a little clam advise needed:thanks

pixburg-reefer

pixburg-reefer

New member
Hi everyone.
Okay my tank has been set up for a little more than 2 years. I have a 55 gallon reef. I feed it cyclop-eeze 4 times a week, but I feed my 4 fish half of frozen prime reef fish cubes 2 or 3 times a week. I have wanted a clam for ever so I bought my first maxima clam today. It is about 2 inches long, aqua cultured, and is brown with little blue speckles. I have 4 110 watt URI bulbs on my tank. He isn't attached to anything. So I put it in a cup with some sand a flat rock to attach to. Question:
This is my first clam. I know I need to feed it but since I feed my tank so much cyclops do I still need to feed him DT?
How long will it take to attach?
And he doesn't have a lot of mantle exposure but it is over his shell edges. If I do feed him with his mantle keep growing larger and fully expand more?
Thanks
any other info would be great for my first time clam keeping
Kelly
 
Cyclop-ezee is to big for it to eat, you will need to feed it phytoplankton till it's about 3 inchs or then it will be big enough to get the nutriants from the light. With a tank as deep as a 55g you will want to put it towards the top of the tank so it will get enough of the intensity of light it will need.
 
Thank you for the info Azurel. I did put him on a high rock and he is open today. And I will go get some DT's today also.
Thanks
 
He will need regular feedings of DTs (search about a feeding bell or bowl feeding on here)

Be VERY careful about light. Most often maximas need MH light to thrive, and I've seen them croak in VHO tanks. It's a big gamble, so get him as close to the lights as possible!
 
I do have him high up and bout a bottle of DT's. Um i was trying to use to pop bottle top method where you cut off the top of the pop bottle put it ontop of the clam and unscrew the cap, put in the dt's and put the cap back on. But the top keeps comming to the surface because it is plastic. Do I need to target feed him or can I just add it to my tank?
I am part of a local club so if he doesn't seem happy I could sell him to some one with mh.
Kelly
 
You definatly have to feed it. its very hard to feed it using this method when the clam is up on the rocks. I would do some more research and use the bowl feeding method, or bring it back to your LFS and get a deresa or something instead that is more suited to your lighting.
 
I will feed it. But I have another question (and thank you for being so patient with me. It is my first clam and I really want to learn how to take good care of it) okay, so if I fed it using the bowl method, wouldn't that stress it out from me touching it all of the time to put it in and out of the bowl? And, when I move the clam, it shuts up. But when it is shut in the bowl and I add the dt's, does it still circulate and filter the water when it is shut or only when the mantle is open? I think I will trade it for a squamosa. If I did, would I be able to keep that on the sand. I do have vho.
Thanks
Kelly
 
okay. Has any one been successful with maximas under vho? I mean, I understand that mh is the way to go because the more light can get into the water and can go deeper, but Isn't it the same thing if I just have the clam on the very top of my reef?
Kelly
 
Maximas and corceas are species that are pretty much must have MHs. A maxima can survive under high positions with tank that have PC or VHO or 7+ wpg, but even then the do not grow much and loose much color.
 
I understand. So can anyone awncer my previous question about, do clams still fliter the water even when they are shut or is it only when they are open?
Thanks a lot!!!
Kelly
 
If they are tight as a drum, no, but when their exhalent syphon is out they are most likely filtering. Keep in mind that your clam's filtering of your water will be negligible. Don't count on it for anything. Some people use huge gigas clams as bio filters, but even then, they are supplimental, and not to be counted on.
 
I would shy away from keeping a Maxima under VHO's. As you have heard Metal Halide lighting is what the Max. is going to need.
 
Same with me. It's a big gamble. Not completely unheard of them surviving, but not what's best for the animal.
 
The main thing is the depth of your tank....If it is deeper then a 40g then you will need MH. I have some under VHO 330watts in a 40g and they are thriving. The 40g is shallow and with the sand bed it is even shallower my lights are about 2 inchs off the water. I clean them on a weekly basis to make sure there is now salt creep on them. With a 55 I would go with MH just to be safe, I have a MH 175watt system ready to be put together here in the next few weeks. They can and have survived under high VHO lighting but you are assured under MH. "Maximas are of all the clams the most adaptable of all clams and can tolerate substantial changes in environmental conditions, an adaptability that has no doubt contributed to it's wide geograpical range." quote from D.Knop. Crocea is by far the most light hungrey of all Tridacna clams and should not be under VHO..Maximas can be but under certain parameters that would be OK under VHO but as I stated earlier the deeper the tank the more you will need MH lights.
 
my tank is just as deep as a 40 gallon tank. I have him high up on my reef in a small cup with a rock in it. I don't want him to fall since he is not attached. I feed him dt's every day in the cup out side of the tank.
Thanks for your imput
Kelly
 
Just because you "can" keep it, it doesnt mean you will be able to. Some people get lucky. But I'll bet you anything that the maxima in the 40 would color up greatly if it were under MH. That means that it might be survbing, but I always want my livestock to thrive, not survive.
 
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