One of our LFS's just got a shipment of REALLY nice ultra croatia clams, they are very blue!  LIke the one in the picture, and you can't beat the price.

Also I have noticed that Clams don't do so well if you are having algae problems.

I think algae and bacteria must be the number killer of clams (ok a side from people, I agree they are super yummy!)

What have you done to keep the bad stuff away from your clams?

1.  Don't add clams until tank is fully cycled.

2.  Don't let stuff die  (ha ha ha ha)

3.  Place clams under sufficient lighting.  (the bigger they get the more light they need)

4.  Once the clam has set its foot leave it alone (the less stress the better!)

My old one is on the left the new one is on the right.

Aquatica in Orem

$35 - $45

And these aren't tiny tiny ones either, they are the 2 - 4 inchers!

Nope, never had one die, but I did have a red flame die on me agian, I'm replacing him with another clam.

No - but there is a story which I have read several times about a diver not having his buoyancy under control, landing on a giant clam and loosing his foot. Fact or fiction? Some of those giant clams are probably large enough :-)

They look better then the clam in my picture right over there

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Also the wto guys that I told about this went and saw them and they both bought one.

These normally sell for $75.00!  They are truely colorful clams.

I'm home now, but I'll be back up that way tomorrow.

Kull wrote: 3.  Place clams under sufficient lighting.  (the bigger they get the more light they need)

Actually, usually the bigger the clam gets the less light they need.  For 2 reasons.

#1  They have a larger mantel and can "catch" more light.

#2  As they grow bigger they become heavy plankton eaters, reducing their need for intense light.

Some of the hardest clams to keep are those little tiny guys (<3"), especially the maximas and croceas.  They have not yet mastered the art of catch plankton and need a huge amount of light to survive.

Interesting that you should reverse what I had said about the light.  I haven't seen actual scientific write ups either way I've gone off word of mouth so I readily admit that I could be wrong.   Can you back yours up?  I think that you at least have the expierance that you can write from

Jake Pehrson wrote: Some of the hardest clams to keep are those little tiny guys (<3"), especially the maximas and croceas.  They have not yet mastered the art of catch plankton and need a huge amount of light to survive.

I have heard the opposite. The smaller they are, the less photosynthetic algae they have to survive on, hence the need for more plankton.

Here's a brief synopsis of Daniel Knop's view regarding feeding, species by species.  http://www.reefs.org/library/article/d_knop2.html - http://www.reefs.org/library/article/d_knop2.html  

In that I have have these two species:

T. crocea has adapted to the strong illuminated environment and therefore does not take up any floating particles such as phytoplankton or others.

T. derasa is also a "clear water clam" that does not filter anything. It has, in fact very sensitive gills that tend to clog when there is a high density of floating particles in the water, may this be planctonic food or just stirred up sediments from the gravel.

According to this article I should very wary of feeding them anything.

As a matter of speaking I shouldn't even stir up anything in the tank as it will clog them up.

Nothing much worse then a constipated clam 

ssilcox wrote: I have heard the opposite. The smaller they are, the less photosynthetic algae they have to survive on, hence the need for more plankton.

I know that many people disagree with me on this one.  Including Theil and others.  I cannot site a reference for my above statement. 

I could be wrong.

Here are my personal observations.

When clams come in small (<3-4"), the only way I have good success with them is by putting them in very high lighting (halides).  If the lighting is intense they will live.  If it is not most of them will die.  Feeding the smaller clams does not help IME.

When I bring in larger clams 4-5"+ I can put them in a tank with VHO's and plankton and they do great (although the intense light doesn't hurt).  In fact most of them will eat up the plankton almost as fast as I give it to them.  The smaller clams only seem to intake a small amount of phyto (if any).

What type of clam is it?

I think that with most clams the color is a genetic thing.  They are either really pretty or not so pretty, you get what you get.  However I think that the lighting contributes a lot to how they look.  More blue seems make the shime and glow.

I know that my squamosa looks realy drab under noraml 10k light, but put it under the 20k it looks fanominal.  I run a 13k hqi on one side and a 20k on the other sisde of a 36" tank.  the lights mixes and most of the tank is under both the 13k and the 20k.

They all seem to be what they are.  Any thoughts on this one?

ok I'm not trying to fuel the fire any more, but

"the Crocea Clam needs bright lighting to live, grow, and keep its intense colors ... All clams also require micro foods designed for filter feeders, especially when small. Offer phytoplankton and other micro-foods." ( http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=579 - http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=5 79   December 1, 2004)

I'm enjoying bring back old posts. Can anyone verify if it is true that a clam will do better once all algae "problems" are under control? I've got the halides, and my wife wants more color, but I don't want a dead clam. Thanks!

Jamison

I'm not looking to run out and buy a clam right away. Just trying to plan things now to give me the best chance for success. Somehow I knew you would respond Mark. Thanks for always offering sound advice and putting things into the perspective of the ever-cautious reefer. I know it saves us a lot of frustrations...when we listen.

By-the-way, I refuse to give in to beleiving that that macro-nuisance is anything more than a slow growing eye sore. We'll just have to agree to diagree on that one. I can get you a piece if you want some. Here's a pic to entice you.