Hello! New Clam Owner

[Xanareef]

Hello all!

For valentines day my hubby bought me a new coral, and brought my father-in-law along. To make a long story short, it was mentioned that our next "big purchase" will be a clam.

So my father-in-law bought us one. I was pleasantly surprised when they got home.

Unfortunately, since I wasn't planning on buying a clam until at least the end of March, I kind of put off my researching on the care required.

8 months old
29 gallon
one 175w 10,000k MH
2 A. Ocellaris
1 synchiropus ocellatus
2 skunk cleaner shrimp
2 hermit crabs (one unknown, one scarlet)
Brown Button Polyps (hitch hiker)
a single ricordea
medium sized tubastrea colony (Sun Coral)

I keep my tank at 80 F, SG 1.0026, the chemical tests I use are all perfect (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, pH 8.1)

The lighting period is 12 hours a day, fade on at 8 am and fade off at 8pm.

Does anyone have any advice, or if you'd like to point me in the right direction for researching, I'd love to hear it.

I look forward to browsing this board with you all in the future,

Alexis

P.S. We're taking pictures of the acclimation process, and will have in tank pictures available asap.

 

[Peabody]

That all sounds good for a clam. Be sure your calcium and alk are good though. You should probably invest in some salifert CA and ALK tests as well as some B-Ionic .

What kind of clam do you have?

The only problem with your setup I see is not clam related...your tank is small for a scooter blenny. They are just like mandarins in their food requirement. Are you lucky and have one that eats tons of prepared food?

Best of luck!
Jeff

 

[Xanareef]

Our scooter is a pig, she fights with our A. Ocellaris clowns to get food. I made absolutely sure that she was eating before we brought her home, and she hasn't stopped yet. Her tank mates were also eating quite a bit, but she was so spunky we couldn't resist her.

It's awesome that you've shown the concern though. It's very refreshing to know that people will speak up about these issues, as they can be representative of poor husbandry

As for the calcium and alk, I knew I was getting a small frag of a "Montipora" from my hubby, so we've prepared for that need.

As for the type of clam, I think it's a maxima, it has the shelfy look to it's shell, very unsmooth. I'll be posting pictures asap, they're on the digital camera, waiting to be posted.

I'm so excited, i'm practically vibrating.

Alexis

 

[Xanareef]

This is a picture of the Scooter Dragonet, named Persephone. She had dug her way under the tubastrea's feeding hat and was monopolizing the food source.

Alexis

 

[Peabody]

Sounds great! A scooter blenny is such a cool little fish....maybe I should find one of those just like yours for my tank!

Sounds like you are off to a great start! Keep us posted with pics and such!

 

[Xanareef]

Here is a picture of it 10 minutes after being put in the tank.

a better shot of it's shell..

Alexis

 

[Peabody]

That's a T. Crocea, and a nice looking one too.....good luck!

 

[Casino]

Did you just place them on the sand or did you put something underthem?

 

[Xanareef]

Did you just place them on the sand or did you put something underthem?

In the previous pictures, the clam was in the substrate. This morning, I read that crocea clams like a solid base, so I moved it about 1/2 way up my rockwork onto a solid spot. I've since read that they can also be happy in the substrate, and because I thought it looked a lot better in the sand, we'll be moving it back to the substrate after tonight's reef meeting.

Here is a picture of the clam from above the tank, on the rockwork:

Here is a picture of it on the rockwork, through the glass.

This guy is has such awesome colours, they change depending on the angle you are looking at him from.

Alexis