Not-So-Happy clam

you can use this picture also incognito...
this clam is at least an inch bigger now and happy every single day

http://www.3reef.com/forums/clams/doesnt-look-good-79674.html

 

It looks to me that the OP's clam has much more mantle retraction and a larger gape then your's. Your clam still had pretty good mantel extention.

My initial instinct is that you don't have enough light for it. What are the dimensions of your tank and do you have PC lighting? How big is the clam? Smaller clams need more nutrition through filter feeding then larger clams. The good news is that it still responds to light well, but it just doesn't look good IMO. Hopefully it pulls through.

 

Oh, go ahead. I tend not to mind people using pictures for educational purposes lol.

 

It's a Red Sea Max 250, currently with standard lights (117w of 10k, and 117w of the 460nm type actinics; it's in the first post). It's on a 3" sand bed, in a 21"(?) deep tank. The T5s are covered by a guard (which I clean weekly), and are a total of about 4 inches off of the water surface. I have UVL bulbs on the way that should get here tomorrow.

It's pumping less than I've seen it pump before ATM.

 

Well, it seems your lighting isn't too bad. Can you see anything eating or bothering it? I've seen bristleworms burrow into clams and start eating their foot, pyramidal snails can also be a problem.

 

I do agree with you on this about the possible low lighting... but also, have you ever seen a clam straight from the ocean?

They come in from overseas looking like this because in the wild they are always like that to help protect their mantle... in aquaria they learn to extend their mantle because nothing is preying on it

 

I don't see anything like that, but I do have bristleworms in the tank, so maybe they're on its foot under the sand?

Where would pyramellid snails go when they bother the clam? Around the mantle?

EDIT: The mantle on the other side of the clam is nearly as fully extended as it was a day or two ago; it's only really retracted around the hole.

 

down by the foot, they are really small so its hard to see them...

 

Alright, I picked it up, and there was no hole in the sand to indicate a bristleworm. I inspected the clam, and didn't see any pyramid snails. I did see a whole load of pods on it, maybe about 100 of them. Could an overabundance of pods be bothering the clam?

 

So, could it be the pods all over it? How about the GFO/Carbon not running for ~12 hours?