluster Duster" feather dusters, and now we see the amphipods and the crabs finishing our clam.
Was Clifford failing and we couldn't tell, so the pods and crabs just did what they do? Or was Clifford just fine and the crabs and pods ate him because there just isn't enough food in the tank? Would Clifford have been OK if we had just moved him when we had a concern? We may never know, but we sure didn't want that to happen!
In the dark at 08:06 hrs.
Under a tungsten bulb desk lamp at 04:07 hrs.
Was Clifford failing and we couldn't tell, so the pods and crabs just did what they do? Or was Clifford just fine and the crabs and pods ate him because there just isn't enough food in the tank? Would Clifford have been OK if we had just moved him when we had a concern? We may never know, but we sure didn't want that to happen!
In the dark at 08:06 hrs.
Under a tungsten bulb desk lamp at 04:07 hrs.
TylerHaworth
Active Member
So sorry about your loss =( I recently lost one of my clams abruptly and for no apparent reason, all while the other is as healthy as ever... It really stinks!
zigginit
Member
sorry to hear you lost the little guy. if i may make a suggestion it would be to replace one or both of the Actinic Bulbs with an ATI Blue+. you see actinic bulbs are great if you have a lot of par already and just want to have more color pop, sadly actinic bulbs have near 0 Par levels (clam and sps food from light) the ATI blue+ is a very blue color which looks nice and will make colors pop just like a blue LED moon light will, in addition to that they also have one of the highest T5 bulb Par levels at around 330 Par. the average 10k puts off maybe high 200's. mixing the blue with the 10k will give you a 14k look. i read that the ATI Puple+ also has a lot of Par but dont know how much. i know the purple enhances colors the other blue bulbs cant but still looks on the actinic/blue/purple side.
also i am setting up my new tank with 6 T5 bulbs and plan on having high end SPS and Clams in there. thank you for the wonderful story and hope you get a new clam and do better with him. a side note is i hear the smaller the clam the more the chance of sudden death so maybe get a little larger clam next time.
also i am setting up my new tank with 6 T5 bulbs and plan on having high end SPS and Clams in there. thank you for the wonderful story and hope you get a new clam and do better with him. a side note is i hear the smaller the clam the more the chance of sudden death so maybe get a little larger clam next time.
smkndrgn142
Member
So sorry to hear about your clam guys...
crabs won't normally go after a living clam, so it must have been the spot he got himself into. It's strange, cause he's looking good in the first picture.
crabs won't normally go after a living clam, so it must have been the spot he got himself into. It's strange, cause he's looking good in the first picture.
chipmunkofdoom2
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about that.. he looked pretty healthy! If he was really healthy, I think he might have closed up if something was trying to eat him.. who knows.
Don't feel too bad, it happens. As my one friend once said, whenever you have livestock, unfortunately and inevitably, you will also have "deadstock" as well.
Don't feel too bad, it happens. As my one friend once said, whenever you have livestock, unfortunately and inevitably, you will also have "deadstock" as well.
Uslanja
Active Member
Hi All! Thanks for the condolences! We feel pretty bad when one of our animals die, but it does happen and sometimes we will just never learn why. Thanks for the lighting info zigginit! We wouldn't mind changing up the colour of our tank a bit. We enjoy the look under the blue lunars but it just doesn't have the look we want under the daylight. We'll try putting an ATI Blue in and see what it does. We have a 14,000K MH on our other tank and that makes the water look like it isn't even there. It would be nice to get the same effect with the T5's!
zigginit
Member
the ATI will not look as blue as the LED moonlight but the colors will glow kinda in the same way but will not have the "solid" blue light that an LED puts off. just think of like this: The ATI Blue+ is the new actinic bulb for a lot of people due to the glowing qualities but high PAR all in one bulb.