Our new baby clam

[Red Reefet]

I think they said it was a maxima, but any firm id from you guys would be great. He's only about 1 1/2" long. So cute. Care suggestions welcome, since we are new to clams. He's at the top under 250 watts + under heavy flow. He has jumped off once in the last few days.

 

[TaterInTheSouth]

Hey wild girl, you're everywhere today

You're going to have to feed this little guy some DTs
and knock the current down a little they don't
like strong linear movement.

 

[Red Reefet]

Yes. I go thru stages where I have many questions in 1 day and then none for like a month. Thanks for the advice.

 

[SR HELLBOY]

Little sucker.

 

[Red Reefet]

Yes he is. I thought it would be good for the kids to see him grow. Not to mention he was only $20.

 

[cristhiam]

That's a very nice clam , he might be getting too much flow, I don't think clams really like heavy flow. Is he attached to that rock? they jump when they don't like the spot. Looks like a maxima, he needs to be fed, I have mine for about three months and growing fast he's put a 1/4" shell you can see the progress in my gallery. Good luck with the litte one

 

[Red Reefet]

I have a shell I can put him in. Did you put sand in it? He's actually not right in the flow. He's off to the side of it. I'll see if he stays there tonight. I gave him a little bit of Life Marine plankton today when I fed everyone else. How often do you feed them?

 

[cristhiam]

He was on the sand at the beginning and kept moving around, so I got that shell and put some sand around it to keep it from falling and in one day he was attached! so I moved him up a little. I feed mine Kent's Pythoplakton, I stared every two days, but now I put it every 4 or 5 days. I just turn off the power heads and make a light cloud around him not too much I wait for about 10 minutes and turn on the power heads. I think is working good. He is very responsive to the light and very open .

 

[Reefcherie]

Hello Red Reefet,

Until your clam is ~3" long, it can't get enough of its own food through photosynthesis - it's mantle is just too small. As others have said, you need to feed the little guy (every other day IMO). In a 90-gallon tank, you will not be able to put enough phytoplankton in to do the job w/o risking your water quality. Here are a couple of options:
1. make yourself a feeding hat (search here on RC for "feeding hat" and you'll get wonderful DIY instructions plus pictures"
2. put the clam in a small bowl of tank water, keep it warm and put the phytoplankton in the bowl (remember to only use enough to just tinge the water green - too much can choke the little guy). It should take about 20-30 min. and you should see the water get clear.

I've successfully used method #2.

Best of luck,
Cheri

 

[Red Reefet]

So if my clam is attached to the rock he's on, does that mean he likes where he is?

 

[mbbuna]

it's a maxima. feed with care.dont target feed!!!

 

[Reefcherie]

So if my clam is attached to the rock he's on, does that mean he likes where he is?

That is a very postive sign of a happy clam

mbbuna - yes - that is exactly why I said "remember to only use enough to just tinge the water green - too much can choke the little guy"

Cheri

 

[Red Reefet]

Cool. Thanks guys. But if he's attached, then I pretty much have to do the feeding hat method now?

 

[Reefcherie]

Cool. Thanks guys. But if he's attached, then I pretty much have to do the feeding hat method now?

Is the rock he's attached to too large to remove from the tank into a big bowl or small bucket for the other feeding method? The hat method will not work if the hat can't cover the whole rock w/ a "seal" to the sand bed so that the water w/ the phytoplankton doesn't leak out the bottom of the hat. The hat must also allow enough water around it so the baby clam can filter feed w/o choking on overly concentrated phyto.

For future reference, I intentionally don't put my baby clams up on the rockwork so that they won't attach - for ease of taking them out to feed. If they seem unhappy, I put a very small rock or clam shell under them.

Cheri