Placement of a clam??

MarkS

Premium Member
I want to put a 2" Maxima in my ten gallon (I know, I know...). The best spot I have is on a legde directly under the outlet of my Remora skimmer. What I want to know is if the flow right on top of the clam will hurt it?

And before I am flamed, I am working on a bigger tank. The ten gallon has a 175 watt MH over it. The clam will only be a temporary resident.

Thanks,
Mark
 
Firstly, a 10G is not too small for that clam...YET. Unlike tangs, clams do not need swimming space so as long as they have a bit of room around them, they should be fine.
Secondly, It depends how strong the flow is over the clam. If you place the clam where you want it and it doesn't like it, the clam will not attach and will attempt to dislodge itself from the ledge. A sign that it doesn't like it's placement is not fully opening so keep an eye on it and you should be able to tell whether it is happy or not.
 
You could always move some rocks and corals around and place the clam on the sandbed. I have found that my 2 maximas and crocea like to have a rock under them to attach.
 
Your 2" maxima will need to be fed so make sure you have a means to do that. either room to put a pop bottle over the clam or the ability to take the clam out and bowl feed it.

My 2" maxima does not like alot of flow at all. If the flow is too strong it will not attach or will unattach itself and move. If the clam is on a ledge at this time it will likely jump off the ledge and could get injured. Luckily when I learned that my clam didn't like even a moderate current he was on the sandbed. When the powerhead that was creating a current in my "clam lagoon" was moved back to it's original position my baby clam reattached himself in the same spot as he was before. (Although he turned around and is now parellel to the front glass, darn it).
 
hey i have 2 questions!

first how do you place a clam on you DSB?? do you have to like put a half of clma shell for it to attach??? or what??

also what kind of flow do they like?? all over my DSB i prolly have medium to strong flow with one spot with low flow, what do they like???

also you should have a mature tank right like 6 months??

also whats the best clam to start off with?? i want somethign colorful though! thanks!

Nick
 
first how do you place a clam on you DSB?? do you have to like put a half of clma shell for it to attach??? or what??

It depends on the type of clam you have. For instance, crocea's and maxima's like to attach. I put a piece of live rock a little under the sand, some people use clam shells.

also what kind of flow do they like?? all over my DSB i prolly have medium to strong flow with one spot with low flow, what do they like???

Clams like low to moderate flow.

also you should have a mature tank right like 6 months??

The maturity of a tank varies from tank to tank. But I think at least 6 months is a good average maturity for a tank to have clams.

also whats the best clam to start off with?? i want somethign colorful though! thanks!

I think the answer to that is really rather objective. I started out with the type of clam I wanted to keep. Others say that squamosa's and derasa's are the "best clams for starting out with". Honestly, I don't know how easy or hard to keep they are because I have never had either. I would just do a ton of research and read everything about clams you can find. I would also get Daniel Knopp's book Giant clams and read it lol. Then you should be able to make an informed decision about what is best for the clam and you.
 
ok thanks, yeah i want a maxima i dont knwo how to spell that though, i like the one in your avator, BUT i heard that they use collecting methods that destory the clams foot, so how do you pick out a good speciem??? thanks!

Nick
 
ok thanks, yeah i want a maxima i dont knwo how to spell that though, i like the one in your avator, BUT i heard that they use collecting methods that destory the clams foot, so how do you pick out a good speciem??? thanks!

Farm raised clams are available :)

here are some links to check out on selecting a healthy clam.
here's one

here's another


There are also a ton of links here.
here


Some more info on clam needs and such

The clam in my avatar is my first clam. Thank you, I like him too ;)
 
hey thanks for ALL the help much apreciated!!!

i have to wait about 2-3 more months though my tank is 4 months old today!! here is a website with soem pics i took today!

let me knwo where you think a good clam spot would be!!

i want it in the sand! thanks!

Nick
 
I have a 10G and I do have a crocea clam who's in there for almost a month now, which is pretty healthy and happy(I think), I choose crocea coz I heard it's the slowest grower, so I don't need to worry that it will overgrown in that tank, oh and coz it's cheap from my LFS, one thing I learned which I don't think it's mentioned here, actually I learned it the hard way, is that when you place your clam at first, make sure it is going to attach to a "moveable" thing, I place my clam on a large LR and it attached to the LR in 1 day, before I know it, it's attached, so I can't move the clam around now, lucky that the place that I first choose isn't that bad, so I am fine I think, but piece of advice, make sure you have a "moveable" LR or clam shell for it, or you will stuck with the location. good luck
 
i have to wait about 2-3 more months though my tank is 4 months old today!! here is a website with soem pics i took today!

You forgot the link

And you are very welcome for the help. I would use that 2-3 months to do research on the clam you want and to make sure that when you do get your clam you will be able to properly take care of it.
 
I have a 10G and I do have a crocea clam who's in there for almost a month now, which is pretty healthy and happy(I think), I choose crocea coz I heard it's the slowest grower, so I don't need to worry that it will overgrown in that tank, oh and coz it's cheap from my LFS, one thing I learned which I don't think it's mentioned here, actually I learned it the hard way, is that when you place your clam at first, make sure it is going to attach to a "moveable" thing, I place my clam on a large LR and it attached to the LR in 1 day, before I know it, it's attached, so I can't move the clam around now, lucky that the place that I first choose isn't that bad, so I am fine I think, but piece of advice, make sure you have a "moveable" LR or clam shell for it, or you will stuck with the location. good luck

lol, my boyfriend did the same thing when he got his first clam years ago. He told me it was a pain to rearrange the tank with the clam attached to the biggest piece of LR he had. hehe
 
yeah i plan to do some HEAVY reseach for those 2 months on max clams!

also i have 660 watts of VHOs, over a 70 reef, 3 actinic, 2 actinic whtie, and one aqua sun. is this enough to keep this type fo clam i heard it is, but wanted to make sure. thanks!
I know MHs are better, but i mean i almost have 10 watts per gallon, but just want to make sure! thanks!

Nick
 
Watts per gallon means nothing.
VHOs are not sufficient for any clams IMO but some people argue that they are good enough for squamosas and derasas.
 
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