Deresa Clam

Cutiewitbooty

Cutiewitbooty

New member
I bought a deresa clam yesterday and i had a question. The clam is pretty small only about 2 1/2" and i know that they really don't feed off of the light as much as they would once they reach 3"-4" and they need to be fed more so than a larger clam would need to be. So how exactly do i feed it, do i just squirt some phyto around the clam?How do i know it's actually getting the food, will it just suck it in, filtering it from the water? This is my first clam and i just want to get it right :D BTW I know this clam gets huge, so it will be tken back to the LFS when it gets to big, but i have about a year so i'm not to worried.

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just add a small amount to the tank everyday. clams feed slowly all day long, you wont "see" it feeding, never squirt it at the clam, it will just reject it and can do more harm then good
 
but wont my filters take out any phyto i put into the tank, i have pretty good flow and a mechanical filteration plus a skimmer.
 
I add phtyo to the tank with no problems from the filter, I have never done anything special for my clam and he is 12-13" now
 
ok thanks that makes me feel a little better. I guess he will probally just filter whatever i put in the water. I feed heavy so he will probally pick up all the little itty bitty tiny peices that float around :D
 
What type of Phyto products did you use on the clams. I have the Kent Marine stuff but I've been told that its crap.
 
Clams are interesting in the sense that they are picky eaters. It may often looks like they will take in things when in fact it just gets stuck in their gills and it slowly gets moved to the excretion tube and then expelled.

If you have a skimmer I would at least unplug it for about 30 minutes to an hour but keep the other filtration on. Derasas are considered one of the easiest, if not the easiest clam to keep. My own derasa has beena champ through many issues in my 40 breeder. The guy is now 9 inches and still smiles at me ;)

Before I forget Derasas are best on the sandbed as you have placed it, but they do move on their own. Though it may not be where you like it, in the beginning stages of it's life it may be best to just leave it until it reaches about 4 inches. Of course if it accidently puts itself under a rock or something then you should reposition it.

A lot of people should also be aware of micro bubbles in your tank. A common killer of clams with new owners is that the micro-bubbles collect in the clam and causes a single bigger bubble to form within the clam. Sometimes the clam cannot expel it in time before the bubble start degrading the clam itself... so if possible keep the siphon away from direct flow and an area where micro-bubbles happen to be.

HTH
 
so they sould be on the sand bed. Will a 150watt Mh be able to reach 20" deep to the clam? I just reaquascaped my tank and put him up on the rocks higher to the light, should i put him back down?
 
Either place is ok. If the clam is not happy you'll see him trying to move. If you place any clams on the sand find a small flat rock to put him on. I had 3 clams for over 6 months that were on the rocks and when I set up my new tank I put them on the sand. After one weak I started losing my clams till I found 3 large (10") clam worms that had drilled up from the soft spot on the clams. I was told I should of put them on flat rocks in the sand.
 
I have a Deresa under 260 watts of PC lighting its about 2.5 inches now. Its on a sand bed . Do you think I need to increase lighting further down the road. I thought Deresa's could exist under PCs - I acknowledge MHs are better but..
 
I think Maxima clams tend to be the most demanding of care and feeding when small. As long as you have good light and moderate current, I personally think the Derase will do fine without any special feedings.
 
what makes the maximas so hard? I know i want at least 1 more clam a crocea or a maxima.

Where i put the clam up on the rocks he must happy because i was going to move him, but he had attatched to the rock. So i guess he stays there, since i can't move him, even if i wanted lol
 
Maxima clams smaller than about two inches apparently need feeding in addition to light to survive. Once larger than 2-2.5 inches, they are able to support themselves via light conversion to energy.
 
Deresas do better on the substrate as they don't attach to rocks like croceas etc....
IMO the best way to feed a small clam is to use the 2 liter trick. Cut the top off of a 2 liter bottle and place it over the clam. Squirt some DT's into the bottle top and place the cap on. This way the clam will be able to utilize the phyto. If you just squirt it into the tank it will be so dilluted the clam will not get much.
hth, Chris
 
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