The Foxface

FlyinBryan

FlyinBryan

New member
So I've been having a lot of trouble with my clams opening up all the way and my trake (sp?) refuses to bloom out all the way. I talked to a guy today at the fish store and he said the problem could be more related to the Foxface nipping at these guys. He suggested pulling him out of there. Could it be something else in the tank?

I'm dosing with c-balance and ph 8.4 - ca 480 - sg 1.025.

Also, was think of doing a drip line of Kalk at night. I don't have a lot of corals.

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The trake is now at the bottom of the tank but remains stubbornly closed and not blooming out.

Thanks!!
 
Have you tested for nitrates/phosphates? Did the clam and trach (trachyphyllia) ever open or were they always like this? Since the clam doesn't open at all my guess would be a fish.
 
Yeah the trach and clam were both wide open when I got them and both close over time. Nitrates and phosphates are always consistently low. I do regular 15-20 gal water changes every week.

Anyone want to buy a Foxface?
 
No GFO just a refugium w/skimmer and sterilizer, tunze ATO, and AquaticLife ligthts. Btw its a 150rr tank w/about 180 pds of LR.
 
what size sterilizer . clams actually like little dirty water not familier with trakes but if filter feeders to might have to big of uv
 
Hmmm..too much flow..interesting..good question on sterilizer..i just got whatever the guy said for 150 gal tank. Also, i keep the clam near the light..seems to be the only place he survives.
 
FlyinBryan said:
Hmmm..too much flow..interesting..good question on sterilizer..i just got whatever the guy said for 150 gal tank. Also, i keep the clam near the light..seems to be the only place he survives.
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i had one do that before and was the flow they dont like heavy constant flow when open they shouldnt flap in the flow im not familier with u lights but just seems like hes not happy once i moved mine it open up after few days. u would see the fox face nipping at it still . its not all the way closed and he would nip all the time . i had a cbb that nipped the clam would close and open right back up. and if that other thing is filter feeder to probably has same issue havent found the spot with the right conditions yet . id try to move him to a calmer spot see what happens
 
The trach is not a filter feeder. Sometimes they are finicky and like to open more at night. Have you tried feeding it something meaty? It is possible you are dealing with 2 separate issues since clams and trachs are no where near similar creatures. I shocked a welso once by having it too high. Maybe you did the same with the trach. How many bulbs are you running? Hopefully it will do better (over time) now that you moved it to the bottom.
 
It's hard to feed it anything meaty because its totally closed up and the fish just swoop in and get it before it can take it in. The only place the trach likes is that spot because the intake is right there and blasts it on the back side..that plus 5 cap fills of some supplement called Fuel are the only times it opens. Sitting on the bottom it literally does not open at all morning noon or night. It used to open all the time when I had two powerful power heads shooting across the short part of the tank..I may have to go back to massive flows like that again. I switched to the MP40 on the long side to settle the tank down and give it a more natural wave action but even that doesn't seem to be enough.
The clam I'm really disappointed with because that thing has no reason not to be wide open. I go to the LFS's and all their clams are nice and open and mine is just half way open. The one fish I do see as an annoyance to the clam is the cleaner wrasse. It's constantly picking around the clam.
Im running the aquaticlife R7S 2 metal HO 150w 14k lights with 4 T5's and 4 LEDs. It's a pretty good light from what I've been told.

Should I dose Kalk at night? Will that help the clam? Do I need another MP40 on the other side? I'm frustrated and don't want to invest in any more corals until the trach and clam are basically doing what theyr supposed to do.

Thanks everyone for your responses.
 
I'm not sure what kalk is supposed to do for clams. Not saying it doesn't do anything, just saying I've never heard of kalk being used to help clams. Also, low flow would not (should not) cause a clam to stay closed. The Fuel you are using has a type of algae in it and that is probably sparking the clams appetite. Clams are filter feeders but they mostly are photsynthetic. The exception is clams under 2", they rely mostly on filter feeding and will usually die without it. How big is your clam? I would try dosing phyto and see what happens. Chances are if the Fuel had an effect then phyto will have a greater effect. Have you inspected your clam very closely for parasites, more specifically pyramid snails? Sometimes taking the clam out and scrubbing the outershell with a toothbrush can remove harmful parasites. Next you could try a FW dip. Make sure you match the ph and temp of the water. Dip for 5 minutes the first time then wait a day and see if there is any improvement. You can dip for several days in a row and increase the amount of time you dip each time. I've never diped for more than 10 minutes. This is, of course, assuming that the Foxface isn't being a dick. Other than this, I'm all out of ideas.
 
try some rods, suck up a little juice and spit it at the trach, wait a few minuts to see if you get a feeding response (look for tentacles), then go back and give him some larger pieces, once they are in the tentacles, the fish are less likly to snag them, but some will
 
That sucks. I lost a clam once when all my other clams were perfectly healthy. Sometimes they just die.
 
If only i could be so lucky!! This is the 3rd one!! Toad stool is crashin..elegance gone..trach is just not responding and acanth is not as full as it used to be. :/ what am i doing wrong!?!
 
All you've stated is your sg, ph and ca. Also that NO3 and PO4's are low. What's your alk? Your pH of 8.4 is safe but on the higher side of "ok". How much does your pH swing? (night vs. morning) Temp is usually not an issue unless you're regularly swinging too low or too high.

I usually do 2 things if I see corals unhappy. 1 a WC, which you're doing weekly, and 2, run some good carbon. Are you running carbon?
 
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