FIRST CLAM ON THE WAY! calling all clam owners
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Invertebrates
Forum Description: This is the place to ask questions about invertebrates.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78893
Printed Date: November 22 2024 at 8:08am
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Topic: FIRST CLAM ON THE WAY! calling all clam owners
Posted By: Fishbot
Subject: FIRST CLAM ON THE WAY! calling all clam owners
Date Posted: January 25 2016 at 11:48pm
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Been in the hobby off and on over 20 years and never actually owned a clam before. Well that changes tomorrow when this guy arrives from live aquaria: http://m.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+1&ddid=294167 Size is 1.75" So I thought I would seek advice from the board. Acclimation, placement - whatever you feel like posting about clams that you think might be helpfull. Tank specs: 40g breeder w/20 gallon refugium 250w 20k radium and 100w 3k home depot MH on fuge Bare bottom main tank 3" sand bed in fuge Extensive macro in fuge Tank is 5 years old but recently revamped 4 months ago for sps Numerous sps frags doing great ConeS skimmer Carbon and mesh filter sock cleaned often Weekly 5g Water changes with reef crystals & RoDi Kalk in ATO Nitrate .01ppm salifert Phosphate .03ppm ulr hanna Alk 8-9dkh CA 425 MG 1350 SG 34ppt ------------- As for Fishbot, I am glad that someone can manage to be perceived as a bigger dick than me. --Dion |
Replies:
Posted By: phys
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 1:50am
| Looks fine to me |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 6:59am
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I agree with phys, except for the bare bottom. Tridacna clams will attach themselves to rocks but often they will throw themselves down to the sand. Most like to be in a sand bed. Follow the acclimation instructions that come with the clam from liveaquaria, or if instructions are missing, call me at 808-345-1049. If you want that young clam to really thrive, feed it phytoplankton two or three times weekly. The best place to get Phytoplankton in it's easiest and most economical form is www.brineshrimpdirect.com I recommend this: http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c6/Tahitian-Blend-Reef-Tank-Formula-c59.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c6/Tahitian-Blend-Reef-Tank-Formula-c59.html The way to feed is to add a couple drops of frozen Tahitian Blend Algae Paste(slurry) to a small cup of tank water, stir briefly until mixed then pour directly in to the aquarium. Use enough that it turns the tank water just slightly green. This is part of my "whole tank feeding" regimen. It feeds many kinds of bugs and worms which then provides food for the larger animals on up the "food chain". Clams filter it directly out of the water and along with good light, it helps Tridacna clams grow and flourish. Aloha, Mark  P.S. This was my favorite Tridacna clam, a 9" Squamosa given to me by a friend.  Another pic of my clams in the past, before prices skyrocketed.  (Same Crocea in both pics) ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: DMower
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 7:46am
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Put a piece of flat rock or a small flat piece of old coral skeleton under it, I had a large dead chalice piece that I use. It will attach to that then you can still move it around if you need to. I put sand around the piece so it looks like it's on the sand bed. ------------- 150 gal reef with 50 gal sump. Reef Octopus DCS-200 Skimmer. AI Sol Blues. |
Posted By: ctreeftank
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 9:11am
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Also remember that the clam will move |
Posted By: ctreeftank
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 9:14am
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Mine has moved like 4 or five times before it ancored it self to a flat Rock were its happy |
Posted By: Hogie
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 9:55am
| When you put it in the tank, make sure you "burp" the clam. They can get an air bubble stuck inside them when exposed to air, so you just have to tip it to get any air bubble out. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 7:07pm
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Good advice. Since we are on the subject, I hope you don't mind just a little more info. Bringing home my Tridacna squamosa, it was so large that it had to be removed from the friends tank and set endways in a 5 gal bucket of it's tank water. When I put it in my tank, frankly I don't remember if I did anything to allow bubbles to burp. A day or so later I awoke to see it spewing a faint cloud swiftly from it's siphon tube. I then remembered a guest speaker, John Walch, had told us about the clam farms he had set up at several South Pacific islands. Setting really large clams out beside the raceways in the sun for a bit and then putting them back in the raceway caused them to spawn. It's really hard to see, the water had some phyto, but here is the pic of mine doing, what I believed at the time, was spawning.   ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Fishbot
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 8:28pm
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Great advice everyone! Thank you! Sure enough i came home to find the clam off the nice rock cradle I made and upside down on the bare bottom. I put him back and he seems to not have injured himself in the ordeal. Not sure what to do next since I don't want a repeat of this ordeal. ------------- As for Fishbot, I am glad that someone can manage to be perceived as a bigger dick than me. --Dion |
Posted By: Bryce
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 8:45pm
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get 2 inch slice of 3 to 4 inch diameter PVC pipe or a soup bowl. Put a flat rock/or some type of flat coral skeleton in bottom of it (a clam corral/trap). Place clam on top of the flat rock, if needed add a little sand or rocks so clam can stay upright. After a week or 2 the clam's foot will attach to the flat rock or coral. Then move the clam where you want it. Keep an eye on the clam, if you note it starting to detach, he does not like where he is at and move it. Whenever mine was going to move you could tell as the foot would start to release and you could see white strands from it. My clam moved 3 times in 3 years, they are cool but can be a pain. ------------- 65g Reef |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 26 2016 at 9:40pm
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Like I said, it threw itself off the rocks to be on the sand. As in my pics above, a clam likes to bury itself partway in the sand by using its foot or, as my clam in another tank, to attach to a rock down between rocks or in a wide crack. Aloha, Mark  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 28 2016 at 7:35am
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I love clams. Here is a good article that includes a section on clam care: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-10/jf/index.php" rel="nofollow - http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-10/jf/index.php For reference sake, a later utahreefs forum thread discussing a Tridacna Clam that isn't opening and another that may be opening too wide. http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=79523" rel="nofollow - http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=79523 I just saw a Youtube video of a clam farm in Palau showing clams being moved around. No "burping" They probably burp themselves. Aloha, Mark
------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Fishbot
Date Posted: January 28 2016 at 9:39pm
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Thanks Mark! I'll read it right now. Btw Clam is doing great so far. Added a small bowl with sand and he seems as happy as... well a clam! Can someone point me to a sticky on how to attach images to posts? PS love the blue spotted stingray in your tank above. ------------- As for Fishbot, I am glad that someone can manage to be perceived as a bigger dick than me. --Dion |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 29 2016 at 7:20am
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Pics in posts? We got it. Look in the Reefkeeping Tips. Why did I put it there? Because so many people needed the information. Aloha, Mark P.S. Knowledge is power. Read the Reefkeeping Tips and how to set up the affordable aquarium. It will give you knowledge and power. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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