An unintended clam...a love story...

[Sk8r]

I don't impulse-buy, but I know my 52 sps/lps is good, well-lighted, and stable, I'd just rid myself of a large problem fish, and, well, I started out to get a little 1 inch squamosa that wouldn't have accidents with my nanofish. I ended up with a 5 inch crocea, beautiful mantle with shades of green as well as brilliant blue accents, fat fellow---weighs far more than I'd expected a clam to weigh.

I'm a great believer in the invert pyramid: building up layers of life in the system to support the corals and fish, and it seemed as if a clam might be a good thing. I didn't know how good.

Now I had not a clue what clams ate: I supposed they just filtered the water, but when I got mine, a little late for most purposes, I started reading at the top of this forum---really excellent articles I've recommended in the newbie forum; and to my delight, I feed phytoplankton already for the copepods for the mandarin, so I'd already done that...

So the clam has set up shop, opened up---I tried to put it in the rocks, but it immediately catapulted itself out onto the sand and I decided not to quarrel with it. It's open, it's siphoning like mad, and it's right under the light, so I hope it's happy as a...well...

Clam physiology is so weird it has to fit in the Star Trek category (just read the articles!), and I'm delighted with its beautiful blues. I'm a thorough convert, and now believe every aquarium that can should have one, for the health of the system and just for what they are.

 

[reverendmaynard]

 

[Sk8r]

Just as soon as my lights come on---

 

[reverendmaynard]

I couldn't wait to use that smilie!

Seriously though, clams are underrated. I think a lot of people are afraid of them, and maybe that's a good thing in some cases, but if you can succesfully keep lps and/or sps corals, you can and should keep a clam or three.

 

[Sk8r]

And by keeping them well, you build up the strength of the other phyto feeders and those who live on them: I'm convinced that the best food for fish is what of their natural prey they can hunt and catch...mandarins living off a tank's natural population, fish that eat algae, etc. We can't go too much higher up the food chain because it gets expensive, but a bottle of phytoplankton doesn't break the bank, and the worms and all keep the corals fed: light, phyto, copepods, fish, snails and worms, it's a really great way to have a tank run, and you don't have to panic if you can't feed over a weekend...hey, and at least the actinics are on: I got you that photo.

 

[reverendmaynard]

Sweet clam!

Here's my squamosa...

 

[Sk8r]

I love the squamosa. That's a lot like the one I was after. Here's the crocea...which ought to be in rock, I know, but it spat itself out. It's looking fairly content, early on, which makes me happy...