Flame scallop

Real Reefs

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My flame scallop has been in the my tank for about 7 months now. Recently I noticed that there is a build up of a white calcerous substance on the tip of its mantle. I saw him/her purge it and the next day the build-up was there again. Anyone observe this before?
 
This happens to mine too. Don't know what it is but it doesn't seem to bother mine. I have had him for about nine months now.
 
Flame Scallop

Flame Scallop

Hi GSurge2 thanks for the response. This also does not seem to be a problem for my scallop.
 
Can these be kept in any tank? Are there predators of them, or are they predators of anything good that I might want? The lfs has these for cheap and I love red, but if they eat good sand critters or if any reef safe fish are not okay with them, I need to know. Thanks:D

Angela.
 
They are filter feeders so they won't harm anything else in your tank. I am not sure about their predators. Maybe some kinds of starfish and perhaps predatory whelks (snails). I doubt you would have any trouble with any kind of reef safe starfish. I did however have some trouble with my scallop in the beginning. He wedged himself between two rocks and kept pushing himself back in there until he caused the rocks to tumble. I finally found a hole to stick him in that he can't mess with anything else.
 
Flame scallops are non photosynthetic creatures, thus, they need to be regulary feed.

They are not recommended to be in tanks because of the lack of food, unless you have a tank with a high bioload so they can filter enough to meet their needs.

I have one that has been doing ok for 3 months, she is on a high current area so i guess sheÃ"šÃ‚´s receiving enough food to thrive. She came attached to a brain coral, so i didnÃ"šÃ‚´t noticed her until i took the coral out of the bag.

I use marine snow, which claims to be a good food source for filter feeders, even do some people says itÃ"šÃ‚´s mainly water.

They are not predators and wonÃ"šÃ‚´t harm any fish or invert. But there are many predators that will eat them or just nibble at them, like angels or triggers, butterflies.

They have a horrendous survival rate in captivity, so I would say it is one of those animals that should be better left in the ocean.

:D :D
 
I would agree with the previous post- unless you feed ALOT they will starve. I run a skimmerless tank and feed both spray dried and live phyto and mine do great.

Leopardshark, I don't want to rain on your parade with feeding marine snow, but you may want to look at this thread with pictures of the types of phyto that people are feeding their tanks. It pretty clearly demonstrates what you are getting in Marine Snow.

-Danny
 
Thanks Dolf, very interesting thread.
Yeah, i know marine snow is not good, but I bought the bottle before knowing that, never gonna buy another bottle .:(
 
My flame scallop has been in my tank for 14 months now. I feed DT's and live rotifers on a regular basis. It was pretty small when I originally got it. It has grown alot and I wonder how long these things live in nature???
Brad
 
Let's be honest, the flame scallops need to stay out of shops and our tanks. They will ALWAYS! to some degree die an untimely death, unless you like $10 shell decorations. Good luck
 
The last time I had a flame scallop about 8 years ago, it would get a chalky substance on the tips of its... its... well, whatever you call 'ems. My guess was that it was sand or waste that was caught up in the mucous from them that built up on the tips of its.... you know.

Also, a little anecdote for you, I honeymooned in Moorea of the Tahitian Islands, and I found a flame scallop under my bungalow deck and when I grabbed it, it swam away from me, and then left the little.... tendrils? on my hand. Kind of weird, they stuck to me like when I've pulled aiptasia out of my system, almost like they had nematocysts. I don't think they do, but I guess it's possible that they trap larger particles of food with their.... tendrils (can anyone tell I'm fishing for someone to tell me what they are properly called?) and then pull them in and eat them, on top of filtering the water.

The end to the story (I was pretty irresponsible, but I wanted to play) was that I fed him to an octopus that was under my bungalow to get him to come out and be friendly with me. Didn't take very long for him to pop out an empty scallop shell.
 
I recently purchased one myself. I have been doing target feeding in a glass and waiting to return him to the tank after the water becomes clear again. He was being attacked for 2 days by what I thought was a Queens Counch ( actually a welk ) I identified it by the trap door and the little snorkle type thingy at the top of his shell.
WATCH OUT FOR WELKS! I'm glad I got mine out of the tank!:mad:
 
I kept a flame scallop for over 2 yra without feeding before I moved. I just had a skimmerless system with a large 'fuge
 
Well,I'm guilty as well in keeping one of this .It's 3yrs old and counting.When I got it it was about the size of a quarter.
I do however feed dt's a lot to the tank.I never moved it or touched it after I put it in a tank and it moved and found a spot to it's liking on it's own.I think there was an article of Rob Toonen about flame scalops somewhere online,but I can't remember where I've read it.
 
Wow Zenya, 3 years? I think you get the award for the longest living Flame scallop in captivity.

For those interested, Dr. Toonen's article on Flame Scallops can be viewed here.

Also, threre's a post from him (Biogeek) in a thread here on RC that's a worthwhile read, and it can be viewed here.
 
Tentacle,
Thanks for the link.That's the article I was refering to:) .I don't know about awards but I'm just happy it's still living:D
It was one of the first impulse buying when I started out 3yrs ago.I might have another one somewhere behind the rocks but not sure.I remember buying two but see only one as it made home in the front part of the tank.
 
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