My clams :-), how do they look?

[jsl6v8]

Well here are my first 2 clams the one is a derasa that I just love the coloring on, has a nice purple rim to it and the other is an ORA crocea that looks green from overhead but unfortunately I can't get a top down picture, and the front picture of my crocea isn't great. I felt fine but the more I read this forum the more I started to panic about PM and half the time I think my crocea has it but the other half the time I think Josh you have no clue how to ID PM. Well without further adue here are my clams
http://lh6.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RjVuO08VPPI/AAAAAAAAAWI/KVWsw7nd98c/s400/newclamsandcorals.JPG
http://lh5.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RjVuQk8VPQI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/0O61oJhj8_E/s400/newclams.JPG
http://lh5.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RjVuUk8VPTI/AAAAAAAAAWo/EEzW1MAba5Q/s400/Blueish%20Green%20Crocea.JPG
http://lh3.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RjVuWE8VPUI/AAAAAAAAAWw/KsxEHoO4BkE/s400/Orange%20Derasa.JPG
http://lh5.google.com/image/jsl6v8/Rj9NhE8VPfI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/eCFyv84BPIQ/s400/derasa.JPG
http://lh5.google.com/image/jsl6v8/Rj9NiE8VPgI/AAAAAAAAAYY/qvFnHeyFPIA/s400/crocea.JPG

the last two pictures are the newest and the crappiest, also if you notice the derasa he is a little white near the ...mouth (sorry don't know the proper name for their holes) I was told this could be new growth and the zooanthelids(sp?) just haven't caught up yet, but once again I have no clue, any thoughts opinions suggestions ect.
I had the crocea on a rock at first but he kept jumping down into the sand so I finally put a little piece of rock under him and put him in the sand.

[jmaneyapanda]

Whoever told you the white patch was new growth was decieving you. The white patch is an area where the zooxanthellae has bleached out. This area is essentially non-functional for the clam. It is certainly not a good thing! However, it can recover, just give it everything it needs, especially lots of light.

[jsl6v8]

well its under a 150w in the sand in my 20 gallon, should I get some rocks and try to move him up higher?

[jsl6v8]

Also the previous owner had him under 400watts of 20k light in a shallow frag tank for a long time, is it possible he was getting to much light??

[ezcompany]

you think the 400 watts can replicate that burning ball of fire in our sky? :D

[jsl6v8]

no not at all but I also know that derasas can be found pretty far down and the last time I went diving it gets pretty dark down there, and well 15 inches is a hell of a lot closer to the light than 33 feet down, so I thought it was a pretty logical question.

[jmaneyapanda]

yes, overillumination can cause the same symptoms as underillumination in this case. He couldve been "Shocked" into bleaching. DID he have the white splotched when you purchased him, or just after he was in your tank?

[jsl6v8]

he had it when I bought him, the LFS owner said it could be new growth or that he was getting to much light and it caused him to bleach but she thought it was new growth. I've had him in my tank for about a week or 2, with 150w mh is he getting to little light at the bottom of a 20gallon tank? What do you suggest?

[jmaneyapanda]

That lighting sounds Ok, particularly for the derasa. The maxima may want a little more light, but you are on the right track.

That white is NOT new growth that is "catching up". Be wary of that store in the future, it is apparent they will lie to customers to make the sale. That is classic zooxanthellae bleaching. Just keep all tank params stable and proper, and he should recover. Good luck.

[jmaneyapanda]

That lighting sounds Ok, particularly for the derasa. The maxima may want a little more light, but you are on the right track.

That white is NOT new growth that is "catching up". Be wary of that store in the future, it is apparent they will lie to customers to make the sale. That is classic zooxanthellae bleaching. Just keep all tank params stable and proper, and he should recover. Good luck.

[jsl6v8]

The 20 is a dream tank its params are always stable and I don't do anything with it besides my weekly 5g water change,love that tank. I had the crocea up on a rock before but the little sucker kept jumping off and falling over so I put him back in the sand, I may try to bring my rockwork forward a little bit then try to sit him on the rock again, in the sand where they are they are directly underneath the center part of the light so I believe they are getting quite a bit of light, I may try to put him on a rock disk and then put that on a piece of PVC pipe to raise him up. As for the store it is really a wonderful store in fact I would say best store in Florida hands down probably best anywhere just maybe not as knowledgable in concerns to clams.
On a side note I see a lot of really nice looking clams on the net but they seem to be a bit pricey online and I really worry about getting one that is A not as nice looking as the ones pictured and B no healthy. I like to be able to look at the clam I am buying although the only things I really know to look for are them reacting to the light and looking to make sure they have a healthy foot

[Rovert]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9906406#post9906406 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmaneyapanda
Be wary of that store in the future, it is apparent they will lie to customers to make the sale.
I'm with you on this! Sounds like bunch of flim-flam mumbo-jumbo voodoo to spin a customer. I'd be insulted if anyone tried that one on me.

[Lagger]

Oh man, 2 clams & an angel in a 20g?!? :uzi:

[jsl6v8]

lol the angel is out now, but the angel never bothered them for about 2 weeks. I'm debating keeping the clams in this tank and making it a clam/QT tank(for acros and montis) or moving the clams to my other tanks and keeping this QT. I would just move the clams to my 90 but it hasn't been setup for a long time and I keep hearing people say don't put clams in a tank unless its been up for 6 months, not sure what the logic is being this though.

Once again on the store it really is the best store in florida ask any of the florida forums and hear them sing praise, the lady said she thought it could be bleaching due to exessive light or new growth and that she wasn't really sure. I'm not about to blame her anyway the spot is getting smaller so I'm assuming the clam is replenishing its zooanthelids (is that spelled right?)

[Twitterbait]

Those are looking good :D

[jsl6v8]

I just got 3 new croceas from riptidereef.com and they are BEAUTIFUL, great prices, nice setup (its an online store but as I live pretty close he let me go down there look at his setups and cherry pick). He must have around 4 dozen clams, all of them looked really healthy, I saw a couple maximas that I thought were really neat and not knowing much about clams asked him about them and he said they weren't for sale as they came to him in bad shape and he thought at first they were going to die but he has had them for 5 weeks to recover and they are looking better but he didn't want to sell any clam that he wasn't sure was a good quality clam so he was going to hold on to them for a while longer to make sure they were ok. Not only that but this, which I think is really awesome, he keeps his clams under 10k light with 2 VHO actinics, instead of 20k light like most places to make the pictures look better, so basically you know that what you are getting on the site will look as good if not better in your tank. He also had some really nice SPS and zoas, including some tyree limited stuff at really good prices. Sorry I'm rambling, but I think I just found my new clam dealership :-), will post some pictures up later.

[jsl6v8]

Here are some pictures of the new clams, unfortunately the blue lined one I couldn't get a top down shot on with any definition due to my camera sucking and the heavy surface flow where this clam is, please don't hold it against the clam :-).

Front shot of what I'm calling my purple rainbow
http://lh4.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RkYxAE8VPhI/AAAAAAAAAY8/HDuVkiDJyno/s400/rainbowclam.JPG

front shot of black and green clam
http://lh4.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RkYxBE8VPiI/AAAAAAAAAZE/z5-erWW9lDA/s400/blackandgreen.JPG

Better front shot of the black and green, only posted both as the first one picks up the black color better
http://lh6.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RkYxCk8VPjI/AAAAAAAAAZM/zXEvHb4T6lU/s400/blackandgreenclam.JPG

Front shot of the blue lined, I'm sorry but I couldn't get a top shot as I mentioned before so you'll just have to try to imagine the stronger colors and color definition
http://lh4.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RkYxEE8VPkI/AAAAAAAAAZU/q5y1PvHQlug/s400/bluelined%20clam.JPG

Top shot of the purple rainbow, if only I had a super awesome camera and one of those camera water box things
http://lh5.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RkYxFU8VPlI/AAAAAAAAAZc/a_FMAI4R8uA/s400/rainbowoverhead.JPG

Top shot of the purple rainbow and black and green, you can see the orange derasa I got from Marcye in the corner a little but the dern Viper HQI is kinda glaring on it
http://lh4.google.com/image/jsl6v8/RkYxHE8VPmI/AAAAAAAAAZk/x3w4hWZrkfU/s400/rainbowandblackandgreenoverhead.JPG

To look at my gallery of these clams and the ones i got from Marcye check out http://picasaweb.google.com/jsl6v8/Clams