Is sand or rock better for a Gigas?

[McCrary]

My gigas is on the sand right now, but I wanted to know if he would be fine on a rock ledge.

 

[musty baby]

I don't know about rock ledges, but I can say for certain that I never saw a gigas off the sand at the great barrier reef.

 

[musty baby]

Plus - how long will a potentially HUGE clam fit on a rock ledge?

 

[McCrary]

Well he's quite large now which is the issue. The rock is in the sand, so he would sit half in the sand and half on the rock. He can grow a few more inches where he's at now, but the ledge area would provide more room to grow.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

keep it in the sand.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

Well, this guy is going to get huge and out grow your tank in a short time. If it is just on the sand it will likely attach to the bottom pane of glass, making it very difficult to move when the time comes. I would place a flat rock on or in the sand and allow the clam to attach to it.

 

[McCrary]

How fast can I expect him to grow.

 

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8714447#post8714447 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jeremy Blaze
If it is just on the sand it will likely attach to the bottom pane of glass, making it very difficult to move when the time comes

Gigas and Derasa when they get larger use there mass to hold themselves in place. they stop laying down byssal threads and close in the byssal opening(with shell). i have a 10 derasa that has its shell completely closed in. i also have a 10-11" Squamosa that has closed its byssal opening.

the "sand clam" thing is misleading. all the clams will be found up on the reef but only some can be found on the sand

 

[reefkoi]

yeah but basically they work great to fill up the are of the tank known as the bottom or the sand. I sont see what putting thm in the sand hurts? other than sifters spreading sand in the mantles and irritating them. really though with the size a gigas will attain, I cant see it mounted up in the rockwork unless you have a huge tank, it will be a shame to not be able to see the full mantle and appreciate all the colors when viewed from slightly above

 

[McCrary]

I had a very large squamosa that attached itself to a rock. It was about 5" from the top of the tank right under a 250w halide and grew like a weed. But I haven't seen the same growth out of the gigas, how fast will he grow on the sand?

 

[onegreenray]

i have had mine grow from an 1 1/2" to 5 inchs in a year and a half.

 

[McCrary]

Thats some pretty good growth, hopefully mine will step it up a little.

 

[onegreenray]

Give it some time to get used to its new environment.