New to Clams - is this normal?

[MysticWater]

Hello all,
I am new to clams and I just recieved my first one last friday. Well its been a week and it does not seem to open like it did the first couple of days since I got him.
Is this normal?
I have a 90 Gal. with 2 175w 10,000K MH and 2 96wt Acentic PC's, Checked PH 8.2, Ammonia 0, Nitites .1, Nitrates way up off the scale but it has been this way since forever.

Here are some pics of before and after. Sorry the secind picture is a little blue.

[zanymaster]

Try moving him to better light but don't move him too much.They get stressed out easily.They're suppoded to be open all the time when the lights are on.Check for phosphates?

[MysticWater]

OK thanks I will try checking the Phosphates. I had moved him down the other day thinking it was getting to much light but after it stopped opening I moved him back to the top. Its about 12" from the top of the water and another 7" from the lights so a total of 19" from the lights.
I will check the water and see what happens - maybe rearrange the rocks to get him closer to the top.

[zanymaster]

Most people just have them on the sand.Moving him up may be too much for him.Mine died because of the tank crashing.

[zanymaster]

You mentioned that your nitrates are high?Well that's not good.Your skimmer is'nt doing it's job.How high is it?

[MysticWater]

Well my tester only goes up to 50mg/L and its a darker color then that so hard to say. I do water changes and feed sparingly. It has been this way for at least a year it just does not want to go down.
Any suggestions? I have thought of doing a multiple stage water change, but I don't want to put everything into a shock.

[zanymaster]

What kind of skimmer do you have?How much rock do you have?

[MysticWater]

I have an AquaSystem Skimmer in the sump which I dump the contents every couple of days, as for Live rock if I remember correctly it was around 60lbs. The system has been running for the last 6 yrs and nitrates have always been high.

[zanymaster]

You need to match pound per gallon so you're about 40 pounds short.Get more rock and you'll see the levels drop.That clam may not make it with those high nitrate levels.

[MysticWater]

Thanks for your help and insite, I will see what I can do tomorrow about getting some more - hopefully it won't be to late.

[zanymaster]

Also,See if you can put some macro-algae in your sump but it needs light.Any pc lighting will do.I use cheatomorpha.It looks like brillo.

[Loverotties]

You should of waited to buy the clams till you had your nitrates under control.Keep doing the Water changes like 1 or 2 a day to get them down.

[MysticWater]

Loverotties,
I am getting some more Live rock today and on another good note he did fully open up today.