Flame Scallop Behavior???

[chuckdallas]

In my limited experience, the coolest looking animals for the aquarium are usually the toughest ones to keep alive. I think that Flame Scallops look really cool, but I have a couple of questions.

1 - Are they filter feeders and live off phytoplankton, whic need to be fed everyday?
2 - Will they bury underneath the sand and stay there without showing their tentacles for a week at a time? This would defeat the purpose of me buying one.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

They are nearly impossible to keep alive long term due to their specific diet needs. The phyto available in the hobby just isn't sufficient to keep them fed properly. I'd skip the flame scallop and go for a tridacna clam, but only if you have the proper lighting..

 

[scram42]

Flame Scallops are what they call "rentals". You'll have it for a little while but it will die in a very short time. I don't know why pet stores keep stocking these animals. Really sad!!

 

[Beaun]

It's really one of those things that should probably not be sold in shops, very few people are ready to provide enough food for them.

 

[chuckdallas]

Like I said, in the beginning of this thread....all of the cooler looking animals are the toughest to keep. Okay, I'm not going to get one, but was wondering do they burrow in the sand and stay hidden like olives or nassarius snails?

 

[sheamurai]

No, they don't hide in the sand - they hide under rock.
So you will scarcely ever see it, unless by chance it happens to pick a spot where you will see its tentacles.

What they do is wedge themselves under a rock where there is flow, and extend their tentacles into the flow to capture food. This way they can retract to safety whenever threatened.
If you remove it from where it hides each time it goes, most likely outcome is that you will stress it to death.

So they pretty much do stay hidden, all you ever see, if that, is their tentacles.

 

[davocean]

I had them years ago.
It was neat to see them squirt around the tank, it's a bit surprising how well they can flutter about, but usually it was just to seek out a dark area of the tank, they don't seem to like light very much, so don't expect to see them very often, and as stated they don't survive very long normally.