New clam very reactive

[Silly clownfish]

I just got my first clam, a ~3" maxima on Friday:bounce3:. It is in my cycled 30g QT under VHO lighting. At the LFs I liked how well it reacted to my hand passing between it and the light. But now I am seeing that if I even walk past the tank it retracts. It opens part way pretty quickly, but has not openned much more than in the photo in my QT.

Should I be concerned?

From my reading, it seems like the conservative approach to QT is to remove the clam from the tank (in a container of water) every other evening after the lights are off to look for pyramid snails and brush the shell. I have read to do this for as long as 4+ weeks. This seems rather disruptive. I have not seen any snails yet and my lfs owner said that he did not find any snails or eggs in his inspection of the 3 clams that came in this shipment (the day before I got it). All he found way an aptasia on each of the other 2. My clam had aready attached to a couple pieces of rubble in the ~24 hours at the lfs.

My thought on QT IS 2 weeks max as long as I don't see anything worrisome. I want to get it out from the VHOs and under my LEDs in the DT.

Any opinions?

Kim

 

[MondoBongo]

gorgeous looking mantle on him.

i wouldn't worry about the reaction. sometimes they can be touchy until they get settled in. it's a good sign in my opinion that he's reacting strongly.

as far as QT length, that's up to you. i've kept T. crocea under VHO lights for up to several months, but he was literally two inches from the bulbs in my 20 long. if you don't have other clams, and you're not seeing any problems, then two weeks of observation should be more than sufficient.

checking for snails is a great idea, but i wouldn't go removing him from the rubble that he has attached to. problems caused by them should be fairly apparent (if present), given some observation time.

 

[Silly clownfish]

Thank you Mondo! I always especially appreciate responses from folks whose names I recognize as being valuable RC contributors with good experience.

Since I am in my home office today (where the qt is) I can see that it is reopennong faster as it is getting used to someone moving around the room.

Since I don't have a lot of LR in the tank, it is about 12" from the bulbs because I can't stably place it higher. So as long as all goes well a couple of weeks it is.

I am not removing the rubble to inspect/brush for snails, just looking around the rubble and using a turkey baster to blow anything loose out crevices between the rubble. And using my handly magnifying glass with built in LED to inspect!

Thanks,
Kim

 

[MondoBongo]

Thank you. You're very kind.

Sounds like you're off to a great start. I'm loving that mantle.