Slow growth from my Maxima!!!

[suasponte2/75]

Hey folks,

I am posting my question for those clam gurus out there. I've had my blue maxima (in gallery) for over a year with little to no growth. It's has been under various lighting over the year (2 mo 330W PC, 3 mo 2x150 HQI, 8 mo 2x250 MH, and now 2x400W MH for 2 weeks - all MH have been 10,000K) and have shown little growth. I have it on the sand in my 60G. I dose the tank sporadically with phyto (1-2x every week 30-60ml) over the year. I've also tried taking it out onto a bowl to spot feed it. Calcium levels have been @ 420-450. I dose with Bionic 2-parts and drip Kalk religiously. I also dose 40ml iron every other week (for macro). With all this work I've seen almost nothing!!!!

On the other hand I've done the same for my 2" squamosa and it's almost as big now as the maxima (4"). They are only a few months apart (time I acquired them/max first). Both are on the sand (the maxima spend @ 4-6 mo's mid tank).

Any suggestions as to the two different growth rates or how to accelerate it? Could I be possibly doing something wrong for this type of clam? Any clues would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,

Minh

 

[firechild]

T. maxima is a smaller species of clam and grows significantly slower. I've had my maxima for about 2 years now and it has grown about 1" at best while 2 of my squamosas that I've had for slightly shorter periods have grown almost 4". The slow growth of T. maxima and T. crocea are one of the things that make them more suitable tank inhabitants.

 

[suasponte2/75]

Whew!!! . I'm glad to hear that. It's been over a year and all is doing fine but was just a little concerned if I was doing something wrong . Guess I'll have to buy bigger maximas . Thanks Firechild.


Minh

 

[acroporas]

When i look at my squamosa, you can see a very clear lines where it stopped growing for a while. The shell continues to get thicker during this time, but the shell does not get any longer so it makes a very obvious mark on the shell when it resumes growth. There is 1 from when i got it, another is when i upgraded from PC to 175 MH and another when i upgraded to 250MH. Since your clam has had to deal with changed lighting 5 times in 1 year, it may just now have started growing.

 

[acroporas]

You can see an example of the mark it makes when it stops growing here

 

[suasponte2/75]

Cool Squa!!!! Yeah... I'm not getting any growth from the maxima but the squamosa's growing by leaps and bounds during the lighting upgrades.

Thanks for the input.

Minh