Squamosa electric blue help

Mr.Reeefer

Mr.Reeefer

Member
Hi Reefers,

I purchased last week for my birthday 2 squamosa clams, one of them is an very small electric blue, and the other is a much larger squamosa.

When I placed them into the tank after two hours they came out, not fully extension but quite allot! this was under PC lighting.

Anyway the next day they closed up, not completely, there is a little bit of an opening but not much and they remained like this for a couple of days.

I suspected that maybe lighting was a factor since they like pretty intense lighting, so I upgraded to LED, which I LOVE!! And all other corals are loving as well.

I installed the LEDs yesterday and still no action with the squamosas, I know these things can take time, however I just wanted some tips and techniques from people with experience.

I will be doing a water param test tonight when I get home and I will post results.

I'm thinking maybe too much water flow on them, but unsure as I know moderate Waterflow is ok for the squamosa, after water param test if everything is spot on I might look at reducing flow?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Cheers and happy reefing
 
Mr.Reeefer

Mr.Reeefer

Member
Water parameters

Ammonia= 0
Nitrate = 10-15ppm
Nitrite= 0
Carbon hardness= 8 (added some straight after test)
Ph= 8.4
Calcium= 480
Phosphate= 0

Any thoughts?
 
Wrangy

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Couple of questions for you first :)
How old is your tank?
What sizes are the clams?
How did you acclimatise them? How long for and such
And what sort of LED's are they and what placement are the clams in? Sandbed, midway or top of the tank?

I ask because the older your tank is the more success you'll have with them because while the do have the photosynthetic zooxanthellae, they are also really good filter feeders and will feed on micro-organisms and help lower nitrates as they feed. As you can imagine the more mature a tank the more of these things are a available for the clam to feed off :)
Clalms under a certain size (4-5cm, 1.5-2 inches) need to be feed as their mantles aren't large enough yet to house a suitable population and density of zooxanthellae to maintain their energy requirements and can be a little more difficult to maintain if you aren't able to feed them. Clams past that size are more than capable of using photosynthesis to keep themselves happy :) I wouldn't recommend directly target feeding a clam either, rather do a broadcast feed around the clam or for the entire tank if you are to be feeding them extra foods.
Squamosa clams do need medium to strong lighting but I would love to know a bit more about the lighting in your tank and the clam placement :)

Other than those things your parameters seem fine and I don't think it will be that. Keep in mind though, I have a lovely blue-purple maxima about half the size of an afl footy when opened up :D on the sandbed under LED's (Illumagic Blaze's) in an area of high flow and it's as happy as larry! Somedays though it closes right up and can stay like that for a few hours or the entire day but it always opens back up and is happy :) It may take your clams a few days to a week before they start really start to expand and show themselves off for all their glory :) Don't fret too much and give it a few more days to see how they keep going.

Hope this helps mate so we can figure it out :)
 
Wrangy

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Also what sort of fish are you keeping in the tank as they may be picking at the clams which is definitely a reason as to why they'll close up
 
Mr.Reeefer

Mr.Reeefer

Member
Wrangy your good mate!!!!

:D

My puffer has been having a bit of a pick at it. (Valentini)

I also have a blue tang, yellow tang, flame angel, cleaner shrimp, long nose hawkfish and pair of clarkii.

My tank is coming up to three months old.
I acclimatised them over one hour, I sat the bag they came in, in my tank for twenty min, in then dripped it for fourty min. Then placed in the tank.
I have the large one on the bottom and the small blue mid tank.
When feeding my fish I switch off return pump and wave makers. I feed the fish, target feed suncoral's and then turn on one wave maker to circulate and debris from feeding fish for corals etc. to catch.
I will post lighting specs shortly.
 
Wrangy

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
They look more than happy to me mate!! :yup:

I would keep a very close eye on the puffer and angel as those are the two most likely to give your clams grief! Everything else sounds spot on :) Acclimatisation and feeding are both a big tick in my book about how you're doing it so keep up the good work. I wouldn't go changing anything for the moment and keeping the clams where they are because they both look quite happy with their homes but watch the fish and keep an eye on them :) They do close up occasionally but I'd only worry if it lasts longer than a day at a time! :)
 
Mr.Reeefer

Mr.Reeefer

Member
Hi Wrangy,

Those photos were taken two hours after they had been placed into the tank when they opened up, they have been closed since then though
 
Wrangy

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
No problems, how often do you feed the tank and how do the clams react when the tank gets fed?
 
Mr.Reeefer

Mr.Reeefer

Member
I feed my fish daily, and I feed corals phytoplankton and rotifers twice a week.

But as stated above, every day I switch off the return pump and wave makers, then I feed the fish and every few days corals, I then turn on one wave maker to circulate any extra food and to give everything a chance to catch a meal, after about half an hour I then switch back on return pump and other wave maker.

Do you think it could be my salinity, my LFS said 1.020 is perfect but I have a feeling I should be aiming for 1.026, I'm currently at 1.023
 
Wrangy

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Hmmm they don't look happy at all
I would definitely be bringing your salinity back up to 1.026, I don't know about you but your lfs has no idea! Natural seawater is 1.025-1.027 and nowhere near 1.020 so I'd be double checking everything that they've told you now. This is water the range of your parameters should look like, the aim is to be as close to natural seawater as possible :)


Are you using artificial saltwater or natural saltwater for the tank? What temp are you running your tank at?
Lighting is fine then :) Especially as the squamosa's too
The other thing I would try is reduce the tank feeding for a little while as it might also have to do with too much nutrients. Cut the feeding back to once every two days and only feed the corals the same frequency but maybe just a little less, unless they react badly then bump it back up again. Your fish will be fine though if you cut the feeding back a little
 
Mr.Reeefer

Mr.Reeefer

Member
it's funny you know because when I tell my LFS that I research online, first thing they say is "don't go onto forums there idiots"

But the more I am on here reading what you experienced reefers have to say and how you solve peoples problems, I realise that my local LFS are the idiots.

Last night I did a water change and I already raised the sal from 1.023 to 1.024, now in a couple of days I will raise it again to 1.025 and a couple of days after that I will raise it to 1.026.

I run a chiller, and because my tank is upstairs and were having some 35 degree days the temp is quick to rise in the tank. My chiller kicks in when the water reaches 26 degrees and brings it down to 24.7. Then when it reaches 26 again the chiller kicks in again.
 
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