Crocea laying on its side???

[RegalMan]

I've had several crocea clams in past years, but my latest crocea I've had for two weeks now is a little strange, or maybe not.... who knows. I've placed this clam everywhere and the sand is where it wants to be, which is fine with me. The problem I have with this clam is, it wants to lay on its side? It looks great and nothing else is wrong, except everyone who sees it, ask what knocked over your clam?

 

[cromax]

RegalMan, clams lie on their sides for a variety of different resons. Like people, every clam is different, but here are some possibilities:

1) He was previously kept or has been acclimated to laying on his side. In which case you can try to acclimate him facing upwards - but this is sometimes a losing battle and can cause more stress than is necessary. I have a 3" blue maxima that is like this.

2) Something is ****ing him off in your tank. If he is under new, higher intensity light, he'll curse you and lay on his side. You say he likes swimming in the sand? Croceas in general don't like sand because it irritates their byssal opening. They like rocks, so, if your clam isn't already attached to something, put a small, flat piece of coral rock in the desired location and position him on top of it. It might take a day or two to get used to, but if he likes what he feels, he'll secrete threads in a few days to secure himself.

In any case, if you don't mind a little localized bleaching where there are shadows, your clam won't care much. If you look in the literature you will find that croceas are found in all sorts of weird positions in the wild.

 

[HuBu]

thats true. i would try to put my clam standing up, but he would always slant to the side and one time laying on its side. it pushes itself into that position. maybe your clam is trying to tell you something.

 

[RegalMan]

Thanks guys,

I'll try the flat rock in the sand, it appears he likes it down here at sand level, just doesn't like the sand, maybe thats what this little guy trying to tell me. Keep my butt out of the sand dude!

 

[houstonreefer]

my crocea does the same. He wants to lay down on his side. I straighted him up and he back to side. I do not like my crocea lay on sand b/c he dig sand and mess around. finally i placed him on the rock which has some zooanthid. Do you think it is ok? Before i placed him on the rock i got a peice of arcilic. And i placed him on it. He did not like it and he move around to area of sand only.

 

[Flame*Angel]

My crocea did the same thing when I first got him. I keep my clams on scallop shells on the sand, they seem to like to have something firm underneath. However, the crocea didn't seem to want to attach to the shell and was constantly tipping himself over on his side. After a time he expelled a chunk of bysal threads that had a chunk of rock attached. After that he was just fine. Did you check under your crocea to see if there is any old rock or anything from his previous home?

 

[RegalMan]

Just to let everyone know, I've placed my clam on a piece of live rock from the sump that craddles him/her perfectly. Clam seems to love it! so far! thanks again