Do clams eat rotifers?

[optimum]

I've had a 120 for about 18 months with mainly sps. I saw a tiger stripe clam at the lfs and had to have it. I feed live phyto to the tank every day along with a live rotifer culture. Does the clam eat rotifers? If it does, are the rotifers a better food than the phyto?

 

[mhurley]

[moved]

 

[Typhon]

I don't think clams eat rotifers, only phytoplankton. But i am going to have refer back to my "Giant Clams" book before I can definitely answer that question.

 

[jda]

Rotifers are too big. Live phyto is the best. The dead or semi dead phyto products can clump and get too big for a clam to be able to eat.

 

[Charlie Davidson]

Rotifers are to feed?

 

[john76]

Rotifers are to feed corals...... phtyoplankton is to feed rotifers, clams, sponges, etc...

 

[SeanT]

Another way is that:
Rotifers are meat.
Phyto are plant (like).

Clams are vegetarians.

 

[ADS]

That is correct. Saltwater rotifers are B.plicatilis which is ~200microns in size. It is zooplankton(animal/small crustacean).
It is for feeding carnivorous corals and larval fish primarily.
It is too large for feeding clams which require small particles in the 10micron size range. Phytoplankton is ideal for feeding clams due to it's particle size(some phyto vary in particle sizes depending on species of phyto).
Live phytoplankton is best. Some commercial preparations as mentioned are dead and have clumped particles that exceed the usable particle size for clams.
Hope this helps-
Adam