Clam on a glass bottom tank.

Laura D

Premium Member
Hi all,

I have recently moved, and am temporarily houseing my lovely large derasa clam in a "hotel" tank until my display tank is up and running. The clam seems happy in it's temporary quarters, but I am concerned about it attatching to the glass bottom of the tank, as it has no substrate, just a scattering of sand. I have been keeping the clam on my DSB up until now(~3 years ).

I have looked at it through the bottom of the tank, and it does not have any byssal attachments to the tank bottom yet, but it will be a week or two before I can get it back to it's permanent home.

I would put a pile of sand in the tank for it to rest on, but of course that would cloud the tank up and I would rather leave well enough alone if possible.
 
Laura,
Hello. How large is the derasa? Is he starting to attach? IMO If he does attached to the glass that surface is alot easier to remove a clam from than most. Also if the clam is big enough I do not think he will attach.
Jim
www.tanku.net
 
Thanks for the respose Jim,

It's about six inches at least. I have looked and it has not attached and does not seem to be trying to, I was wondered if this could be a potential problem.
 
Laura, if it does attach, you should be able to remove it with a razor blade. As long as you cut right at the glass, it shouldn't hurt the clam. Get confirmation on that though, before you cut. I suspect that it won't attach though.
 
Laura,
Clams like gigas, hippopus and derasa as they get large use their weight to keep them stable rather than attaching. I think your derasa will not attach also!
Jim
www.tanku.net
 
I am like JohnL , why not just sit him in a flat rock. Don' t think he will attach either but why take a chance.

Jim is correct, normally a large one like that will not attach like a small one that seems to want to hold on to something. :)

Barry
 
The problem with ths flat rock idea, is that this is a small tank, and with the size of the clam, there just isn't room with all the other aquascaping for a rock large enough to keep the clam stable. I put him in this particular tank because there was an open spot on the bottom that was just his size. Every time I have tried to put this guy on a rock, I have found him flopped on the substrate the next day. I have no idea how he can tell, but he has vioced his opinion and prefers to be a substrate dweller. I am reassured that big derasas tend not to attach, so I am not going to worry about it anymore. The clam seems to be thriving in this situation, and so I am going to leave him be until the display tank is back up and running.
 
Back
Top