Crocea Tilting

[jbittner]

My crocrea clam keeps tilting. I will set him up straight and within a couple of hrs he will be leaning tward the glass. Does he need more light? He is at the bottom of my t5--55 gal tank. The larger crocrea place next to him is doing great. The tilter seems to be extending a little more than the larger one. I just placed him upright and will take a pic when he tips.

 

[joeychitwood]

I have a Crocea that does the same thing (tilts) no matter where I place it, be it on rock or sand. I had to move the clam when I added another Seio pump, and I've had trouble finding a spot where it seems happy. So far, it's jumped from every site I've tried.

 

[deepbelow]

clams move to where they are getting good flow and enough lighting. not everyone is lucky enough to get a clam to stay in a position of good viewing.


B

 

[spoiledcats]

What kind of light do you have? Clams do what they want to be comfortable as far as their limits allow. It took about 3 weeks after we got our clam to find a place that it was happy. Even when it found a place it liked, it still turned quite a bit while attached to find just the right position. But crocea's do prefer to be on rock. Yes they can survive in the sand, but their preference in the wild is on rocks that they can bore into.

 

[Sk8r]

I set my crocea where I'd ideally like to have it, then read it should be in the rocks. So I set it up in the rocks. It immediately catapulted itself out and back where it started. So there it stays, obliging tilting itself to display its mantle to best advantage, within 3 inches of the glass. It's been there for months, between a rock, the glass and a fox. That's what it picked, so that's what it gets, and I'm happy with it.

 

[NYReef]

I came to the clam forum for just this exact question and was amazed to find it right on the first page! My crocea is on a rock near the bottom of my 30 gal. cube. I have always seen them placed so that they are along the axis of the edge of the shell so the mantle can get maximum exposure to the light (150 watt MH). No matter how I place it, the clam will always move so that is is lying mostly on one shell at about a 45 degree angle to the base it is on. It seems very healthy and has been in the tank for several months, my question is, can it live this way for the long term and be healthy and grow? Do clams have to be situated so that they are perpendicular to the base, or is it normal for "leaning"?

 

[spoiledcats]

I think most people want them upright for our viewing pleasure. If the clam is happy tilting, leave it. They don't care what they look like in our tanks. You should see how mine is attached to the rock right now. Last week the rock it was on fell down, so it moved. Now it looks like its glued to the side of the rock, but it's happy there cause it won't move off, so I'm not going to mess with it. I figure, if it doesn't like the way it's attached, it will move.