Clam Placement As well as new additions

[cj10488]

I went to the LFS today and picked up a few new Items for the tank..

Derasa Clam
Hammer Coral
Stylophora Coral

Got an Awesome Deal The only thing is Does the Clam Look like its placed in a good area??? Should I move it??? Also Please let me know about the other 2 additions...

Tia,
James

 

[cj10488]

here is another of the clam

I also Enclosed a full shot of the tank.. The Clam is on the Far left hand side of the tank

TIA,
James

 

[hotskate]

u have alot of allege?

 

[cj10488]

no I do not have alot of algae.. Just the normal everyday algae that accumulates on the glass... Its been nearly a week since the last time I cleaned the Glass Which In fact I did Just after I took the pictures..

James

 

[hotskate]

im tqalking about on the sand bed? im new to this so dont take it the wrng way

 

[cj10488]

no there is not really any algae on the sand bed... Most of the "clean up crew" takes care of the algae on the Sand floor...

 

[hotskate]

dark brownish greenish?

 

[reefrunner69]

Well, on the clam, I think so long as it is situated under the middle of the bulbs on that side of the tank, it should be fine. I'm not sure about PC, but reg floresceants and VHOS and HOs are the most intense in the middle of the bulb, I think PCs are more evenly distributed, but I still think it is prudent to keep it towards the middle of the bulb. FWIW, I didn't see an algae problem Hammer corals are not found in the sandbed in the wild and I would recommend you move it to the rock work. It would be very easy for the coral to pick up some sand, kicked up by a fish or crab, and irritate the flesh to the point of infection. I remember you were having an alk problem, IME, hammers are very sensitive to changes in alk (mosly low alk and PH), so monitor these closely and take appropriate measure to keep them stable.

 

[cj10488]

The Alk problem was my "Caused" issue which wont be happening again and should be better as i did a 10gal water change last night ... Liveaquaria.com states that Hammer Corals should be placed on the bottom however I really didnt like that Idea as well so I will be moving it up about 6-10" away from the bubble coral... (ahhh more glueing) As for the clam it should just be placed upright in the sand bed Just as it is correct??? I have to say that this clam is extremly awesome looking for a derasa clam... BTW Ken if you look back at the clam questions post that you answered a while back you will notice that you have given me the ideas for alot of my corals however my Wife doesnt Like "sticks" as she would call them lmao (sps frags) she is a big fan of LPS though.

TIA,
James

 

[reefrunner69]

Yes the clam is oriented correctly, I would love to see a pic of it when it is open

 

[cj10488]

How long do you think it will take before its completely comfortable to open like it was in the LFS.. It doesnt seem to want to open that far as of yet... I know every time i get close to the tank it shuts... The lights have been on for about 3hrs now so I am hoping that within the next few hours or so it will be open good enough to take a pic... Could it be that there is not enough waterflow for him to open up over there or??? any suggestions...
Here is the best pic that I could get so far.. He hasn't opened up like this since lastnight yet though...

TIA,
James

 

[fishfreek]

I know every time i get close to the tank it shuts...

From what I understand this is acutally a good reflex. Its detecting your presence and going into a defensive mode. Sick clams are less quick to close than healthy ones.

 

[reefrunner69]

It can take a few days for it to become comfortable enough to open completely. With most clams, they will not do so, until their byssal filiments are completely attatched. If your going to keep clams, I highly recommend the book Giant Clams, by Daniel Knop, which can be found in our library section

 

[EMS503]

As far as your Anchor coral goes it should be about middle to the top of your tank with a moderate flow. Your Blue rimmed Deresa only has one problem I see. This clam can grow twice it size in one year, from your picture it looks like it could be tight. My Deresa opened fully the next day.
Clams do not like high flow. If the mantle seems to be blowing around alot reduce the flow around the clam. Also it will move around until it is comfortable mine keeps going up against the glass, so I just leave it there now and it is very happy. Just a point of info. Deresa's do not anchor themselves like Maxima's & Crocea they get big and heavy rather fast and their weight holds them down. Good luck with your clam and corals.

 

[cj10488]

Well the Anchor did not travel well... The polyps are falling off and it seems to be melting.. I am going back to the LFS tomorrow and hopefully I wont have any issues with them... It didnt seem to be doing all that great after I even placed it in the tank last night.. was like 1.5hr trip home from the LFS.. Might have been too much stress... As for the Clam I was told to place something underneath of it about 1/4-1/2" under the substrate so I placed a small Ceramic Plate under it which I was told ok... The lighting on the tank it came out of was MH so I was also told that it might take a day or 2 to fully open due to the decreased lighting 330watt pc lights... Does all this sound correct??? As for a pic of the Hammer coral I have attached it as well... what do you think Dead???

TIA,
James

 

[cj10488]

well it looked pretty bad so I took it out and bagged it up and placed it in the sump to keep the water temp the same... Is there anything That I could have done differently?? I picked up the Coral at the LFS and drove home.. The hammer was in a fish bag that was placed in a paper bag... I drove and kept the car at a comfortable temp probably about 75-80f I came home and it was the first into the water for about 15mins.. I then cut open the bag and emptied half the contents and drip acclimated it over a 45min to 1hr period til the bag was at the full...I pulled the coral out and placed him in the tank... Well in the sand for a few hours until I was informed to move him up in the tank... The lights went off after he was placed into the tank for the night... Could I have done anything better??? The LFS said that they had this Hammer for about a month without problems... I'm sad now

TIA,
James

 

[reefrunner69]

It's hard to tell from a pic of the skeleton, but the hammer looks more mad, than dead. It could be a light acclimation issue, or it could be an ALK and PH issue, what are the water parameters? What is flow like around the hammer? It will open best in a low flow, enough to lift and sway the polyps, not streaming in the wind.

As for the clam, I can't check my book, but it seems I remember smaller derasas do use byssal filliments and only stop useing them after they reach a certain size. The problem there, is if the clam was attatched at the LFS to more than just sand, they could have ripped the byssal gland out of the clam when they removed it from the aquarium. This is almost always fatal.

 

[cj10488]

The clam was just laying in the sand bed at the LFS.. From my reading Kevin I agree from what you say about the clam... Anyways I believe the clam is happy now.. The hammer had a slimmy like substance comming off of it and polyps were falling off.. And He is going into the LFS today.. he is a pic just before I declared him melting and dead


James

 

[steve-s]

I agree with Kevin, more or less it just looks "ticked off". The slime you mention looks more like nematocysts rather than anykind of decay...

Cheers
Steve

 

[cj10488]

Well I went to the LFS today with the Hammer and they said it was for sure Dead.. I think I figured out why it died.. The guy who pulled it out of the tank was not that careful with it and probably injured it severly.. He kinda shook the hell out of it... This time the more knowledgable people were there and took it out much more carefully when they replaced it.. here Is the new hammer in the tank... Looks much healtier than the other one.. BTW you think too close to the bubble Coral?? He is about 8" away..