Maxima keeps moving to the sand?

[RobynT]

I just acquired a 3 1/2" maxima clam. My dilema is that I have tried placing him on the rockwork but he keeps moving himself down to the sandbed. I have a very active orange diamond goby that constantly is rearranging the sand and so this is not a good place for the clam. I have tried 4 or 5 times placing this guy on the lower rocks and he will not stay. I even tried making it difficult for him to move by placing a larger rock in his way and somehow he got around it.

My lighting is new,T5's 54 x 6 over a 90 gallon. Any ideas what I can do here? Thanks for your input!

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Try putting him on a rock or other object, and then placing all in a plastic cup with high sides for a while. This will allow light down fom the top, but more limit the movement. Bear in mind, this has a risk- the clam is moving because it is unhappy with where it is. If you limit its movement, you are forcing stress onto it (theoretically). Mbbuna used to tell of a good trick too, by placing the cut out top of a clear two liet bottle of the clam to protect it from irritating neighbor- ie- gobies. Just cut some small cuts for water flow.

 

[cristhiam]

Have you tried to put a half shell under the clam? I did this to mine once it's attached I moved it to the top of my rocks and it still attached to it, 2+ years. I do move it from time to time and still attached to the same shell.

 

[deepbelow]

i have seen clams take alot of sand blastin from gobies. alot of them did fine and if they werent they would move. it is only moving because it is not in a good position. good luck

B

 

[RobynT]

Well, I tried putting him on a clam shell on a low rock but that didn't last long. Back on the sand he went. I'm a little ticked at that gobie presently, he just grabbed my purple feather duster(that was peacefully living in a lower rock crevice for a couple of months) and tore of a good 1/2" of tube. I USED to love his antics, but the bigger that gobie gets, the more RUDE he is. I'm going to try putting the clam in the clam shell, on the sand and see if he stays there. It's the last time I'm moving him and I doubt that he can survive all the gobies rearranging.

 

[TearDrop]

Put some sand in a plastic cup and place the clam in there until it can get use to your tank. The cup should be high enough where the gobies antics won't bother it. Once it gets use to it's environment you can then try finding a better home for it.

Also, your light may not be enough for it.