Christy's Reef

So after discovering my dead gold maxima, my teardrop maxima wasn't looking so hot either. About 5 days later I discovered that my teardrop was sunken in (more than usual, its quite the cranky clam), only slightly responsive and gaping like I've never seen before. The incurrent siphon had to be at least 2 inches across. I was horrified. Something in that phophate remover does not make maxima clams happy thats for sure. I immediately fired up the RODI and made water for yet another waterchange of 15 gallons this time. Anyway, the clam has been lingering for days now, its not gaping anymore but its still pretty unhappy and the mantle is retracted quite a bit, some is sort of touching the volutes around the edge of the shell but for the most part, well its looking pretty rough. I was reading in my clam book (Giant Clams in the Aquarium by James Fatheree) and he says that once they gape they're goners. I dunno if this one is just going to die a lingering death or prove James wrong. I'm hoping for the latter. The exhalant siphon moves about quite a bit and when I poke the mantle he does get a bit pissy with me so he's not quite dead yet. Strangely enough both croceas and the squamosa are fine, like nothing is wrong.

One of the side effects of all of this is a friggin WICKED case of cyano. Its disgusting, purply red snotty blanket of crap growing over EVERYTHING!! Its on corals, rock, the glass, its just gross. I keep turkey basting and I've done a few waterchanges and siphoned it out too, but to no avail. The waterchanges were mostly to get whatever was in affecting the clams diluted anyways but frig me, now I have to do research on cyanobacteria. I feel like a total noob. At least I know its not a flow issue.

Yet another waterchange is in order it would seem. Yay.