File Clam "Flame Scallop"

[fishnut321]

Ok I have been intruiged with the file clams and have been comtemplating adding one to my system for awhile. First of all what would be the most acceptable fish that could be housed with this very fragile and defenseless creature? Secondly will micro brittle stars, bristle worms, pods, etc. cause any sort of harm to this creature? Lastly, would it be feasable to feed a file clam phyto in a seperate container containing a large concentration of "green water" without causing incredible amounts of stress? Assuming that a combination of live, frozen and dried phyto would be added to a volume of tank water in a seperate container, caputure the creature without touching it (back it into a jar), let it feed for a good amount of time, and then very carfully replace it into its favorite hiding niche. Im trying to think of any other variables that could possibly hinder the care of this creature, but i cannot think of any at this time. I would like to thank anyone who responds to this ahead of time, especially for information allowing me to keep a difficult species.
Thanks

 

[fishnut321]

does anybody have any experience with keeping this animals for long periods of time???

 

[kfisc]

You may have luck with these; I don't know anyone else who has. If you can manage to get on to the search function, you'll find a long history of posts describing the reasons why attempting this is ill-advised. Good luck, just the same-

 

[fishnut321]

From what i understand from reading posts and articles is that there are three major reasons why people have little success:

1- improper freeding; both particle size and variety
2- predation: vertebrate and invertebrates find the clam tasty, just like other tridacnid clams which they are related to
3- the difficulty in discerning whether or not they are alive or not

The problem is with a 40 gallon stand alone reef is that i cannot afford monetarily and biogically to support a large enough concentration of pyhtoplankton, in the needed range of 1-50 um. Supplying the right concentration will turn the water too green and i would constantly have to add more due to skimmer removal.

I was also wondering how these animals ship and acclimatize to the aquarium, suspecting that the animal, like all aquatic life has probably not eaten in weeks?

Thanks for the replies, im in high school right know and unfortunantely get much time to research this hobby thouroughly enough to meet my satisfaction.

Thanks

 

[fishnut321]

surely someone has some bit of information that can add to this thread. PLEASE!!! :rollface:

 

[Chad Vossen]

i have had mine for 7 weeks now. i feed it phyto, its a red juice. i got mad at it, and instead of killing it i made a sump and stuck him down there. doesnt seem to like light much so it wont bother it. its had its tenticle thingys stung by my rock anemone a few times. but no bad results. i got mad at this clam because it doesnt stay still. at night it will swim around the tank finding spots and attaching strands to rocks and glass then moving again.
my little 10 gallon is full of these little string things lol. it did stay put in a hole under some liverock for about 2 weeks. then decided to move out but the next morning he was back in the hole. since he has climbed my glass and caused chaos. it can attach to glass, then reach higher, attach and pull itself up. so it actualy can climb the glass *(in my experience)