Crocea Clam Browning/Bleaching???

[Reefie]

I have a Crocea clam that has some brown patches, could this be bleaching or not enough light? The clam originally had the brown patches when I bought it about a month ago.

I'm running Vertex Illumilux LEDs, which should provide more than enough light. I've also just added a couple of Ecoxotic White & Blue stunners to add a bit more light. I tried moving the clam up higher near the LEDs with no change, so I've ended up moving it back a little lower (10" from LEDs).

Will it get the colour back or will it stay brown? It has great blue colouration on the mantle, so I'd rather have it colour back up. Any suggestions?

If the colour does come back, how long will it take? It is happy where it is located now, it fully opens. I also give a squirt of Brightwell's Phytogold-M once a day, plus I dose Brightwell's Liquid Reef for the trace elements.

I have 5 clams in total, 2 Crocea's (the other one is purple with blue dots on the mantle), 2 Derasa's, and my latest addition of an Ultra Blue Maxima.

Here is an older pic of the clam in question. I apologize for the quality of the pic (Iphone 4).

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee368/NanoReefie/fphoto202.jpg

[christyf5]

nope that looks natural to me, lots of croceas have that neat pattern, just a result of crossbreeding with other colors of clams IMO

[Bblinks]

It does look normal. I don't think it has any issues with it. Was the clam under halide prior to your tank? It might need some time to adjust if that is the case. My lfs has vertex on there frag tank, unfortunately I can,t say those frags are doing good at all. All the sps has dull coloration compare to when the first came in, but on the other hand, in my biocube 29 with DIY Cree 3w LEDs I have several clams whom are doing excellent. I like your husbandry for your clams. I don't think you need to change any of that. I would leave it for a while and see what it does.:wink:

[daniella3d]

dunno about the light but it's not a good thing to put a crocea in the sand. Their filtering system is too fine to withstand such level of dust for a long time. They are better off on the rock. Plus bristle worms can get inside of them much easier if they are in the sand.

[Reefie]

Good point! I didn't think about that, I will move it later when I get home.

Thanks for the tip!

dunno about the light but it's not a good thing to put a crocea in the sand. Their filtering system is too fine to withstand such level of dust for a long time. They are better off on the rock. Plus bristle worms can get inside of them much easier if they are in the sand.

[Reefie]

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee368/NanoReefie/93photo202.jpg