Clam in a pico

nanoman27

New member
Is it possible to keep a clam in a 3 gallon pico. If so what kind of lighting would work . This would be until i set up my 30 gallon with metal halide and t5.I have a 18w power compact how many more of these lamps would i need to do it or is there a light i could buy besides a metal halide mayeb a 40w t5.
 
No don't do it. If you're going to setup a bigger tank with better lighting than just wait. No sense in getting impatient and getting something you can't support. Good things come when you wait

The pico would have to be extremely stable; no temp fluctuations, no salinity fluctuations, 0 ammonia and nitrite. I don't know how much ALK and calcium it would consume in a small pico

if it was 10 gallons or 20 then I say it'd do okay, but again make sure everything is stable and you have at least 150w MH or T5HO with individual reflectors over the tank. Something like a squamosa or deresa could maybe tolerate less lighting, but they'll get rather large if you plan on keeping them
 
yeah I wouldn't do it. I have a clam in a 24gal and it takes my alk down 1 dkh overnight. I could only imagine in a pico.
 
i have 3 clams in my 12g and they dont mind the flucuations in temp or salinity. my params stay about the same most of the time. thats just my 2cents
 
The lighting wouldn't matter if the rest it home is unstable. And keeping the temp, salinity, calcium/ Alk/ Mag levels, ph, nitrate, nitrite, amon would be an very tedious task. I have to dose B-Ionic every day in my 50g system.

You would have to get a small clam no doubt and thought i've heard that small clams are way more dependent on Phyto to live and need frequently. Phyto can extremly polute water, and in a 3g tank would be very difficult. Why risk killing such a amazing animal by providing with a rediculously small tank for what its recomeded to be housed in.

The smallest recomended tank for any of the giant clams is 50g in Ronald Shimeks Marine Invert book. A 3 gallon tank would be 6% of the recomended volume.
 
wait! put it in your new setup! you can sustain clams unser T-5, no need to get it now, just get it then!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14318417#post14318417 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by unbreakable
The pico would have to be extremely stable; no temp fluctuations, no salinity fluctuations

While I wouldn't put a clam in a tiny tank myself, I'm not sure I agree that they can't tolerate temperature and salinity fluctuations. Croceas often live in water so shallow that they're exposed to air during lowtide, or left in tidepools which can heat up rapidly or have their salinity change by heavy rain.

low_tide5.jpg


low_tide6.jpg
 
I would agree with TWallace on the salinity issue. I've done fresh water dips on a Tridacna Crocea for pinched mantle and right back in the aquarium after 30 minutes. It did not seem to be a problem.
 
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